AEGO M and soundcard

[PanchoVilla]

Only use 2.1 setup and have had the old AEGO M version that are excellent.

Always used onboard sound from the PC and never thought of buying a soundcard.

What I want to know is, what are the benefits of having a soundcard installed?

Should I need to buy one on a 2.1 setup?

 

[bigredshark]

Depends what you listen to, what source and how much you care to be honest. If you're listening to MP3s and your idea of better is more bass then there's not a whole lot of point. If you're listening to either lossless files or CDs and you want better definition of instruments and vocals then probably it's worth it.

Also depends what onboard sounds you have. I get a lot of interference from my laptops onboard sound so a external card is a must really, even if I didn't want the better quality.

 

[Hamster]

Strange. To me the difference between onboard and a good soundcard is night and day with any type of music file.

 

[bigredshark]

Strange. To me the difference between onboard and a good soundcard is night and day with any type of music file.

Depends on the onboard chipset and how the manufacturer implemented it, if they used a decent chipset, decent components and put some thought into layout it should be pretty good. If it's a cheap motherbaord where they just wanted functional sound for as lttle as possible, it'll unsurprisingly be bad...

 

[Straz]

Strange. To me the difference between onboard and a good soundcard is night and day with any type of music file.

I'd have to agree, my X-Fi went recently so I had to resort to the Realtek onboard for a while. It was horrible, not sure how other onboard chips compare but going from Realtek onboard to a X-Fi or something similar you will definitely notice a big difference, and I'm also using the Aego M's by the way.

 

[PanchoVilla]

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17928963

OK, I now know I need one. My shuttle PC PSU died on me and I didn't realise I was benefitting from the excellent onboard sound solution that was ... nvidia Soundstorm. Currently using a backup HP Core2Duo machine with onboard and having tried the same MP3's on here reveals without a shadow of doubt that "me needs a good sound card in me new build".


So, to refresh my question, what sound card should I go for. Are the expensive ones really worth the extra money?

 

[Rroff]

The soundstorms were suprisingly good about the only good motherboard related thing nVidia has done imo...

The realtek HD onboard sound on my rigs is quite good but its not even close to the quality of the Creative X-Fi I have in them.

 

[PanchoVilla]

...
The realtek HD onboard sound on my rigs is quite good but its not even close to the quality of the Creative X-Fi I have in them.

Thanks, that helps. Can you tell me which X-Fi cards you have, or would rate highly?

I ask this since X-Fi cards can be had from 30-120 pounds (i think).

 

[Hamster]

You'll find a lot of members here recommending the m-audio audiophile 2496 and it is with very good reason; it's a damn good stereo soundcard. It's less than £50 and i can guarantee you won't regret buying it.