Is this soundcard really going to make a difference over onboard sound?

Everyone hears differently. The gap between onboard and a cheap soundcard is much larger than that of a mid range soundcard and a high end, not to mention most people won't be able to hear a difference at this level.

Trust your ears! Only you can tell if it's worth buying.
 
The onboard sound on my P8P67Pro is carp compared to the Xonar DG, Xonar DG compared to the D2X I had however made no difference whatsoever, mind you, I only have a cheap old creative 5.1 set so that's probably why.
 
I've also ordered one of these along with a 5.1 headphones. hoping this will correct the problem I am having with my onboard sound (too low even at 100%).
 
SlugForAButt said:
Take a chance on a Xonar DG and some Goldring DR50s. It'll only cost you a shade over £40 for the pair and you'll be mighty glad you did.
TBH I came from a X-Fi and I can't tell the difference.
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I've already got a pair of Sennheiser HD555s, which I love. But they are open headphones and because I listen to stuff quite loud there is a lot of sound leakage. I'm moving into a house share soon and with me staying up late I'm worried it might be a disturbance to my house mates. I need to find some decent closed headphones.
 
Although sound cards are almost always better than onboard sound, it depends entirely on your ears. If onboard is "good enough" to you, then a sound card, no matter how much better it would be, would be a waste. You've also got to consider whether better speakers will be a bigger improvement. One of the main problems with onboard is that it's placed next to the network controller and other components which add noise. This is when you get "squealing" when you move your mouse on some really cheap boards. Most audio processing is CPU-based now anyway, there's no need for fancy hardware DSPs unless you're working in a professional setup or you need something specific like Dolby Headphone. (which is itself is all software anyway)

So ultimately, if it's good enough for you, then it's good enough and I'd stick with it. Listen out for background noise and the aformentioned squealing though, this plagues onboard sound due to bad motherboard design, if you can't hear it then that's a plus for the onboard.

It's all up to your perception and ultimately there's no need to spend money on something that's already good enough.
 
To jump into this subject ask pretty much the same question as the OP, how is that £20 soundcard for games? Would it be a good upgrade over onboard sound and does it slightly increase FPS as well as improving sound quality? Is say a creative X-FI fatality card better than that £20 asus DG card for games and music? I know absolutely nothing about sound cards in relation to gaming, especially when compared with onboard.
 
James J said:
To jump into this subject ask pretty much the same question as the OP, how is that £20 soundcard for games? Would it be a good upgrade over onboard sound and does it slightly increase FPS as well as improving sound quality? Is say a creative X-FI fatality card better than that £20 asus DG card for games and music? I know absolutely nothing about sound cards in relation to gaming, especially when compared with onboard.
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x-fi or xonar > onboard by far for gaming, even without increasing sound quality it'd still be worth £20 for the HRTF (x-fi CMSS-3d or xonar dolby headphone) just to make locating sounds so much better, means the difference between a vague to the left somewhere and within 10º left of directly behind you, combine it with a headphone with a large soundstage in the first place and you start being able to play FPS games and locate people purely based on sound alone,
as an example in MW2 on the map favela in a free for all i can camp with an RPD in the middle building and hear where everyone is and kill quite a few people through walls without even needing to see them, it's my own little nuke playground map :)
Add to that that the xonar (well the D2X does at least so i'd assume the DG would) have a noise equalisation option to make all sounds the same volume and footsteps become a lot clearer through gunfire
also a soundcard will help with sound separation so the sound won't become a blur of noise so much if there's a lot of gunfire and explosions around, headphones with a fast transient response help a lot there as well, for budget headphones for gaming i like the JVC HARX700s, large soundstage and decently fast transient reponse with good bass make it great for sound location while not lacking the bass like some other headphones with large soundstages do.

Yeah a £20 soundcard is definitely worth it for gaming.
 
Almasy93 said:
x-fi or xonar > onboard by far for gaming, even without increasing sound quality it'd still be worth £20 for the HRTF (x-fi CMSS-3d or xonar dolby headphone) just to make locating sounds so much better, means the difference between a vague to the left somewhere and within 10º left of directly behind you, combine it with a headphone with a large soundstage in the first place and you start being able to play FPS games and locate people purely based on sound alone,
as an example in MW2 on the map favela in a free for all i can camp with an RPD in the middle building and hear where everyone is and kill quite a few people through walls without even needing to see them, it's my own little nuke playground map :)
Add to that that the xonar (well the D2X does at least so i'd assume the DG would) have a noise equalisation option to make all sounds the same volume and footsteps become a lot clearer through gunfire
also a soundcard will help with sound separation so the sound won't become a blur of noise so much if there's a lot of gunfire and explosions around, headphones with a fast transient response help a lot there as well, for budget headphones for gaming i like the JVC HARX700s, large soundstage and decently fast transient reponse with good bass make it great for sound location while not lacking the bass like some other headphones with large soundstages do.

Yeah a £20 soundcard is definitely worth it for gaming.
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Very interesting and thanks!
 
My Crosshair IV has a fairly decent on-board soundcard, as many newer motherboards do, but it still can't compare to a half decent dedicated soundcard. My Xonar Essence STX, for example, absolutely destroys my Crosshair's on-board sound. When using a decent set of headphones (I use Grado SR225i's) and listening to lossless FLAC music the difference is night and day.
 
I got one of these not too long ago.
I also have a DX too, and to be honest I was 50-50 on what if any difference there would be.

The DX is a monster, but the price made me think that this wont be all that.

Oh boy, was I wrong!

For the price, this little baby certainly delivers. You just cannot possibly go wrong!

The quality is amazing.

Now, after pimping out a little, I am also going to offer a few negatives that I have found with it too! - Balance things out as it were.

Ok, well unlike the DX, the DG does not work under Linux. The latest Kernal yeah, it does, and so Sabayon 5.5 and Ubunti 11 work right off the bat, but before that, no, not without kernel work.

Secondly, I was using this to replace an XFI Fatality in my gaming rig and it was spanking for a week or so, but then it stopped working, and could I get it back up? - Nope!

I went back to the XFI and the XFI is still in there and still being flawless, the DX went into my sons PC and that did the same thing after a short while too... Both Win7/64
I have since used it in my daughters PC and its been absolutely fine. Why I had 2 PCs be awkward I dont know, and I dont care.

I have had no such issue with the DX
 
Because of this thread, i've just ordered a Xonar DG from OcUK. I've been pondering which card what to get for my new build and you lot have made my mind up :D
 
NO NO NO NO

You are better off with onboard than a Xonar

Only joking.

Its quite shocking just how much of a great card it is for the price. You wont be disappointed one bit.
 
I don't actually have my headphones that loud, i can still hear someone talking next to me while i'm playing games or listening to music so i shouldn't get tinnitus through doing that.

My drums on the other hand.... :o:eek:
 
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