Onboard Realtek Audio VS Asus Xonar DGX 5.1 sound?

Boomstick777

Boomstick777

Boomstick777

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Hey guys, I must confess I don't know much about PC audio. I have a couple spare Asus Xonar DG /DGX 5.1 sound cards knocking about from builds, one is PCI-E and one uses the older PCI. (I'm not sure if their on differences apart from connection interface?)

What I'm wandering is, would it worth installing either into my PC which uses on-board Realtek audio? Would it benefit the PC in sound quality or performance?

I'm using Cambridge soundworks THX speakers with sub in 2.1 (Stereo) setup.

This is my motherboard - http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4566#ov

Cheers.
 
I'd go for the sound card if it were me. The board you have has ALC892, which is OK, but it isn't one of the better onboard audio codecs.

As for the sound cards in question. Same card, different slot. Use whichever slot type has better placement. i.e. as far away from the graphics card as possible.
 
Marsman said:
I'd go for the sound card if it were me. The board you have has ALC892, which is OK, but it isn't one of the better onboard audio codecs.

As for the sound cards in question. Same card, different slot. Use whichever slot type has better placement. i.e. as far away from the graphics card as possible.
Click to expand...

Thanks bud, yeah I'll give a try, install it later today. Might as well make use of one of the cards :)
 
Not sure if it's my imagination, bit it def sounds better. The vocal and instruments are kind of separate, I swear I can hear things that weren't their before :p

The bass is thumping as well, had to dial it down a bit lol.
 
Recently went Xfire 6950s for Bf4, never checked for clearance for my soundcard :(

After using my asus Xonar DG and going to onboard I removed my Xfire, went back to a single card and back to my xonar!

Make of that what you will :p
Mobo is Gigabyte s77 ud3h
 
~Divine~Wind~ said:
Recently went Xfire 6950s for Bf4, never checked for clearance for my soundcard :(

After using my asus Xonar DG and going to onboard I removed my Xfire, went back to a single card and back to my xonar!

Make of that what you will :p
Mobo is Gigabyte s77 ud3h
Click to expand...

A shining endorsement for getting a sound card.
 
~Divine~Wind~ said:
Recently went Xfire 6950s for Bf4, never checked for clearance for my soundcard :(

After using my asus Xonar DG and going to onboard I removed my Xfire, went back to a single card and back to my xonar!

Make of that what you will :p
Mobo is Gigabyte s77 ud3h
Click to expand...

Haha, yeah nice improvement over onboard for me. Will def stick with proper sound cards from now on :)
 
Boomstick777 said:
The vocal and instruments are kind of separate, I swear I can hear things that weren't their before :p
Click to expand...

That sounds about right. The Soundcard will add a larger soundstage to your audio meaning instruments will be more noticeable whereas with onboard, it is as though the instruments are bunched up, if that makes sense?
 
Hi there,

All sound cards should exhibit a noticeable improvement over onboard audio, even budget sound cards. The only exception to this might be the very top end motherboards being released nowadays with dedicated chips for audio which are starting to bridge the gap.
 
I have an Asus Formula z mobo and the onboard sound when compared to my Xonar DGX is not very good at all ( maybe needs to be used with 5.1 setup ? ), So yeah a sound card is the way to go :)

Although I have only used both ( sound card and onboard ) with my Edifier R1600T speakers :)
 
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I just don't understand why onboard sound comes with a choice of either underwater sound affects or some other random sound that one is unlikely to ever need a use for
 
ive read over overclock.net that the DGX has troubles with Bad Company 2? is this still the case?

play a fair bit of BC2 still but looking to get a soundcard.
 
Strange. Why specifically the DGX I wonder. Can understand if it was a problem with other PCIe Xonar cards as well, but for there to be a specific issue with the DGX doesn't make a lot of sense. Possible the guy in question had GX DSP issues or just trouble with Asus own drivers. Using Uni Xonar drivers is best way to go.
 
Marsman said:
Strange. Why specifically the DGX I wonder. Can understand if it was a problem with other PCIe Xonar cards as well, but for there to be a specific issue with the DGX doesn't make a lot of sense. Possible the guy in question had GX DSP issues or just trouble with Asus own drivers. Using Uni Xonar drivers is best way to go.
Click to expand...

well it was about the DX not the DGX actually. here is what it says

Do not expect exceptional BC2 (Battlefield: Bad Company 2) sound from the Xonar DX. If you at all play BC2 on a regular basis, you should avoid this card as it won't give you the positional cues you're looking for. If you're playing virtually ANY OTHER GAME besides BC2 you'll love this card. It's excellent for Call of Duty. It's excellent for RPGs and Racers. In fact, it'll do RPGs and racers better than the Creative cards.
If you absolutely must play BC2, again, you're looking at the Creative Titanium unless you can somehow score a Auzentech Forte in this price range.
 
Ah, I was looking on bit-tech forums. Someone suggested it could be something to o with the PCIe bridge that Asus use on their cards, rather than using native PCIe. For all my moanings at Creative, at least their PCIe cards are native.
 
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