Is a Dedicated Sound Card Really Needed in 2013?

I know that back 10 years ago the sound quality form onboard sound was anywhere near the quality of having a dedicated Sound card, but what about in 2013, is there still a large golf between onboard and dedicated?

I suppose it depends on the motherboards sound chip, some boards use a half decent decent chip such as Gigabytes Sniper range which have a Creative chip, or boards like the Z77-UD5h/UP5 which use a Realtek ALC898, these aren't too bad.

Also how you consume it. So if you use optical to a amplifier then pretty moot. But I use a STX which has a built in headphone amp so lets me have my amp off for personal/night time use.

As above, it depends a lot on what kind of kind you're intending to use with the computer

lettuce said:

I know that back 10 years ago the sound quality form onboard sound was anywhere near the quality of having a dedicated Sound card, but what about in 2013, is there still a large golf between onboard and dedicated?

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On board can, as others have already pointed out, be pretty good. If you want hi-fi out then the obvious question is whether plugging in an STX is the best solution; there are some pretty potent USB DACS out there for under a hundred quid...

Surely some onboard chips dont have the power to drive some sets?

Generally they won't drive anything though. Even a decent soundcard won't drive more than headphones.

If you have a nice set of speakers then you'll have an amp for them.

If you want the best sound possible you don't want to use onboard, Yes onboard has come a long way but not to the levels of a dedicated soundcard

I have an Realtek ALC898 on my motherboard which is supposed to be decent on board sound, however I was getting a lot of noise when moving the mouse when I increased the volume on my amp. Fitted a Xonar DGX and there is no more noise and the sound is definitely clearer.

Like all PC hardware it's stepped price vs quality. The problem is sound and hi-fi isn't as tangible as an FPS increase, a better monitor etc. The debate here is more on the difference and not need.

I have an Essence ST card for example and there is a massive difference between my onboard simply because it's very high end for a consumer soundcard and it drives my AKG Q701s with ease with a built in 600 ohm amp. If it was a low end card like the entry level Asus one I probably would have heard only a slight difference not warranting the money.

The other thing is a sound card is only as good as what speakers or headphones you're using, and there are too many mediocre PC products with a high premium in this catalogue where you're much better off buying Hi-Fi products from Hi-Fi shops and not PC shops.

Summing it up Hi-Fi/PC audio is an odd market, well and truely. If you're happy with the sound from PC, then stick with it.

So, for Joe Gamer, with a decent quality 5.1 set and a somewhat less-than refined ear, is there likely to be a noticeable difference between onboard sound and a 40 quid soundcard (e.g. Xonar DSX 7.1)?

You'd be more likely to hear a difference with an upgrade of speakers/headphones first.

In the whole sound quality affair, the soundcard plays an important but smaller part. Upgrading from onboard to a £100 soundcard won't be anywhere near as noticeable as upgrading to a £100+ pair of headphones whilst still using onboard sound.

Ultimately you still want a nice pair of both though No point having an expensive sports car with cheap tyres.

I don't have the best of ears, but my 10 year old 5.1 creative speakers benefit vastly from my 5-6 year old X-Fi vs the onboard sound. The short of it is that you just hear more from what you're listening to.

In music and games, there are tones that come through from the dedicated sound that simply don't make themselves known from the onboard, particularly at upper and lower ends of the range. I don't have a technical explanation, but I certainly appreciate the effect and I'd never step back to onboard as my primary soundcard

Duff-Man said:

So, for Joe Gamer, with a decent quality 5.1 set and a somewhat less-than refined ear, is there likely to be a noticeable difference between onboard sound and a 40 quid soundcard (e.g. Xonar DSX 7.1)?

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With a surround sound setup it's a bit different. Sound definition wise you may get better clarity, likely not noticeable. However in your case it won't be the quality that sets a dedicated soundcard apart; it will be the features and engines that compliment a surround sound setup which is likely to make a noticeable difference. Features like the GX engine on the Asus cards for EAX sound.

In my case it was all about clarity and definition with a dedicated stereo setup and headphone amp, the Essence ST/STX card is designed for that, but it does come with artificial 3D sound like Dolby Headphone / Dolby Virtual Speaker...they sound leagues ahead compared to the 3D audio mode on my motherboard.

lower latency is a must for me, so a deicated card is essential.

spacedskunk said:

With a surround sound setup it's a bit different. Sound definition wise you may get better clarity, likely not noticeable. However in your case it won't be the quality that sets a dedicated soundcard apart; it will be the features and engines that compliment a surround sound setup which is likely to make a noticeable difference. Features like the GX engine on the Asus cards for EAX sound.

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Thanks for the response...

I may grab a fairly cheap soundcard with this coming upgrade then. I have an old x-fi titanium card in my current machine, but the drivers seem to fall away every few months and it's always a pain to get them back and working again. Frankly, I hate it I'll grab an Asus card this time around I think.

I have a set of Z5500 speakers, so I guess it'd be a shame not to make the most of them.

Duff-Man said:

Thanks for the response...

I may grab a fairly cheap soundcard with this coming upgrade then. I have an old x-fi titanium card in my current machine, but the drivers seem to fall away every few months and it's always a pain to get them back and working again. Frankly, I hate it I'll grab an Asus card this time around I think.

I have a set of Z5500 speakers, so I guess it'd be a shame not to make the most of them.

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Tried the PAX drivers? Not sure a cheap Xonar will sound much better than what you've got.

I feel your pain with the X-Fi card, I had one of the old PCI ones and drivers even for Vista were a pain, I'm put off with Creative for that even though you should have no problem with their latest products.

Now let's put into context this; you want to get more out of your Z5500 setup. Firstly they are good speakers, they are though 'coloured', meaning the sound isn't entirely neutral. Like most PC audio products they lean towards powerful bass and strong treble. This isn't a bad thing if it's your preference, the problem is I remember the X-fi also used to emphasise bass and treble so it won't enhance the sound quality, only make it very artificial. If you could research a soundcard that could control the bass and highs and bring out the medium tones (vocal range for example), you'll be pleasantly surprised, a card that has as best you can get in your budget and is as neutral as possible. I'd personally recommend the D2X as it's got all the surround features you'd need, but it's more expensive.

It's not easy to recommend because a lot of it is down to preferences, but that's what I would do.

I suspect this is why the x-fi has an Equalizer and Individual Bass/Treble settings so you can tune it to your liking The old PCi x-fi works 100% without issues in Vista/Win7 using only official drivers on this old X38 intel chipset. I did try it on an Amd Am3 790 chipset and sometimes the audio channels would randomly change location, but this is supposedly fixed in the very latest driver release (I don't have that comp anymore).

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