Yes, they do.
You need to realise just because you have thrown £1,000s at equipment does not make you the be all and end all of audio knowledge.
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Yes, they do.
You need to realise just because you have thrown £1,000s at equipment does not make you the be all and end all of audio knowledge.
I don't profess to be what you say :s
But if signal purity = sound purity (which surely it does?) an internal card is always going to be at a disadvantage. Anyway it wasn't my intention to start a flame war. I just wanted to merely point out to the OP to consider other avenues than upgrading a sound card which really isn't going to give a noticeable improvement in audio. If people are happy with their sound cards fine, good on them. And those with external DAC or using, for example, optical out, know the difference
Why?
Have you even reviewed the data that suggests nothing of the sort?
Sounds like pure uninformed opinion to me.
Just bought it second hand four years ago, been a good card and never had any issues with it but just decided it was getting on a bit and wanted to tryout something newer.
No you are absolutely correct. A signal path distorted beyond all recognition through electrical interference will give great sound!
You did not even read what I wrote.
Read it. Comprehend it. Understand it.
You sound like an elitist audiophile that grew up in the 70s and is so stuck in their ways that it's impossible that anything else but your own choice/preference is any good. The fact is most high grade soundcards will provide sound indistinguishable from any other solution to the 99% percent of the population.
External solid state amps, tube amps, different DACs, brands etc etc all provide different SOUNDING sound but rarely provide sound that is distinguishably 'better' than any other product of the same quality.
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All I have is my own experience which tells me that sound cards, expensive or otherwise, do not produce sound anywhere near "Hi-Fi" quality that is easily attainable with a relatively inexpensive DAC. My hearing is not the best either due to too many gigs/playing drums/guitar for a number of years. If i can hear it I will bet my left nut others can. If this makes me elitist - so be it.
What sound cards have you used. Any within the last decade even? Just because it was expensive does not make it good, Creative have a long line of trashy sound cards that cost the earth, simply because they are Creative or come with front panels/other crap.
Most USB DACs are cheap and cheerful, just like many soundcards are.
Most USB DACs are cheap and cheerful, just like many soundcards are.
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"Any within the last decade?" Are you for real?
The most recent cards I have tried were Asus Xonar D2X in my rig and a Creative Recon3D in someone else's rig. The Asus card is actually shielded although it doesn't work very well and the sound quality was average
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+1
I can't tell the difference between the Asus Essence, Asus DS, X-fi Music and Soundblaster Z.
The Asus cards are definitely not as good as Creative for gaming though.
That's reassuring because they sounded pretty awful and were put to shame by a £100 DAC.
Neither are £100 sound cards, they are both pretty middle of the road cards.
The Xonar Essence STX and Creative Titanium HD were the two best sounding cards when I was looking around and I believe the latest flagship offerings from Creative/Asus are also supposed to sound pretty good.
As a DAC, I don't feel like my Titanium HD is hindering my headphones and amp despite the fairly large disparity in price! Sounds are crystal clear and the silent parts are truly silent.
As a DAC, I don't feel like my Titanium HD is hindering my headphones and amp despite the fairly large disparity in price! Sounds are crystal clear and the silent parts are truly silent.
The Xonar D2X 7.1 is currently on OCUK for £89.99. Pretty close huh?
Using a 3.5mm to RCA straight into my amplifier and turning the volume up above say 50% the hiss/interference is audible.
Using USB DAC (DacMagic, rDAC, Schiit Modi, Music Streamer II) and turning the volume up and it is crystal clear even at extreme volume. The difference between these DAC's is fairly minimal but they all produce sound that is 'better' than any sound card I have heard. The main reason for this is not quality of components (most ASUS sound cards utilise high quality DAC's) but that all the sound processing is taken outside of the 'noisy' PC case and they are not drawing power directly off the motherboard.
Using USB DAC (DacMagic, rDAC, Schiit Modi, Music Streamer II) and turning the volume up and it is crystal clear even at extreme volume. The difference between these DAC's is fairly minimal but they all produce sound that is 'better' than any sound card I have heard. The main reason for this is not quality of components (most ASUS sound cards utilise high quality DAC's) but that all the sound processing is taken outside of the 'noisy' PC case and they are not drawing power directly off the motherboard.
High end Soundcards draw power from the PSU.
I can ramp volumes up as high as they will go (which is unbearable to listen to) and get zero hiss.
More than likely it's your system configuration/cheap PSU/other components or otherwise. Just because you have not ran a configuration with a sound card that is to your liking does not mean all are the same. I migrated from external processing and amplification to a soundcard and there is zero discernible difference.
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Soldato
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I see what you're saying then. But I haven't really experienced the same, and haven't needed to go external to avoid hiss.
Soundcards may be more at risk to being effected by electrical interference but it doesn't guarantee it. Different cases and different components will result in plenty of different outcomes.
I'd imagine the Xonar D2X 7.1 is expensive mostly because it's a 7.1 card but it's not aimed at providing the best stereo sound quality possible (Essence STX and Titanium HD are the cards aimed at that afaik)
I'd imagine the Xonar D2X 7.1 is expensive mostly because it's a 7.1 card but it's not aimed at providing the best stereo sound quality possible (Essence STX and Titanium HD are the cards aimed at that afaik)