New Soundcard or use Mobo onboard sound - Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3

PESolution

PESolution

PESolution

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Hey all,

So i have an Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 Motherboard (http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=Z68 Extreme4 Gen3) and have today upgraded to Windows 8.

My old soundcard that I used with Windows7 was a Razer Barracuda AC-1 Sound Card, which i bought around 5 years ago, and unfortunately is not supported in Windows 8, and so I have been relegated to the onboard audio.

I use a set of trusty Logitech Z-5500 speakers.

Can you advise if the onboard audio of my motherboard is any good? And if I wanted a new soundcard (which I do unless the onboard is decent) which would you recommend. I dont have a set budget, just after something thats good without being rediculously overpriced

Thank you!
 
i have the same mobo as you and got a creative soundblaster xfi fatality card off MM and i am amazed by the difference in quality the sound card is miles better!! and thats using a set of £40 2.1 speakers! cant wait till im home and can test it in my jamo system :).
 
That board uses ACL892, which is not that great. A good sound card will easily be better. You'll need to use the direct 5.1 analogue connections though, and not SPDIF (optical digital). Reason being: When you use digital, the sound card is not doing the work; the external decoder is.
 
I use to have the non Gen3 version of that board and a Creative X-fi xtrememusic.

The soundcard was miles better.
 
Before you go and buy a sound card, I just noticed you have the Z-5500s. Have you tried running them from the optical port on your mobo by an optical cable? Your audio chipset on your motherboard should support Windows 8 and would only cost you the price of a cable.

Jamie
 
It should be extremely minimal in difference between the optical out on your mobo and your soundcard. The only real difference would be with EMI.

Best to just test it first on your motherboard, if there is a hiss then it could be down to interference in your case. This is where an external USB DAC comes in handy to avoid interence, the only problem with this is if your USB bus is busy it can sometimes mess up the audio and it jitters.

Long story short, try the optical from your mobo and if it doesn't sound great try a sound card (best to go with PCI-E as old PCI isn't natively supported on Z68 AFAIK).

Jamie
 
Wise decision really, given that by using digital connection, it is just digital data that is being sent to the speakers. The DAC in the speaker control pod is converting that digital data into analogue sound. Buying any sound card and using the digital connection, will result in the same digital data being sent to the speakers.

Only by buying a £50+ sound card, and using the direct 5.1 analogue connections, would you get the real benefit of a sound card.
 
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