Onboard sound too quiet

medley · 26 Sep 2010 at 12:57

Currently using some Sony headphones plugged into the back of the motherboard but the highest setting (in windows and in the software) is at max and the sound is no where near high enough as I'm used to with my previous setup. Its a Gigabyte mobo with Realtek HD Audio software.

I usually use my Creative SB Live card but windows 7 won't detect it and the drivers don't detect it either so I'm stuck with using this for now.

I am thinking of buying an Asus soundcard if I don't resolve the issue for £26.

I suppose the reason I put the thread in the software section is to ask if there was any software out there that overides the motherboard software and increases the volume

smogsy · 26 Sep 2010 at 14:27

dont buy asus xonar for headsets the mic never works..

ive tried so many fixes nothing works...

Insta · 26 Sep 2010 at 14:34

I also had this problem, I was using a Creative HS-800 headset with onboard sound (Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R). Even with all settings at max the volume was still very low. I decided the quality and volume of the sound wasnt good enough from onboard. I recenlty upgraded to an Asus Xonar D2X and a Razer Carcharias headset and the difference was amazing. Using the combination of the headset and sound card the quality of sound for music, games and films has been a vast improvement.

medley · 26 Sep 2010 at 15:00

smogsy said:
dont buy asus xonar for headsets the mic never works..

ive tried so many fixes nothing works...

I don't intend on using a a headset but thats a pretty big deal in anycase for it not to detect the headset mic!

I might just go ahead and buy a new soundcard.

Insta said:
I also had this problem, I was using a Creative HS-800 headset with onboard sound (Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R). Even with all settings at max the volume was still very low. I decided the quality and volume of the sound wasnt good enough from onboard. I recenlty upgraded to an Asus Xonar D2X and a Razer Carcharias headset and the difference was amazing. Using the combination of the headset and sound card the quality of sound for music, games and films has been a vast improvement.

Would there be a noticeble difference in quality between a D2X and a lower model (looking at the 5.1 £26 one) for general mp3 play back on headphones etc? I would have thought the difference was more in a surround sound speaker set up

Insta · 26 Sep 2010 at 16:59

Personally I would use a soundcard over onboard any day, any soundcard would be an improvement. The only reason I was using onboard was because I couldnt afford a decent soundcard when I bought my new pc, instead I upgraded a few months later. Ive always tried to use a soundcard in my systems, but thats just me.