do i need a soundcard??

  • Thread starter Thread starter Deleted member 36528
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Deleted member 36528

Deleted member 36528

i bought these altec lansing mx5021 speakers a while back and theyr connected to my motherboard which is an ASUS A7V8X-X. Does any1 think i should buy a sound card? if so which 1?

A mate of mine said there wudnt be much difference as asus motherboards onboard sound quality is very good..

:confused:
 
do you have a budget ?
onboard sound is hit and miss... it depends on what your idea of good quality is really !
onboard sound tends to deliver unwanted noise because the sound device is built inot the 'busy mainboard' so you may find odd sounds like your speakers popping when you move oyur mouse, or more than usual feedback from speakers.

id reccomend the Creative X-fi extreme music in a heartbeat. its not the cheapest on the market but it seems to have this magic effect of really being able to NOTICE the difference in sound quality... most people on the forum will vouch for that !

tell us what your budget is and what you use your gcomputer for the most.
Rick

**edit** soem may also say that it gives your computer SLIGHTLY better performance by having a seperate PCI soundcard.
 
i'd say my budget is £100, any recommendations???

o and my speakers are 2.1 so it would b a waste buying 5.1 speakers rite?

Thanks
 
Do you play games (especially FPS)? If you do, then the Xtreme Music is about the only choice.

If you mainly listen to music, then you can pick between the EMU 0404 or the 1212 (which is slightly overbudget new).
 
I have an Asus A8n SLI Deluxe. I play games like battlefield 2. Went from onboard sound to an Audigy 2. Best move I made. Much improved quality, directional sound and bass. Hope that helps :)
 
i play a bit of counterstrike but also listen to a lot of music, is the x-fi extreme better than the audigy 2? and how good r the EMU's
 
The Xtreme Music will be better than the A2ZS for music. But it is still more of a gaming card: I seem to remember that the Xtreme Music -> Fatal1ty range of card all use the same DAC/Op-amp as the A2ZS (or if different not much upgraded - only the Elite Pro is different). BUT they are still better for music because it doesn't resample (in Audio Creation mode), and have a better resampling algorithm compared to the A2ZS (in other modes).

The EMU 0404 will be a (not major from some sources - I don't have first hand experience with those) step up to the X-Fi series minus the Elite Pro (you are starting to venture into audiophile terrirory). The EMU 1212 is very similar to the Elite Pro, but without the latest gaming features (at almost half the price of the Elite Pro too). In truth the X-Fi also uses EMU chips, but they don't use the same op-amp/DAC as the actual EMU cards.

For simplicity, it is probably better to go X-Fi though. You'll have more people able to troubleshoot around here, and you are not going to use some mid-high end headphones right?
 
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