The best card for gaming use? Headphones only.

I went out to get a new card and came back with a Titanium HD. The sound seems to be fine but I'll have to give it a proper burn-in before I can make a final judgement. I'll also want to swap opamps as I liked them so much on my previous card.
The first impression I had was little to no background noise, highs were a little harsh and deeper bass wasn't as exact as I typically knew it. The overall image is also much more "in the face", closer, than it was before (where it sounded like a room with large speakers, this really feels like headphones).
Gaming was and is great though. It may be placebo but positional audio seemed to be spot-on in CoD BO and BF3. I really enjoyed that

 

Onboard sound should be fine.

 

Sady onboard audio isn't fine, its subpar, and you will notice it being subpar if you have good gear and use onboard audio as the source.

 

Onboard sound and maybe even some of those fine Apple earbuds... guess that works out nicely.

 

Glad you enjoy the card

Yea, give some time for the card to burn in and your ears to get used. The first time I got my essence the highs were a little bit too harsh also but now it sounds smoother

In my opinion the 3D positional of the STX is not too convincing but i have never heard the HD to compare. So i think the HD is a good choice

 

I lol'd :giggle2:

 

Yes, I'll definitely have to get used to it as the sound signature is totally different to my previous card. Gaming was already good though so all the opamps I may try are for my pleasure / music listening only
I may try an Essence nevertheless as they seem to go for pretty reasonable prices on ebay but for now I'm really happy with this purchase.