In the system unit of my personal computer, I have an MSI PRO B650-S WIFI motherboard installed.
Right now, I have two available options:
A4Tech Bloody G521 (2020) headphones, connected via USB Type-A
Edifier W820NB (2021) headphones, connected via USB Type-A
What I am considering:
HyperX Cloud Stinger 2 (2022) headphones, connected to the 3.5 mm jack on the front panel of the system unit
HyperX Cloud Stinger 2 (2022) headphones, connected to an external sound card Creative Sound Blaster PLAY! 3, which in turn is connected via USB Type-A
Would options 3) or 4) be more effective than option 2)?
Or perhaps you could suggest some other options (within the $120–$150 range)?
Connecting via front panel is never really a good idea. The output from your motherboard is usually better unless it’s a very old motherboard. Also those cheap soundblaster outputs are really only useful for getting a 3.5mm output, and don’t offer anything over standard motherboard or front panel output, so wouldn’t really be worth buying.
If you already have either of the first two, the cloud stinger 2 won’t really be an upgrade, and with darktide’s limited positional audio that is made worse by problems with silent specials and spawn/event noises attenuating things you really need to hear, any tiny gains in headphone quality would be mostly down to the sound of the headphones, not how well you can tell direction and distance of sounds.
My advice would be go to a local pc and tech store, and try out some headphones in your price range, and pick the ones that sound best to you. The hyperx clouds are by all accounts pretty decent, but that doesn’t mean you’ll like them. Everyone’s ears and listening preferences are different.
All that said, between those options I would get the cloud stinger 2 between those sets available, and would just plug them into the motherboard output instead of a cheap usb sound card or front panel.
You’re not using any sort of high end headphones so no need to waste money on an external sound card. Pretty much only get one of those if your on-board audio is giving you hisses or you need more audio jacks. And even then something like the Apple usb-c to 3.5mm dongle will serve you better.