Is an Old Soundcard Still Worth Installing?

[BENBOBBY]

I have a ASUS ROG Xonar Phoebus soundcard that I bought about 6 years ago in my current system and am generally pleased with it.

However I am looking to upgrade my computer soon with a ASUS ROG Strix X570-F Gaming motherboard which boasts 'SupremeFX' onboard audio. So now I'm thinking should I scrap my soundcard and just use that instead. Would there be much difference in audio quality?

I listen to music and play games on my PC pretty regularly, but I don't consider myself a particular 'audiophile'. My speakers are Logitech Z906 5.1 Surround Sound connected via three 3.5mm jacks (green, orange, black).

One thing that seems to make a difference is the 'Xear Surround Max' settings in the ROG software (basically virtual surround so that stereo is played on all speakers) and the 'Dolby Home Theatre' software (EQ) included with the card but Im not sure if the motherboard audio supports that or if it would come with something similar/better?

Or should I forget the soundcard/onboard audio idea and just get a DAC instead?

Thanks for any advice!

 

[BENBOBBY]

Thanks for all the helpful replies. I guess the best thing would be to just try various combinations and let my ears be the ultimate judge as suggested!

I am tempted by the DAC route too. The stats of the Creative Sound BlasterX G6 do look very impressive! One thing though is that I have two computers and have the audio out from my second PC going into the line in of my soundcard which lets me listen to sounds from both computers simultaneously. Useful for say when gaming on my main computer while listening to music/watching Youtube on my other. I'm not sure if that DAC or onboard sound could let me do that?

 

[BENBOBBY]

Thanks for the reply and suggestions. Yup I know it has a line in, I'm just wondering if its possible to mix the two channels simultaneously as with my soundcard. For example when I'm playing Euro Truck Simulator on PC1 that makes up say 20% of the volume, then the audio coming in from PC2 (e.g. music) makes up 80% of the total volume. So I can listen to two sources at the same time, which is surprisingly useful.

I'm planning to mount my GPU vertically in my new build now, in which I dont think I'll be able to use my soundcard, so maybe external is the way to go if the onboard sucks. The Creative X3 does look good!