After reading a while these forums I couldn’t find a close answer I needed, so I’m here bothering you myself
Coming from regular gaming headsets (logitech g430 - razer krakens - artics 7 - corsair hs70 pro) and having issues with wireless headsets a friend recommended me to try real ones. So I saved and bought some sennheiser hd58x jubilees. They are on the way and now I’m doubting and anxious.
So budget was limited to be under 200, lets say I still have 50 to spare.
So, I don’t have dac/amp. I bought back then a high-ish end MSI motherboard - MSI X470 Gaming Pro Carbon.
It says it has an upgraded audio chipset, it runs on the ACL1220 chip, with better caps and headphone amp.
So far it worked fine, right now it is powering some old artics siberia v2 I had laying around.
Question is, would the hd58x jubilees work and sound good with the onboard audio? Or I just rather have the syba sonic dac/amp for 45 bucks on amazon?
Getting the syba sonic would make sense if it is actually an upgrade over onboard audio and I won’t be looking to change any time soon.
If the answer the onboard audio will be good enough I will save and get something like GSX1000 or schiit stack in the next few months.
I play almost everything, but mostly Total War, WoW and LoL. Very casually shooters like BF ans Warzone. I listen music always while gaming, mostly from YouTube.
Sorry for long post. Just wanted to throw as much info possible to get a clear answer without much of back and forth.
the 58x runs decently without a dac/amp afaik one of it’s appeals is that you dont need a dac/amp. It does improve with a dac/amp but the difference is not as big as say the 6XX which is higher impedance. Most onboard sound is on par or better than a cheap dac and generally speaking you’d probably be better off using onboard, and getting a better dac later than investing in a cheap dac (sub 50). The most common entry level dac is the topping d10 at 100 USD paired with an amp like the heresy or liquid spark both around 100 USD as well
I think you would be fine for now off of onboard, the 58x is not the hardest set to drive. With that said they definitely do benefit from a nice amp and dac. If I were you I would save up a bit more and buy a schiit heresy or magni 3+ and just run it off your onboard dac for now and later on you could buy a external dac like a topping D10 once you’ve saved a bit more.
Give your on-board sound card a go first also first and foremost, check how you like new headphone sounds. These two are not mutually exclusive however, if you absolutely hate how it sounds, there’s very slim chance that changing the dac-amp will suddenly makes it sounds amazing. Once you settle down on the headphone, then analyze what’s lacking/you wish for. Try your best to EQ it to sounds best to your liking. If everything else failed, then look for a different dac/amp. It’s important to do proper assessment of a newly acquired gear to avoid buying blindly and end up with bunch of gears with no synergy towards the sound you’re after. It’s not only waste of money but time as well. Unless you don’t care about either
Save up for a Schiit Fulla 3 IF you’re concerned. That DAC/Amp can drive my LCD X’s without a problem. Drivers are built into windows and linux… just seems to always work. Note, turn down your mic when you get the Fulla 3 because the default setting set to ear rape to everyone else on discord.
I would just get a nice amp and run it from the motherboard and use the motherboard mic in, the mic will be similar to the motherboard most of the time in quality imo
