upgrade sound card?

[slightlyhuman]

currently using a Gigabyte EP45-UD3P. I have THX logitech speakers and zalman 5.1 headphones. I have the headphones and logitech's going into the green audio hole via a splitter so I'm not loud if I game at night. When I want to jam my music I'm just not getting the volume I want due to the headphones being plugged in too. I realize unplugging the headphones would dedicate all wattage to the logitech's but I'm curious if getting a decent sound card would let me have the best of both worlds? Where I can turn my logitech's up when I want but also have my headphones plugged in the back.

What sound card do you guys recommend?

Cliffs:
onboard sound
have headphones and logitech speakers hooked up
want music louder but keep headphones plugged in
upgrade video card
???
profit

 

[AndroidVageta]

You can get some 3.5mm splitters like these:

Use one for each port and you should be able to get audio to your speakers and headphones.

 

[slightlyhuman]

that's what i'm using.. i have 3 of them(for 5.1 speakers and 5.1 headphones. but since i'm using 2 sources it splits the wattage, correct? i was wondering if leaving onboard sound and getting a nice pci sound card would increase the audio level any even if just a little.

 

[PurdueRy]

that's what i'm using.. i have 3 of them(for 5.1 speakers and 5.1 headphones. but since i'm using 2 sources it splits the wattage, correct? i was wondering if leaving onboard sound and getting a nice pci sound card would increase the audio level any even if just a little.

If the sound problem is in the volume of your speaker system, then you're problems are with the amplifier in those. The signal coming out of the sound card is capable of supplying very little power and is a line level signal meant to supply an external amplifier with a signal.

Does the volume significantly improve on the external speakers when you disconnect the headphones?

 

[slightlyhuman]

oh yes, it gets a hell of a lot louder when the headphones are unplugged.

 

[0roo0roo]

that's what i'm using.. i have 3 of them(for 5.1 speakers and 5.1 headphones. but since i'm using 2 sources it splits the wattage, correct? i was wondering if leaving onboard sound and getting a nice pci sound card would increase the audio level any even if just a little.

there is not much wattage, soundcards are not amps like that and haven't been made to drive speakers unpowered for quite some time now. it might split the level of signal sure. generally its not quite right to leave headphones plugged in like that all the time, normally if people use headphones, the outputs should be separate and switch so you don't get the weird interactions. its a poor solution to split like that, it should use a switch box of some type, but that would be rather complicated. http://electronicsusa.com/mk1and2.html you'd need 5, maybe there are cheap chinese alternatives.
anyways zalman 5.1 headphones are a bad gimmick, and have made a mess of your setup

 

[slightlyhuman]

alright, cool. thanks for the replies guys!