Fosi K7 Gaming DAC and HP Amp Review

[Libette]

I think out of the Soundblaster products that Amir has measured then the SoundblasterX G6 is the best one, because you have to be sure it can appear as a real 7.1 device to the OS, and Amir once measured the Soundblaster X5 and that only appears as a stereo device to the OS so it's impossible that it can do Virtual Surround at all. So if you want to use an Amir measured device then the SoundblasterX G6 would be the one to get. I don't think he's measured anymore Soundblaster products but I might be wrong, but whatever you do make sure it can appear as a real 7.1 device to the OS.

Perhaps Soundblaster Ae-9 would be good contender.

 

[Libette]

Is there any other EQ capability besides the "bass, treble, etc." mentioned in the review? I ask because even the bargain-priced SK01 has a midrange knob, which I occasionally find very handy.

No its not.

 

[KurtKlötentreter]

I've been waiting for my K7 to arrive since monday, holiday season is really taking it's toll on parcel delivery right now. I wish I had done a little more research on this, I was looking for this to replace my old SoundblasterX G6 along with the SMSL D1 I recently picked up.
I just read that the microphone input is only active in UAC 1 mode, which has left me asking myself why that is the case. It does occasionally happen that I listen to music on my speakers while having my headset connected, so I would have preferred not to have my sample rate locked to 48khz while having the mic input active.

 

[Robbo99999]

Perhaps Soundblaster Ae-9 would be good contender.

Amir's not measured it though so you can be less sure how it will perform. I don't think it really offers anything that the G6 doesn't, and in fact on one of the spec pages it only mentions stereo & Virtual 5.1 surround and doesn't mention Virtual 7.1 Surround, but maybe that's a "typo" on their part as I can't imagine it would only do 5.1 - still it's not the best argument to buy it when it looks like there's some doubt whether it can do 7.1.

 

[StormBreaker]

Exactly — for gamers, mic input quality matters just as much as DAC performance since clean comms can affect competitive play and overall experience. The same way players obsess over audio clarity and precision, they also value iconic in-game gear like the AK-47 Fire Serpent, which has become a benchmark skin in CS inventories: https://cs2.ad/items/ak-47-fire-serpent

 

[ObjectiveSubjectivist]

they also value iconic in-game gear like the AK-47 Fire Serpent, which has become a benchmark skin in CS inventories: https://cs2.ad/items/ak-47-fire-serpent

 

[Jimster480]

lmao I can't believe that anyone cares about skins for real. When I get skins in game; I might use ones I think are cool but I definitely wouldn't pay for them.... I can only remember one time all the way back 15 years ago where I paid $1 for some special edition skin and badge in League of Legends. What is crazy is how much people spend every day for skins.

 

[Mad Bull]

Amir's not measured it though so you can be less sure how it will perform. I don't think it really offers anything that the G6 doesn't, and in fact on one of the spec pages it only mentions stereo & Virtual 5.1 surround and doesn't mention Virtual 7.1 Surround, but maybe that's a "typo" on their part as I can't imagine it would only do 5.1 - still it's not the best argument to buy it when it looks like there's some doubt whether it can do 7.1.

Hi, what do you think of the new Sound blaster G8 or gc7? Has 7.1 audio playback functionality and the gc7 has 'SXFI BATTLE Mode', tricky to know whether this is just a gimmick. The G8 for it's dual input for me would be fantastic, I work at home and instead of unplugging the DAC each time it would be lovely just to have 2 inputs and a button.

The fosi k7 or SB G8 what do you think? I have not tried 7.1 in a very very long time and most of my games I'm not sure whether they will be better with this as well.
Schiit Gunnr is an intresting one as well although I have not yet looked it up properly yet.

 

[Robbo99999]

Hi, what do you think of the new Sound blaster G8 or gc7? Has 7.1 audio playback functionality and the gc7 has 'SXFI BATTLE Mode', tricky to know whether this is just a gimmick. The G8 for it's dual input for me would be fantastic, I work at home and instead of unplugging the DAC each time it would be lovely just to have 2 inputs and a button.

The fosi k7 or SB G8 what do you think? I have not tried 7.1 in a very very long time and most of my games I'm not sure whether they will be better with this as well.
Schiit Gunnr is an intresting one as well although I have not yet looked it up properly yet.

For a gaming DAC I would not get the Fosi K7 (which is the DAC measured in this thread), because it can't do Virtual Surround Sound as it doesn't appear as a multichannel device. I think the G8 would be a good one to get as it can do Virtual 7.1 Surround just like the G6 and it seems to have the same audio quality specs as the G6 by just looking at the specifications, so the G8 I'd say.

 

[KurtKlötentreter]

For a gaming DAC I would not get the Fosi K7 (which is the DAC measured in this thread), because it can't do Virtual Surround Sound as it doesn't appear as a multichannel device. I think the G8 would be a good one to get as it can do Virtual 7.1 Surround just like the G6 and it seems to have the same audio quality specs as the G6 by just looking at the specifications, so the G8 I'd say.

You could use Dolby Atmos for Headphones on the K7 tho, and some games do already process directional audio and downmix it to stereo for headphone use. Tho it doesn't have onboard multichannel downmixing

 

[Robbo99999]

You could use Dolby Atmos for Headphones on the K7 tho, and some games do already process directional audio and downmix it to stereo for headphone use. Tho it doesn't have onboard multichannel downmixing

I tried Dolby Atmos for Headphones back when I was experimenting with Virtual Surround Gaming, and it didn't work for me. Activating Dolby Atmos for Headphones didn't make my soundcard appear as a 7.1 channel device to Windows so therefore games aren't going to give you 7.1 channels of information to start with, so it's impossible for the virtual surround to work. Windows Sonic was the same, just as useless as Dolby Atmos for Headphones. The only one I've tried that works for me is Creative Soundblaster Virtual Surround (SBX they call it), and that appears as a real 7.1 device to Windows and your game.

Here's a thread I started years ago about Virtual 7.1 Surround Sound, and I've not needed to investigate it further recently:

Virtual 7.1 Surround Sound processing in Headphones

Hi, I thought I'd start this thread as a gaming virtual 7.1 surround sound enthusiast in headphones. We can let this thread develop into whatever we like on the topic of Virtual 7.1 Surround Sound processing in headphones, and perhaps I'll continue to edit this first post with links to useful...

www.audiosciencereview.com