Does anyone use a soundcard anymore?

mikelkite

mikelkite

mikelkite

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So I can't post in the souncity area as work filters it for some reason - so general is better than no where.

Since the advent of soundcards I have always had some model of creative soundblaster.

I just sold my old X-fi on ebay for nearly as much as i paid for it tbh! 5 years later!

Since HDMi and DP carry sound now, motherboards have optical and onboard sound - unless everything you have is analogue is there any point in having one now?

My amp is hdmi and I have a headset which uses an optical input on its own soundcard/box (Sharkoon pro's) so just wondering if anyone actually uses one anymore?
 
How does work filter it?

:D

Looks like you've been moved :O


Yes As the purchaser for soundcards we sell as many this year as we did last.

Problem with soundcards is they don't evolve Nothing new will probably ever happen in sound now. Unless a some wild Dynamic 3D surround feature comes out from dolby or DTS or THX nothing will change imo.

So once you buy a high end one you keep it till it dies which realistically will be never.
 
For gaming purposes there are benefits of a dedicated soundcard - though less since MS messed up hardware sound :|

Would really love to see a proper evolution of hardware 3D sound though - when you hear a game with proper binaural sound positioning with additional environment geometry modifiers* its really hard to go back to plain old panned 2D sound as most games use :S


* Proper modification i.e. reflection and occlusion by world geometry, etc. not just turning an EAX preset on and off.
 
I use one. Its only a Xonar DX. I thought it died about a year ago and went back onto my onbaord sound for a little bit. That wasn't driving my headphones loud enough for me. The volume was OK for 99% of the time, but wasn't loud enough for when I really wanted to blast some tunes.

I'd like to think I could notice a big difference in the sound quality too. But that's all subjective, and the change in volume doesn't help much there either.

The only thing I connect digitally to my PC is my TV through a massive HDMI cable as its in another room. I don't do this often, and I know its using the TVs DAC when I do that. The sound sucks on the TV though so it doesn't make any difference.

Basically, headphone users that don't want to use a USB DAC, for 3d sound gaming reasons, will probably want one.
 
TwsT said:
As a note I game on a Stereo DAC :D
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Been playing around with a self built stereo USB DAC and it works pretty decently (once I fixed a couple of issues) sound quality is more than acceptable, not noticing any latency issues and mostly it just works for games.


EDIT: Though running into a bug with prolonged sessions of use which is probably either an issue with the old system I've been using to test it or an inherent flaw with the specific chipset :S
 
Well I work in London as an IT consultant soooooo I could bypass it but we're trying to be compliant so I'll just use my phone if it gets that bad.

Its bluecoat filtering for "Games" on the soundcity, there must be some trigger words as other sub forums here do the same!

That interesting because I found my xfi when using mumble there would be a slight electronic noise over the line. I presumed there was something interfering with it or the headset was going. Over the mobo it is much much cleaner sound (using spdif)

I have 3 lots of sound 1 using HDMI to 5.1, 1 to a 5.1 headset over spdif and one 2 channel coming from a heaphone jack>amp>2 speakers.

Now I loved my x-fi but unless im using analogue it had no functions I cared about anymore.

Why does HDMi/Digital sound have such a lacking set of features over analogue?

I might buy a new soundcard later on but for now the HDMI/spdif is my main sound and I can't see why I would need a new sound card.
 
Rroff said:
Been playing around with a self built stereo USB DAC and it works pretty decently (once I fixed a couple of issues) sound quality is more than acceptable, not noticing any latency issues and mostly it just works for games.


EDIT: Though running into a bug with prolonged sessions of use which is probably either an issue with the old system I've been using to test it or an inherent flaw with the specific chipset :S
Click to expand...

Yeah I have seen a thread with some of your self bit stuff looks pretty cool.


Something i would very much like to do when the nights get dark again.



Gaming on a DAC is fine Whilst I'm using the Essence one, once you get used to the Stereo your brain basically virtualises it.

When I use virtual surround now whilst instantly I can hear the positioning i find the bass is loud but flattened and that in making some noises clearer the overall experience is not as enchanting.
 
Also some people here are saying their PC doesnt drive their headphones - I run everything off an amp.

My other headphones are optical and have their own power so they are more than loud.

Still dont get why I would need one now?
 
mikelkite said:
Also some people here are saying their PC doesnt drive their headphones - I run everything off an amp.

My other headphones are optical and have their own power so they are more than loud.

Still dont get why I would need one now?
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doesn't sound like YOU do.
 
mikelkite said:
Also some people here are saying their PC doesnt drive their headphones - I run everything off an amp.

My other headphones are optical and have their own power so they are more than loud.

Still dont get why I would need one now?
Click to expand...

I think you're missing some points.



1. Some motherboards come with headphone amps some don't many headphones need amps to power them properly
2. All motherboards have rubbish audio quality even high end ones are not very good.
3. Your optical headphones run a digital signal to a DAC/AMP which acts like a soundcard and amp and powers your headphones.
4. The other stuff you're Amping I assume from the onboard soundcard which as i mentioned isn't as good quality as pretty much every soundcard OcUK Sells. But that's subjective if you're happy with what you hear that is all that matters.
 
Interesting....

Tbh the speakers I use are just fillers. They are there for when I'm sitting at my desk and need to hear something they don't serve any real purpose outside youtube or basic sound providing.

I get what people are saying now. Thanks for the input. Ill forget replacing my x-fi as long as any future mobo has On board and optical. The gfx card will serve the hdmi.

Why do digital sources not allow the tweaking that analogue do? When I do a test of my headset it is true 5.1(as in it has separate front/center/rear/sub) does it only display as 2 channel? You cannot select 5.1 only stereo. Is it due to how spdif sends the signal it receives down the pipe rather than setting it to 5.1 for everything?

It's great to hear people who know what they're talking about which is why I love this place!

Edit: the main ampped stuff is over hdmi
 
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if you're using optical to an amp/dac you don't need a soundcard it's a total waste of time/ money as the digital signal is already there.
 
I haven't used one in a few years. All the ones I did have (various Creative cards, Xonar D2X, and STX) had issues with EMI noise from inside the computer (you know, the dreaded scratchy sound when you move your mouse).

Unless you 1000% need the virtualised 3D stuff, just get a cheap external sound card or receiver (if you're going multi-channel).
 
I use a Creative Soundblaster Z as my onboard is buggy as hell and there are loads of post's on the ROG forums about it but nothing seems to work. The Z works extremely well and I have never had any problems with any of Creatives drivers which is why I stick with them.
 
Use sound blaster z myself with a pair of modded 558'..

Love the sound stage in games and drivers software always been fine for me and nice being able to switch from headphones and speakers via software.
 
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