Maximum PC

I am currently using the onboard sound (Realtek ALC898) with my Asus P9X79 Deluxe mobo.
I have a 5.1 speaker setup.

I just started playing Mass Effect (first in series) and the manual recommends using EAX Advanced HD sound.

It does not appear that the onboard Realtek ALC898 can do this (is there an EAX emulator ?).

So...should I get a sound card, such as the Sound Blaster Recon3d ?

Would it be worth it ? Does it really make much of a difference ?

I currently have two Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 GPU cards in crossfire,
and I am wondering if I will even have room for another card.

EAX is meh, I prefer Asus cards they have better components in them, they also have a certain level of EAX emulation. But if your headphones aren't that good I wouldn't bother.

It recommends, but it's not required. I honestly can't tell any difference and I use an X-Fi Titanium. But then again I go out analog and I really don't care about sound quality after a certain point.

On a side note, going digital out means all that sound card circuitry doesn't mean crap, because that's meant for the analog out. It's up to the sound system on the other end to make things sound pretty.

Honestly there is a difference between cards but the x-fi line uses sub par components, especially DACs you lose the clarity because the conversion from digital to analog is shit. I would like to know what the budget is and what is being used speakers/headphone setup.

Well this and really, I'd like to know the whole "Do I really care?" factor. Is OP going to listen to music, like actually going to listen to it instead of leaving it on for background noise. Is the music in FLAC or some other lossless format (or even just from a CD)? Is OP going to watch movies with DTS/Dolby? You can recommend me the best sound system in the world, but I have a very low "care" factor. I mean yes, I do want my audio in 44,100Hz 16-bit stereo, but give me an MP3 @ 192Kbps, AAC @128Kbps, or FLAC, and I couldn't tell you which one was which.

If this is just for mostly gaming, while there are "better" choices than Creative (especially since EAX is being deprecated), there's no point in spending money on something over X-Fi/Recon3D tier.

I'm not trying to discredit your knowledge, but sound cards are tricky business because you can tell someone all the objective specs about the sound card to make it look infinitely better than on board audio. But if the person in question doesn't have the ear for it, then you're making that person piss money away on something they won't care about it's full potential. Sound quality is a subjective thing that only some people care about.

If you can't tell which one is which your limitation is your gear. If you get better gear you can tell the difference. Also 24 bit music is pretty awesome. I feel that the difference between my Xonar DX and iBasso was obvious and so did all of my friends in blind tests. Of course it was being played over q701 headphones which bring out a lot of the flaws in a system. Which is why I asked what other equipment is in use and what the budget is.

I have a Klipsch Promedia Ultra 5.1 speaker setup that is about 8 years old.
I am just using the PC for gaming.

Then yes, a Recon3D or the ASUS Xonar DX would be good.

Is one of these two cards preferable ?

I have used Creative cards on older PCs, and since all I have done is gaming,
I have never used most of the features.

People say the Xonar DX is a better choice. At least between the X-fi and itself.

Well, I just ordered the Xonar DX, and it will have to go into the last available PCIe slot (x16) left on my mobo (the two HD 7950's are real space hogs).
Of course now I have started to cast a critical eye on my 8+ year old 5.1 speakers....Hmmm....There's no end to this, is there .

Yes there is, get some stax headphones for like $6k, a dac for like $2-3k, and an amp for like $10k.

Actually, the idea of headphones is interesting. I've never used them yet, but might try:
how is the sound compared to regular 5.1 speakers ? What make/model is good (for cost under1K$)?

A good set of headphones are great.... for stereo sound.

I'm not convinced that you can get the same 5.1 experience with headphones (even actual 5.1 headphones) than you can with speakers. And a lot of "surround sound" speakers use virtual surround sound, which games can go "lolnope" to it. I tried my Platronics GameCom with a few games and only Bioshock was convincing enough. Games like Half-Life 2 don't even support virtual surround sound.

Headphones were meant to listen to music and movies and gaming ones just make me chuckle inside.

And before you go "But you got a GameCom!"... I wanted headphones with a mic.

I disagree if you get good headphones with a good DAC/Amp it is basically like wall hacking in FPS games. This is a good guide for headphones: http://www.head-fi.org/t/534479/mad-lus ... q701-added He just added his review of the Q701's which is what I use although I use a different DAC than him which is aimed more for audio http://www.ibasso.com/en/products/show.asp?ID=77 while he uses one aimed at gaming http://www.astrogaming.com/mixamp/mixamp-usb. Although the Asus Xonar DX is also good it is noticeably less detailed than my iBasso but it does have the 5.1 emulation. What a lot of people do because the q701s like a lot of power to drive them is get a gaming card like the Xonar or an X-fi then go optical out to an dac/amp.

And if you want headphones with a mic then the Sennheiser pc360 are the only choice really but they are not the same quality as the AKGs. But I do have to warn you that AKGs are very detailed headphones and they reveal the faults in a lot of music files (especially mp3s) and for music that was horribly mastered. But for the most part you won't notice that. But I can play games and literally hear people walking around a room and know when to shoot before they even have a chance to see me in most games. But the problem with headphones after a certain price point is that you need to upgrade a lot of other components to actually use their full potential, even the AKGs will be limited somewhat by most pci-e soundcards.

And another thing to consider is that this is really pointless unless you play competitively, or are an audiophile, and even then you likely won't notice the differences, plus with these "studio" headphones you are really limited to where they can be used because of they are open and they need higher quality dacs and amps than you can find in most mobile gear (unless you feel like carrying around a brick with you). For general all around use I would probably get these headphones - http://www.crutchfield.com/p_039K550/AK ... l?tp=36775 portable, closed, made of metal.

TL;DR - Headphones are a bottomless rabbit hole with many factors that make it difficult to recommend a single pair. I recommend spending some time on head-fi if you actually want to invest in a good pair.

This is the bottom line, period. The question of the day is: how much do you care about sound quality? If imperfections are the deal breaker to you enjoying your sound, then sure, go spend your money on high-end equipment. If you don't care for a CD of your favorite artist versus an MP3 @ 128Kbps, then don't spend the money, you probably aren't going to care anyway.

And even if you could recommend someone the greatest headset in the world, there's also one more factor: If it fits like a square peg in a round hole, it sucks. I prefer speakers over headsets because my usage time is limited before my ears get too hot or something uncomfortable happens.

You are simplifying a bit more than I would. There is a certain point where spending money gives you worthwhile improvements unless you are a true audiophile. For most people that is $300 for the upper range, after that you are looking at having to buy more than just headphones. I also disagree with you saying if he doesn't care about the difference between CD and MP3 he shouldn't upgrade because that couldn't be farther from the truth, for the most part you won't be able to tell until you upgrade at which point you will be blown away. But I HIGHLY recommend finding a store that lets you try out headphones and taking advantage of that before buying anything, every headphone: fits different, sounds different, and has various other differences. But if you just want an entry level over ear headphone I like the MDR-v6. As a side note you have to spend a lot more to get the same level of detail out of speakers that you do out of headphones. But the AKG k550 is the pair you want if you plan to use them on the go and on more than just your PC.