Any benefit?

Marky

Marky

Marky

Soldato
Joined
16 Apr 2007
Posts
23,439
Location
UK
Hey all,

I have an Asus Z170-A motherboard (See here)

I've heard that onboard sound has come along way - Would it be a waste to get an Asus Xonar sound card with this motherboard? I will only be using either a 2.0 or 2.1 speaker system.

I had one in a PC had about five years ago, and I didn't really know if there was much difference to using a sound card or not...

Thanks,
Marky
 
IMO a waste. Unless you are particular about your audio, the onboard should be sufficient for that kind of usage.
 
Unless you are using high end speakers or good headphones then stick with what you have as it's at least equivalent to low end sound cards.
 
Depends on the speaker system. I have a Nad C370 amp and B&W 603 speakers.

The difference between onboard sound and Xonar Essence is night and day
 
Guest2 said:
Depends on the speaker system. I have a Nad C370 amp and B&W 603 speakers.

The difference between onboard sound and Xonar Essence is night and day
Click to expand...

Yup, I'm with guest2 on this one.
I had an Asus STX which was connected to a Yamaha A-S500 amp and Monitor Audio Silver RX2 speakers and the difference between onboard ALC1150 and the STX was night and day. Then again, I guess you'd need to be quiet passionate about your music or at least tell how your music is meant to be heard.
I think most people are happy with the onboard audio as it'll do the job if that's all you've heard. Once you've used a proper soundcard like the STX then there's simply no going back.
 
I was assuming the OP was going to be using normal active 2.0 or 2.1 computer speakers, not feeding a hi-fi amp and expensive passive speakers - perhaps I was wrong.

Then again, if I was going to be feeding a good hi-fi amp and passive speakers, I wouldn't be using a sound card anyway, I'd be using an external DAC.
 
I actually have Realtek ALC1150 onboard too which is supposed to be good onboard audio. The fact is, it really isnt. Sure its fine for a bit of gaming and 128kbps audio and a few youtube videos but music listening its poor.
Rids, I did a fair bit if research when looking at a soundcard or DAC and it turned out the Xonar Essence ST was as good if not better that sone ~£300 DACs like the Berresford 7250
 
Yep, the ST / STX has a superb DAC and is a match for most in the sub £300 category. It's headphone amp is also very powerful but is a tad rough compared with headphone amps like Vali & Magni 2.
 
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