Does it really make a difference?

manveruppd · 18 Apr 2007 at 17:10

Do dedicated sound cards really make a difference in sound quality? I'm not trolling, this is a genuine question: never owned one except for a Sound Blaster I bought for my 12MHz 286 way back, been relying on on-board sound ever since. Currently happy enough with the SoundStorm on my NF7-S.

So I'm thinking, I've no doubt sound cards can produce vastly superior sound to on-board chipsets... but considering that the average user who plays music off their PC will be using MP3s at somewhere between 128kbps-192kbps, and taking into account all the EMI from all the other junk stuffed into computer cases, will the difference really be audible?

Kezmo · 18 Apr 2007 at 17:35

"will the difference really be audible?"

Hugely.

shock33 · 18 Apr 2007 at 17:38

The soundstorm on the NF7S is excellent however, so with that one it will probably not be as noticeable. I didn't notice a massive difference when I uprgaded my whole system and switched to an Audigy 2, HOWEVER, I have noticed a BIG difference between the Audigy (which I've ripped out, see other post for details!) and the Realtek onboard sound.

Jaap74 · 18 Apr 2007 at 17:41

I have an X-Fi and it really does improve MP3 quality

taz488 · 18 Apr 2007 at 17:42

to casual listeners it wont make a difference.

james.miller · 18 Apr 2007 at 17:45

shock33 said:
The soundstorm on the NF7S is excellent however, so with that one it will probably not be as noticeable.

not if he's using analouge it isnt

Nick1881 · 18 Apr 2007 at 17:57

I recently made the jump from onboard sound to Xfi, my god the difference is amazing. Mainly noticable on my Senn headphones, before they lacked in bass, now they sound excellent across the range.

manveruppd · 18 Apr 2007 at 18:03

james.miller said:
not if he's using analouge it isnt

Good point that: I've got the PC connected to hi-fi separates, so I'm not using the optical-out.

I should point out that I'm not thinking about getting one atm because I know the SS is supposed to be good. This is mainly for whenever I upgrade the PC and have to say goodbye to the SS for some other mobo with Realtek audio on-board

Buffalo2102 · 18 Apr 2007 at 19:03

I've just put a X-Fi Gamer in my DS3 to use in place of the Realtek HD audio. After the messing about with drivers and blue screens etc. (I'm using Vista), I've got it working perfectly and the difference in sound quality is definitely noticable in games (playing Stalker for the 2nd time now). There is also an improvement in other sounds, music etc. but it is not so significant for these applications.