Whats better: Internal Realtek HD or Audigy 2 card?

Mrobbo

Mrobbo

Mrobbo

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Joined
19 Nov 2008
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21
Hi, I have the Titan Accelerator and as I've mentioned in another thread I'm thinking of swapping in my old Audigy 2 card for the onboard Realtek HD.

I connect my sound up to my stereo seperates system which has lovely big Tannoy 609 speakers so any difference will be noticed, particularly in the bass. I use my PC mainly for gaming, movies and music so sound quality is very important.

Any advice would be appreciated thanks.
 
The Audigy 2 has EAX 4 in hardware whereas the Realtek does EAX 2 in software. The Audigy shouldn't suffer from interference as much as the Realtek. It also has a better signal to noise ratio.
 
Thanks for the reply but since I opened up my case it might now be a bit of a moot point for me. I'd have to unplug too much stuff since the cables are quite aggressively strapped into position to the effect that the PCI slots are unavailable.

If the difference was particularly marked (which I'm not 100% on) then maybe I'd get amongst the cables, unplug my graphics card etc. But this being a brand new purchase my reluctance is significant.

Once I get more used to it I'll test out my Audigy but for now I'm too scared to split the cables and unplug my lovely new graphics card.

The Realtek sounds pretty good mind, I've certainly not noticed any loss in qualityo far.
 
Tried this a while ago (also with an audigy 2) didnt really notice much difference to be honest. Took the soundcard out and went back to the onboard audio as it meant less clutter in the case.
 
I've got the latest Realtek ALC889A with Dolby Home Theatre on an X58 mobo and it sound much better than my Audigy2 in every way. Could not believe it as was expecting the reverse but the Dolby Mode when engaged makes games & music come alive. Deep bass is present on games which on the Audigy2 is just a low hum now becomes a very deep boom.
 
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All to do with the DA converter be it onboard or expansion card, or external device. Not sure how the creative cards differ from new onboard stuff, but I know my old shuttle's onboard is awful, and my SB live card isn't much better.

My M-audio FW solo box however seems to perform well with my active monitors, far above the quality of my out SB live.

Have a read around regarding the DA convertors, let us know if you find out anything interesting.
You will find that people do spend 1000's on DA processors etc in home audio, some would sya it's wasted when listening to MP3's :)
 
AWPC said:
I've got the latest Realtek ALC889A with Dolby Home Theatre on an X58 mobo and it sound much better than my Audigy2 in every way. Could not believe it as was expecting the reverse but the Dolby Mode when engaged makes games & music come alive. Deep bass is present on games which on the Audigy2 is just a low hum now becomes a very deep boom.
Click to expand...

Isn't there also a LFE (low frequency) tick in the creative drivers, try that to get the playing field even (I have a ZS it has more dolby options over the 2)
 
errata said:
Isn't there also a LFE (low frequency) tick in the creative drivers, try that to get the playing field even (I have a ZS it has more dolby options over the 2)
Click to expand...
Made little difference the card was a THX certified Audigy2 from 2004. Now starting to show its age. Xonar D2X in my other PC destroys it in every possible way as does the onboard Realtek with Dolby Home Theatre on my X58 mobo.
 
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