Do expensive soundcards really make a difference?

zoomee said:
I'm sorry - I'm calling BS on those who think theres no difference between onboard sound and a dedicated sound card. I would agree if you were talking about just outputing optical sound via the digital output to an external decoder but out of personal experience over the past 20 years (I kid you not - been in this game a looooong time) - soundcards make a difference in quality.

I'm not an audiophile - hell I'm probably going deaf from the amount of bass that used to come out of some of my cars in the past, but using the SAME set of speakers one can easily tell the difference in sound quality between using onboard and a dedicated card.
Click to expand...

Don't you think that calling something BS when you haven't even given a subjective description of this extra quality, is quite strong?

Do you think cables make a difference? How about amplifiers?
 
We're not talking about cabling, nor amps, nor speakers (whilst I agree speakers / headphones do make a difference in quality of sound to a point) - I'm referring specifically to onboard v's a dedicated soundcard. Read my post mate.

Anyone who can't notice the difference between onboard and dedicated needs their ears examining tbh - whether people think this difference is worth the cost is another matter of course ;)
 
Having conducted blind tests on my friends using SB Live / D2 / Essence cards to see if it was just me suffering from the placebo effect, I'd agree with zoomee.
They all noted the differences in clarity, bass and space around the instruments amongst other things that are hard to describe unless you're an audiophile reviewer or something.
No, these tests weren't conducted with scientific accuracy, but they were good enough for us.

Granted, the differences between a D2 and an Essence were subtle, but there nontheless.

It's hardly the same thing as the usual snakeoil speaker cable argument.
 
Last edited:
Going from an onboard to X-Fi originally I wasn't that impressed. When I gave it up and went back to onboard..... I realised what I was missing, and got another X-Fi as soon as possible.

Also, just to note that some cards/games actually benefit from using a dedicated sound card rather than getting the CPU to do the work. It will reduce lag in times big explosions and lots of sounds going on.

Onboard is the minimum they can sell for a feature set. It sucks. If you are using a digital out, then the onboard quality matters less.

Dedicated sound card and reasonable speakers all the way.

Speakers will normally have a bigger impact on sound it's true, but don't underestimate the benefit of a reasonable quality dedicated card.
 
zoomee said:
We're not talking about cabling, nor amps, nor speakers (whilst I agree speakers / headphones do make a difference in quality of sound to a point) - I'm referring specifically to onboard v's a dedicated soundcard. Read my post mate.

Anyone who can't notice the difference between onboard and dedicated needs their ears examining tbh - whether people think this difference is worth the cost is another matter of course ;)
Click to expand...

Heh, well you should have read the ear scooping thread.
 
£60+ cards will always beat mobo sound no matter what mobo you have unless its a motherboard with onboard creative xfi or soundcore3d.
but the boards with any type of realtek or the like sound chips will never beat dedicated 60+£ sound cards.
those above though will beat realtek sound motherboards or nvidia on board sound chips.
----
i went from mobo realtek to azuntech prelude 7.1 expensive at the time and with high end opams added even without them the sound was more vibrant and crisp.
and now i have a creative zxr sound card and its leagues above anything a mobo could ever give you and probably the best high end card you can buy right up there along side the asus cards albet the asus cards sucky software lol ...

but been loving the sound from this card ever since getting it even higher quality than my previous azuntech prelude card....

Your also forgetting the benifits if onboard vs dedicated = lower latency + sound offloaded onto the dedicated hardware chip instead of your cpu. there is much more but who is nitpicking lol
 
Last edited:
ViRuS2k said:
£60+ cards will always beat mobo sound no matter what mobo you have unless its a motherboard with onboard creative xfi or soundcore3d.
Click to expand...

You won't actually find any x-fi or soundcore3d sound card onboard. They are mainly realtek etc chips using licensed codecs from creative - bit of a con really. :(

The top-end gigabyte and asus motherboards have decentish dedicated soundcards onboard (you can tell by the cluster of capacitors usually towards the bottom left of the board) - but I don't know how these perform compared to a seperate dedicated card (£300 a bloomin motherboard it better have a decent soundcard lol!)
 
Last edited:
AbsenceJam said:
Soundcards give you added functionality and connectivity, not extra quality. The inside of a PC is also very 'noisy' electrically, even scrolling a website can cause a whine on some setups. Having a soundcard can isolate things somewhat, or entirely with an external one.
If you don't get hiss, interference, etc when there's no sound playing then you don't have a problem though.

Btw the people who say they hear a difference aren't wrong. It's just that it's normally placebo, think something will be better, or ought to be, and it is. Works the other way round though less effectively.
Click to expand...

Hey man are you down SE England at all ever?

Pop on round if you want to the studio and bring any gaming/hifi (or even semi-pro) audio gear you got and I promise you we will hear a difference at my place ;)

There are so many factors here but essentially yes there is a massive difference between onboard sound and dedicated soundcards. However, I would like to add that I personally (just my subjective opinion) think the 'gaming' cards sound like poo.

This is just to my ears and I don't want to have a dig at anyone who has them as I too used to use such things on my gaming PC(s) but then spent a few weeks directly comparing all the different audio gear I had collected over 5 years and maintain my position that those of you who are serious about audio quality should opt for a half decent audio interface. Once you go 'pro' you never wanna go back...

However, it is certainly true that I have trained my ears through years of playing/recording/mixing/mastering music so the differences are probably more subtle to most.

I do find personally that in order to really tell if there is a noticeable change in sonic quality for the better its best to sit with a new bit of gear/modification for at least a week and THEN go back to what you had before with the same source and speakers. That is when you will REALLY tell the difference.

Also be advised that our ears somehow 'get used' to sound. We always have this in mixing when engineers regularly have to take breaks. Hell, Chris Lord Alge (one of the most famous mix engineers on the planet) does the '40 min mix' as he is of the opinion that anything after is coloured and will not necessarily be better than due to this phenomenon.

Soundcard/audio inteface IMPORTANT
Source IMPORTANT
Speakers V IMPORTANT
Acoustics of room V V IMPORTANT

Really must get some of you guys down here to show you first hand what I'm talking about!

Rant /end.
 
Last edited:
My brothers highend naimaudio is in another league compared to my pc setup.... and i beg to differ if you could tell the difference hughythomas, his setup costs thousands of nuggets :D
and if you think creatives zxr sound card is poo to your ears then your not human lol
 
ViRuS2k said:
My brothers highend naimaudio is in another league compared to my pc setup.... and i beg to differ if you could tell the difference hughythomas, his setup costs thousands of nuggets :D
and if you think creatives zxr sound card is poo to your ears then your not human lol
Click to expand...

I don't understand your post man lol
 
im just wondering how you can say pc highend sound cards are poo ?
well they are if your willing to spend thousands on equipment hence my brothers naimaudio separates, but for pc high end with high end headphones they do not sound poo.... thats what i tried to get across lol

I have a set of very rare lynn saihra isobaraks not sure of the spelling that are 15 years old and still work as good as they where 15 years ago, you being a audio freak :D wouldnt have any idea how much they would be worth ?
 
Last edited:
ViRuS2k said:
I have a set of very rare lynn saihra isobaraks not sure of the spelling that are 15 years old and still work as good as they where 15 years ago, you being a audio freak :D wouldnt have any idea how much they would be worth ?
Click to expand...

Name sounded interesting :p, I googled.

It's like this,
Lynn sara isobairik

as for value, these guys wanted lots
http://dallas.listlux.com/a,49,859634,Linn-sara-isobariks----400-Ft--Worth.htm
http://app.audiogon.com/listings/mo...s-upgraded-tweeters-2012-10-19-speakers-60622
http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/linn-sara-isobarik-speakers-rare-early-xlr-version/1031091437

Oh, and I spent 470 Pounds on my entire audio setup, including a soundcard to process dolby headphone for positional audio in games. And I agree, sound cards sound like poo. Maybe slightly nicer poo than on board sound cards.
 
Last edited:
ViRuS2k said:
im just wondering how you can say pc highend sound cards are poo ?
well they are if your willing to spend thousands on equipment hence my brothers naimaudio separates, but for pc high end with high end headphones they do not sound poo.... thats what i tried to get across lol

I have a set of very rare lynn saihra isobaraks not sure of the spelling that are 15 years old and still work as good as they where 15 years ago, you being a audio freak :D wouldnt have any idea how much they would be worth ?
Click to expand...

Let us be clear here Virus, I am making the claim that highend 'gaming' cards are poo (not highend soundcards). Yes, there is a difference :)

Sorry lads I feel like I have derailed the thread somewhat and caused controversy which was not really my intention.

I remember when I had my trusty Soundblaster Live! 24 and I thought that was the absolute canine's sack but as my ears developed and I heard better systems I soon realised how poor the card was/is in terms of conversion, stereo imaging and bad components etc.

So, I really do believe sound quality is subjective and your miles may vary as each individual's idea of what sounds good is based upon their own milestone(s) of the best system that they have heard. Each time you hear a system that absolutely spanks your own ideas of good sound quality your snob rating goes up!

I am fortunate enough to have worked on/owned some serious pro hardware and now, as a result, I am a 100% certified audio snob.

This does not mean to say that I am against budget gear. Ohhhhh noooo.

However, the equipment has to be seriously good for the monies for me to (subjectively) get excited about. Frankly, I have not heard a single gaming card that has done this. Well, OK maybe the Auzentech X-Fi Prelude (once upgraded) sounded pretty good for the cash...

As for the original question:

Q: "Do expensive soundcards really make a difference?"
Tom says: "Why yes they do! But it also depends on a lot of factors like your source, speakers, room, ears, positioning, cabling, power ring bla bla bla"

Hope this clears some things up for y'all :D
 
Last edited:
hughythomas said:
So, I really do believe sound quality is subjective and your miles may vary as each individual's idea of what sounds good is based upon their own milestone(s) of the best system that they have heard.
Click to expand...
This sounds good :D, in my own personal listening i would say that a decent sound card (not necessarily expensive) is better than onboard motherboard sound solutions that i have listened to. I paid just under £200 for the sennheiser PC360D which came with a dobly pro logic IIx sound card and yet i prefer the sound that my old x-fi titanium pumps out.
 
hughythomas said:
..So, I really do believe sound quality is subjective and your miles may vary as each individual's idea of what sounds good is based upon their own milestone(s) of the best system that they have heard. Each time you hear a system that absolutely spanks your own ideas of good sound quality your snob rating goes up!..
Click to expand...

Word.

Quoted also by Kedge, because it hit the nail on the proverbial head. :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom