Do I need a soundcard

Gaming4Life · 12 Dec 2015 at 00:04

Do I need a sound card for gaming? That is all I want to know

Cheers

Spec-Chum · 12 Dec 2015 at 00:10

Need? No.

Want? Maybe.

I don't use one but I've got a decent motherboard with ALC1150 and SoundBlaster Cinema 2. Even has twin headphone amps that can drive my 250ohm BeyerDynamic DT990s.

pooley · 12 Dec 2015 at 01:40

powelly · 12 Dec 2015 at 01:44

Depends on your connection requirements more than anything these days with good on board audio

Kyo · 12 Dec 2015 at 12:20

With a dedicated sound card. I certainly notice the difference with my setup. Using onboard until my new sound card arrives. Can't wait

Gaming4Life · 12 Dec 2015 at 12:31

Ok thanks for the help guys

I think that I won't bother purchasing one then

foster grant · 12 Dec 2015 at 12:56

I couldnt use the on board sound

Using a sound card is a big difference

Spec-Chum · 12 Dec 2015 at 13:10

Horses for courses I guess, I prefer this ALC1150 to my Xonar DX, especially the headphone surround, Dolby HP has too much reverb for me, plus the DX wouldn't be capable of driving my 250ohm 'phones.

Foster Grant, I was tempted by the HDX due to it's impressive specs, what's it like?

foster grant · 12 Dec 2015 at 13:25

Well " out of the box " it's a bit on the treble side of things , But....after some settings up via the Equalizer and via my Corsair SP2500 speaker's pod, ....its very nice

...and my headphones ( AKG K550s ) are really loud with this card , i dont use the front panel for headphones...and Big step up from my Sound Blaster Z in all ways lol

Having said all that though if one is on a budget the Sound Blaster at half the price of the HDX is a good card for gaming I think

Spec-Chum · 12 Dec 2015 at 13:58

No budget limit, any of the cards are fine. Gaming would be a plus but this on board is fine for that, it'd be mainly for music fidelity.

Spec-Chum · 12 Dec 2015 at 14:03

What didn't you like about the on board?

foster grant · 12 Dec 2015 at 14:18

well with a sound card i get ( in game ) better sound via headphones ..as in better clarity , sharper sound ..more defined

Spec-Chum · 12 Dec 2015 at 15:21

That's fair enough, I've just ordered a Fiio headphone amp so I might actually put the Xonar back in and see if that sounds any better amped.

The main issue, for me, with the Xonar was it was too quiet through the headphones, the actual DAC didn't sound different to this ALC1150, to me. Plus I prefer the SRS surround bundled with this mobo to Dolby Headphone for games and movies.

powelly · 12 Dec 2015 at 15:33

I own a xonar phoebus which im not using at the moment as i wanted to see what my onboard was like with this motherboard. To be honest apart from connections and a few settings there isnt much difference if at all, my motherboard audio can drive 600ohms and has all the bells and whistles. If you have an older system i can see the benefit but with the newer stuff coming out onboard audio really is getting quite good.

Spec-Chum · 12 Dec 2015 at 16:42

I agree to be honest, but I needed a headphone amp to power the headphones from my Galaxy Tab S anyway, so thought I may as well try it on the PC also.