So, I've heard from Stellus that the onboard i9300 sound quality is pretty good with standard analog headphones, so hopefully there's no "hissing" or degraded audio quality. Ok, and I just found this month old thread (that I apparently posted in, too, lol), which suggests that the sound quality doesn't improve noticeably with the Creative PCMCIA card over the onboard sound. Oh, but the first post on page 2 says the opposite. 
Anyways, the AKG K-66 analog headphones that I'm looking at have 32ohm impedance (vs. the normal 16 or 64 ohm values for headphones), so it might have some "hissing" from the onboard audio.
I'm still not too sure about the i9300's onboard sound quality for music and games as compared to the sound chip on a USB headset, though, and ditto for the 3D sound positioning in games. Regardless, I would rather NOT shell out ~$60-120 CDN for an external USB sound card.
Anyways, I'm kind of thinking of 3 different options on my i9300 when it arrives:
1) Get a decent USB headset, like the Logitech Premium 350 USB for ~$50 CDN. That USB headset has mixed reviews, ranging from excellent sound quality to really mediocre sound quality (who is right?!), but very importantly, it's reasonably priced and readily available to me locally.
2) Good quality "value" headphones: I'd LOVE to get the AKG K-66 (semi-open) headphones for ~$55 CDN, and right now I'm leaning towards this option, although I have no idea how it sounds for gaming. But I bet it's awesome for music and I'm pretty sure it can be life like for voice;
side-story:
why? Go Google: The Paradise Institute. That's a National Art Gallery of Canada exhibit that I saw in Ottawa that used the K-66 headphones. SUPER-realistic 3D sound with the K-66 headphones (only one speaker per ear). They recorded the binaural sound using mic's inside a dummy's head (I'm guessing they physically modelled the ears). Anyways, that video/cinematic exhibit had lots of voice and sounds, like footsteps and fabric rustling and whispering from just behind and over your right ear, and had sound effects of a house on fire... so I'd say that the K-66's audio performance is pretty good for a wide range of sound types.
Added later:
Good sites for explaining what binaural recordings are:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binaural_recording
http://www.binaural.com/binfaq.html#anchor663121
If I get those "value"/audiophile headphones, then I might just use my pathetic/half-broken microphone that I stick out of my shirt, or buy some sort of clip-on microphone (shirt or headphone cord) for the sound input.
3) Get a non-USB headset, instead. I kinda would prefer to go with the Logitech Premium 350 USB one, though, than go this route for a similar price. Benefits for the Logitech include (probably) better sound quality, guaranteed good mic performance, and one easy cable connection.
Btw, music performance is important to me, along with voice playback quality (for listening to online talk-show radio broadcasts) and gaming. And then DVD movies / videos to a lesser extent. Anyways, I'll say again that I would LOVE to get the AKG K-66 headphones, because I've never worn headphones that awed me (half due to the awesome 3D positional sound recordings and half due to the AMAZING clarity and fidelity coming through on those headphones). So, hopefully the i9300 onboard sound is high-quality enough not to put the AKG K-66's to "waste".
Side questions:
A. What sort of 3D sound formats does the i9300/XPS Gen 2 onboard sound support? A3D 1.0/2.0? EAX 1.0/2.0/HD-or-whatever-the-latest-one-is-called? HRTF?
B. Any suggestions on cheap but decent microphones that I can use with the K-66 headphones if I get them? Like a shirt clip-on mic or a mic that I can clip onto the headphone cord (I saw one from Zalman like that for $12 CDN)?
Plz feel free to include your own thoughts about the i9300/XPS Gen 2's sound (btw, they both have the same onboard sound chip, right?).
Anyways, the AKG K-66 analog headphones that I'm looking at have 32ohm impedance (vs. the normal 16 or 64 ohm values for headphones), so it might have some "hissing" from the onboard audio.I'm still not too sure about the i9300's onboard sound quality for music and games as compared to the sound chip on a USB headset, though, and ditto for the 3D sound positioning in games. Regardless, I would rather NOT shell out ~$60-120 CDN for an external USB sound card.
Anyways, I'm kind of thinking of 3 different options on my i9300 when it arrives:
1) Get a decent USB headset, like the Logitech Premium 350 USB for ~$50 CDN. That USB headset has mixed reviews, ranging from excellent sound quality to really mediocre sound quality (who is right?!), but very importantly, it's reasonably priced and readily available to me locally.
2) Good quality "value" headphones: I'd LOVE to get the AKG K-66 (semi-open) headphones for ~$55 CDN, and right now I'm leaning towards this option, although I have no idea how it sounds for gaming. But I bet it's awesome for music and I'm pretty sure it can be life like for voice;
side-story:
why? Go Google: The Paradise Institute. That's a National Art Gallery of Canada exhibit that I saw in Ottawa that used the K-66 headphones. SUPER-realistic 3D sound with the K-66 headphones (only one speaker per ear). They recorded the binaural sound using mic's inside a dummy's head (I'm guessing they physically modelled the ears). Anyways, that video/cinematic exhibit had lots of voice and sounds, like footsteps and fabric rustling and whispering from just behind and over your right ear, and had sound effects of a house on fire... so I'd say that the K-66's audio performance is pretty good for a wide range of sound types.
Added later:
Good sites for explaining what binaural recordings are:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binaural_recording
http://www.binaural.com/binfaq.html#anchor663121
If I get those "value"/audiophile headphones, then I might just use my pathetic/half-broken microphone that I stick out of my shirt, or buy some sort of clip-on microphone (shirt or headphone cord) for the sound input.
3) Get a non-USB headset, instead. I kinda would prefer to go with the Logitech Premium 350 USB one, though, than go this route for a similar price. Benefits for the Logitech include (probably) better sound quality, guaranteed good mic performance, and one easy cable connection.
Btw, music performance is important to me, along with voice playback quality (for listening to online talk-show radio broadcasts) and gaming. And then DVD movies / videos to a lesser extent. Anyways, I'll say again that I would LOVE to get the AKG K-66 headphones, because I've never worn headphones that awed me (half due to the awesome 3D positional sound recordings and half due to the AMAZING clarity and fidelity coming through on those headphones). So, hopefully the i9300 onboard sound is high-quality enough not to put the AKG K-66's to "waste".
Side questions:
A. What sort of 3D sound formats does the i9300/XPS Gen 2 onboard sound support? A3D 1.0/2.0? EAX 1.0/2.0/HD-or-whatever-the-latest-one-is-called? HRTF?
B. Any suggestions on cheap but decent microphones that I can use with the K-66 headphones if I get them? Like a shirt clip-on mic or a mic that I can clip onto the headphone cord (I saw one from Zalman like that for $12 CDN)?
Plz feel free to include your own thoughts about the i9300/XPS Gen 2's sound (btw, they both have the same onboard sound chip, right?).
