USB vs 3.5 Stereo Jack?

[Darth Vapor]

Ok so I like to occasionally game on my PC but want headphones as to not disturb the wifey or kids from explosions, game sound etc (yeah right Pron) anyhow I dont care about a mic since I dont really care if I can talk to my teamates while pwning newbs on COD4 or something. Is USB connection any better than standard stereo connection IE..is there less drain on the PC audio etc.. school me on the diffference

 

[Geoff]

If you use USB headsets/speakers, you are bypassing the hardware sound card. If you only have onboard sound, then this isn't much of a difference for you, however if you have an X-Fi or other dedicated card, a USB headset will not utilize the sound card, it will use it's own sound processor built into the headset.