Soundcard & BenQ XL question

[Wicked]

Hello everybody,

I recently bought myself a pair of Sennheiser HD558's. I have been using these on my onboard sound, but I have the feeling getting a soundcard would help getting the maximum performance out of these headphones. But , I am not really at home in the soundcard market. I do not want to spend alot of money. 40euro max on a soundcard. But cheaper is better. I do need one with a headphone amp.

Do you guys have any suggestions? I've heard from somebody that the Xonar drivers arent too good and that I should stick with Creative? I have no idea,I was looking at the Xonars myself. any info is welcome :) (if somebody with similar headphones would share their experiences, that would be awesome).

Now for the other little question. I have been eyeballing the BenQ XL2420T for a while now, and I plan to pick up one for x-mas. Now I came across this video by linus:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6wIMaYjklE

Which is the BenQ XL2420TE. Which apperently is the updated model that does 144hz, Has less bland colors and is overall just a better monitor. Now I cannot find this monitor anywhere in europe. I did see some "NEW" things on benq.eu but none of them is the TE. Does the european version have a different name? Or hasn't it been released here yet?
Which monitor would I need to buy to get the one he shows in the video.

Thanks in advance.
O and before I forget, here are my specs if they are relevant:

i5 2500K @4.2ghz
Asus P8Z68-V Pro
MSI R7970 3gb
8 gb Vengeance RAM
Corsair CX850 (Yes Overkill, I know, I used to run SLI 470's...)
Coolermaster Hyper 212

[Rumpelcrutchskin]

BenQ XL2420TE is just very new tech, Europe is always red-headed stepchild that gets new things last.

You could try Creative Audigy Fx 70SB157000000, should be in that price range and pretty decent quality 5.1 sound.

[Wicked]

Цитата допису Rumpelcrutchskin:

BenQ XL2420TE is just very new tech, Europe is always red-headed stepchild that gets new things last.

You could try Creative Audigy Fx 70SB157000000, should be in that price range and pretty decent quality 5.1 sound.

You think?There are some new monitors on their site, and I expected them to be there even though you cannot get them yet, just for possible sales/preorders maybe.
Do you know when they will come to europe?

Anybody else any soundcard suggestions or info?

[Mr Keefy]

The yanks didn't get the xl2411T but the Euros did. Its 144Hz too just doesnt have the USB ports o the mode switcher the 20T has

http://benq.co.uk/product/monitor/xl2411t
2411T was a a pain to setup the colour and brightness levels.

[Rumpelcrutchskin]

You can try to find Asus VG248QE in Europe. It's also 144 Hz 24" monitor and really nice quality.

[Wicked]

Thanks for suggestion guys, I will look into it.

But, does anybody have more info on soundcards? No audiophiles here? I don't really wanna go based off of 1 suggestion. I was looking at some of the Asus Xonar DS/DG/DX myself.

[Mr Keefy]

I have a saoundcard but its old X-fi from 2005, since then Soundcard tech has been left to stagnate on PC. Rarely is the hardware used to its full potential.

[MA☝Omgwtfbbqstfu™]

He's talking about sound quality, not "3d sound" nonsense. Yes that part stagnated but you still get what you pay for, with xonar or whatever, the components are better than on board sound, which is important for decent headphones and such, anyways i'm sure there are other websites for audiophile reviews, steam forum probably has the wrong demographic for this sorta thing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCGz0m7xEOM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SYbrGB_rA4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQkKwhI0LnU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2e3UhFodJK0