Does it really make a difference?

[manveruppd]

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?

 

[manveruppd]

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