Sound card - any need? Anything worth buying?
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crossmr




Posts: 2966
Location: United Kingdom
PostPosted: Fri, 8th Oct 2010 09:57    Post subject: Sound card - any need? Anything worth buying?
so I've been using a laptop for a long time.I finally replaced it with:
Intel i5 760
4GB Ram
Geforce 460GTX (I can SLI it later)
Asus p7p550 pro
750w power supply
and a nice 6 fan case

since I've been using a laptop so long I totally forgot to even get speakers for it. But the onboard audio with headphones works okay.

I know onboard audio has come a long way. Is there any real need these days to even consider a sound card?


intel ultra 7 265k, 64gb ram, 3070
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Gomp




Posts: 626
Location: Norway
PostPosted: Fri, 8th Oct 2010 13:14    Post subject:
The onboard soundcards are ok, but not flawless. I myself experienced squeeky noices when i used vt, ts etc from time to time. So my tip is just spend a few bucks on a decent creative soundcard and ull be safe Smile
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Werelds
Special Little Man



Posts: 15098
Location: 0100111001001100
PostPosted: Fri, 8th Oct 2010 13:30    Post subject:
Creative X-Fi's are cheap, and give much better sound. Realtek's onboard sound chips (99% of all motherboards use a Realtek chip) are decent, but still no match for even an X-Fi ExtremeMusic Smile

I myself have an X-Fi Titanium, and the difference is audible even to me. I'm not an audiophile, but I do value proper sound Smile
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Paintface




Posts: 6877

PostPosted: Fri, 8th Oct 2010 14:09    Post subject:
you can get ASUS cards for 40 euros, dont buy creative
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db2431




Posts: 239

PostPosted: Fri, 8th Oct 2010 14:41    Post subject:
Waste of money IMHO, Ive yet to notice any difference in sound from a single card to onboard.In the old days it was a different story.
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Werelds
Special Little Man



Posts: 15098
Location: 0100111001001100
PostPosted: Fri, 8th Oct 2010 15:21    Post subject:
@ Paintface: there's virtually no difference in audio at these prices, and Creative also has castrated cards at 30-40 euros Smile
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Breezer_




Posts: 10816
Location: Finland
PostPosted: Fri, 8th Oct 2010 16:05    Post subject:
High quality soundcard shines when you have proper audio hardware for it.
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Paintface




Posts: 6877

PostPosted: Fri, 8th Oct 2010 16:06    Post subject:
those ASUS cards at 40 euro roll any onboard by miles...

sorry but anyone who thinks it doesnt either never tried the difference / is hearing impared / uses low quality speakers or headphones.
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Mortibus




Posts: 18053
Location: .NL
PostPosted: Fri, 8th Oct 2010 16:51    Post subject:
i know there is a difference but i simply couldn't give a fuko, my on board is more than enough for me
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Mister_s




Posts: 19863

PostPosted: Fri, 8th Oct 2010 16:52    Post subject:
The necessity of a seperate soundcard fully depends on what hardware is hooked up to it and what you're listening. If you have 10 bucks speakers and listen to 64kbit mp3s, then yes a seperate soundcard is irrelevant.
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Mortibus




Posts: 18053
Location: .NL
PostPosted: Fri, 8th Oct 2010 17:54    Post subject:
Logitech x530 and sony mdr-cd280

music and games sound just fine to me

Via HD audio sounds better than crappy realtek and that's what i got atm
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snoop1050
Banned



Posts: 5057

PostPosted: Fri, 8th Oct 2010 17:58    Post subject:
pwerelds wrote:
Creative X-Fi's are cheap, and give much better sound. Realtek's onboard sound chips (99% of all motherboards use a Realtek chip) are decent, but still no match for even an X-Fi ExtremeMusic Smile

I myself have an X-Fi Titanium, and the difference is audible even to me. I'm not an audiophile, but I do value proper sound Smile
they are much better than xtrememusc carp, atleast the new realtek chip
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Epsilon
Dr. Strangelove



Posts: 9240
Location: War Room
PostPosted: Fri, 8th Oct 2010 18:30    Post subject:
Get an auzentech, I have an X-Meridian and I like it a lot. It produces very clear sound and high treble. I compared it to the X-fi card in one of my other computers and the X-Meridian is just so much better.
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todd72173




Posts: 2403

PostPosted: Fri, 8th Oct 2010 23:22    Post subject:
Have not bought a sound card in maybe a decade? Last one was SoundBlaster live! Onboard sound does the job just fine.


RYZEN 5 2600|RADEON 570| |ASRock X370 Killer|DDR4@2800Mhz||Corsair SPEC-05 Case|AOC G2590FX 24.5''144hz 1ms|
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ixigia
[Moderator] Consigliere



Posts: 65086
Location: Italy
PostPosted: Fri, 8th Oct 2010 23:47    Post subject:
todd72173 wrote:
Have not bought a sound card in maybe a decade? Last one was SoundBlaster live! Onboard sound does the job just fine.


Same here..I loved my old Live! though Very Happy.
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Werelds
Special Little Man



Posts: 15098
Location: 0100111001001100
PostPosted: Sat, 9th Oct 2010 00:12    Post subject:
@snoop1050:
What "new" chip? The ALC889, which is their most recent chip? Sorry, but no. That thing is nowhere close to my X-Fi Titanium, and an X-Fi Titanium is nowhere near the best you can get.

@ paintface:
Not really, the Xonar DS or DG you get between €30 and €40 are no better than the X-Fi Xtreme stuff between €30 and €40. Take it up a step to €60, and you've got the Titanium versus DX, which still is pretty much a tie unless you're a true audiophile. The D2 quite frankly I found disappointing for its price (€100) - at that high price range, something from Auzentech is beyond both Creative and ASUS.

@ Epsilon:
Your Auzentech is also more than twice as expensive as an X-Fi Titanium, it should be better Wink


And for those saying they haven't bought a soundcard in a decade: neither did I until last year, and I know I'll never be going back to onboard audio again. Honestly, if you've got crappy speakers it doesn't matter - but if you have anything better than basic desktop speakers, or a good pair of headphones (or even headset), the sound from these onboard cards sounds incredibly muffled in comparison. Most of you probably don't care enough though, as long as your sound doesn't crackle or something like that Razz
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crossmr




Posts: 2966
Location: United Kingdom
PostPosted: Sat, 9th Oct 2010 03:10    Post subject:
Thanks guys. The selection/price is somewhat different here in Korea. What I bought here so far actually compares favourably to Newegg prices. The total cost of the machine was about $60 more than I would have paid back home in Canada. That worked out nice. However, when I was looking at creative cards last night they were nearly double in price.

There was a creative x-fi extreme on newegg for $57 Canadian, but here they want like $100 for it.

Sound cards are so under the radar here I just noticed the place I ordered the parts from doesn't have a sound card part section.

at least not linked off the main menu.

They have an x-fi titanium, but it's about $130 CAD, that's about $30 more than back home.

ah finally found the sound card section

one thing I've noticed is that their PCI express sound card selection is pretty limited. Lots of PCI ones, but I've no PCI slots.

My only choices there are the Prodigy 7.1 x-fi for $108 or the Creative x-fi titanium for $130.

I'm probably not going to be hooking up fancy speakers to it at all, pretty much always headphones..

Apparently the absolutely cheapest PCI-E sound card in the country is that prodigy x-fi 7.1e from another shop about $100.

Quote:
Get an auzentech, I have an X-Meridian and I like it a lot. It produces very clear sound and high treble. I compared it to the X-fi card in one of my other computers and the X-Meridian is just so much better.

They have a Bravura for around $115


intel ultra 7 265k, 64gb ram, 3070
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SpykeZ




Posts: 23710

PostPosted: Sat, 9th Oct 2010 05:39    Post subject:
Breezer_ wrote:
High quality soundcard shines when you have proper audio hardware for it.


This..

Stay away from creative at all costs. Junk period.

Go Auzentech or HT Omega <3


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829271001

Just got my brother this one, sounds dayum nice

Sound cards > onboard anyday, people who say they are fine with onboard aren't usually audiophiles or are fine with lackluster sound. Hell, my old sound blaster audigy 2 sounds better than any onboard out even to this day.


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Przepraszam
VIP Member



Posts: 14503
Location: Poland. New York.
PostPosted: Sat, 9th Oct 2010 05:43    Post subject:
+1 for Auzentech.

I got X-FI Forte and its amazing.


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crossmr




Posts: 2966
Location: United Kingdom
PostPosted: Sat, 9th Oct 2010 06:40    Post subject:
Even on Newegg the PCI-E pickings are pretty slim
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100008658%20600011982&IsNodeId=1&name=PCI%20Express%20x1

mostly Creative, ASUS and Auzentech. I might go with the Bravura, its the only reasonably priced one available here in Korea.


intel ultra 7 265k, 64gb ram, 3070
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SpykeZ




Posts: 23710

PostPosted: Sat, 9th Oct 2010 07:18    Post subject:
ya those pcie cards never really took off big, dunno if it's cause theres no real performance different between the two?

There something up with newegg in general lately. Their sound cards, speaker equipment and headphones and all that are really skimpy lately, dunno if their selling out of everything or what.

Heres a review on your barvura

http://www.guru3d.com/article/auzen-bravura-review/


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snoop1050
Banned



Posts: 5057

PostPosted: Sat, 9th Oct 2010 12:08    Post subject:
pwerelds wrote:
@snoop1050:
What "new" chip? The ALC889, which is their most recent chip? Sorry, but no. That thing is nowhere close to my X-Fi Titanium, and an X-Fi Titanium is nowhere near the best you can get.P

LULWUT ?
alc889 isnt the most recent chip , Sorry, but no. That thing is nowhere close to my ALC892HD
i never said it was better than titanium so learn to read?
i said it was much better than the extreme audio crap which is basicly uses your cpu as much as an onboard soundcard would.

892 sounds great with my old logitech 5.1 speakers , soundcards are a waste of time unless your passing the sound to a hifi
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MinderMast




Posts: 6172

PostPosted: Sat, 9th Oct 2010 13:21    Post subject:
snoop1050 wrote:
892 sounds great with my old logitech 5.1 speakers , soundcards are a waste of time unless your passing the sound to a hifi

I always saw it the other way around... if you use digital outputs to pass the sound to a Hi-Fi system, the card itself becomes irrelevant. Dedicated audio systems (decent ones at least) should be better than any soundcard you can stick in your PC, in my opinion.
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snoop1050
Banned



Posts: 5057

PostPosted: Sat, 9th Oct 2010 13:30    Post subject:
MinderMast wrote:
snoop1050 wrote:
892 sounds great with my old logitech 5.1 speakers , soundcards are a waste of time unless your passing the sound to a hifi

I always saw it the other way around... if you use digital outputs to pass the sound to a Hi-Fi system, the card itself becomes irrelevant. Dedicated audio systems (decent ones at least) should be better than any soundcard you can stick in your PC, in my opinion.
have you ever tried it?
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Mister_s




Posts: 19863

PostPosted: Sat, 9th Oct 2010 13:37    Post subject:
When a soundcard is simply passing data to another system where it's decoded, a hifi for example, the quality of the card itself doesn't matter much. A good soundcard is only needed when using good analogue speakers.
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MinderMast




Posts: 6172

PostPosted: Sat, 9th Oct 2010 13:44    Post subject:
Yes, that is what I meant... with digital out, the money spent on a high-end card is just wasted, since it doesn't process audio at all (an exception being some kind of a DTS conversion, such as DTS Connect), as far as I know.
The actual quality will of course depend on what you use as an output.
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snoop1050
Banned



Posts: 5057

PostPosted: Sat, 9th Oct 2010 14:39    Post subject:
it depends what components they use , the cheaper cards will obviously use cheaper ones and the sound quality when passed through an RCA/optical cable or whatever has background hissing
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db2431




Posts: 239

PostPosted: Sat, 9th Oct 2010 15:35    Post subject:
Exactly, I use digital out to my marantz amp and it sounds great.
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kumkss




Posts: 4835
Location: Chile
PostPosted: Mon, 11th Oct 2010 19:10    Post subject:
uhm... i've got a weird issue with my integrated audio. it's supposed to be a soundblaster X-Fi, with many features, but, when installed the proper drivers, it didn't work; instead the "control launcher" utility provided by creative crashed every time i runned it.

i then deinstalled everything, booted again and: surprise without the "proper drivers" i got audio... lol

so it's not a problem, but an "issue".

i am thinking nonetheless in installing my old (2004) sound card, that got optical out, hence now i've got a "sherwood" amplifier with some nice Jamo speakers Very Happy
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