Sound card question for headphones.

[Oyeve]

Heres my deal. I have a P4P800 deluxe mobo which has built in 6.1 sound, I also have a Audigy 2 ZS sound card hooked up to a 5.1 stereo system with Infinity speakers and a center channel and naturally I have the built in sound on my mobo disabled so I can use the better Audigy 2 ZS. I saw the Zalman 5.1 headphones and would love to get surround sound without disturbing anyone in the house. My question is this: Can I enable the built in sound card so I can use these headphones (the headphones have 3 cables for surround that would plug in nicely to the mobo), or would it conflict with the Audigy 2 ZS? Also, would I get enough volume from the built in sound card just by using volume control or would I still need a 5.1 amp? These headphones look awesome and are fairly cheap. Thanks.

 

[Ionizer86]

Yes, you can usually enable more than one sound card etc.

 

[Nebor]

Those headphones are made to be driven by a soundcard, you shouldn't need an amp. That said, the sound quality of the Audigy 2 ZS over the onboard sound will be enormous. Plus take into account the fact that you won't be able to use EAX 3 w/ the onboard sound, and you'll be using more CPU power for any onboard sound functions.

 

[Viper GTS]

Do you have any form of digital I/O available? If so you could feed a digital signal to your current setup and an analog signal to your headphones.

BTW, after a quick look around to find specs on those headphones I would avoid them & get a good pair of entry level audiophile headphones (Grado SR-60's for example would be a good place to start, or Senn' 280's if you want sealed). There is absolutely no reason to settle for 150-20Khz frequency response. 20-20KHz is standard on even cheap headphones, with good headphones capable of 12-30Khz.

It's summed up nicely here:

They cost $60, imagine three pairs of $20 headphones and you have your approximation

Viper GTS

 

[fvr]

Originally posted by: Viper GTS
Do you have any form of digital I/O available? If so you could feed a digital signal to your current setup and an analog signal to your headphones.

BTW, after a quick look around to find specs on those headphones I would avoid them & get a good pair of entry level audiophile headphones (Grado SR-60's for example would be a good place to start, or Senn' 280's if you want sealed). There is absolutely no reason to settle for 150-20Khz frequency response. 20-20KHz is standard on even cheap headphones, with good headphones capable of 12-30Khz.

It's summed up nicely here:

They cost $60, imagine three pairs of $20 headphones and you have your approximation

Viper GTS

It's actually 50Hz-20Khz. But the point is to have surround sound. Personally, I'd pick up a set of ZM-RS6F for gaming, but not for listing to music.

 

[Oyeve]

I already have optical out from my PC going to a 5.1 stereo system. I wanted to use the built in sound card to plug the Zalman headphones directly into the onboard as the headphones have 3 plugs for front, rear and center and my onboard have those plugs. I already own an awesome pair of headphones, Denon AH-D750, but wanted 5.1 headphones plugged directly into the onboard sound card but retain my 5.1 hifi system already connected to the Audigy 2 ZS hookup.