sound cards??

Pilky01 · 6 Dec 2008 at 12:13

Edinho said:
Let me think?

ah yes... 2008 in November. You?

I am using onboard now, I got an xfi xtreme gamer because my old motherboard was using AC97 which was poor, but then I got the same motherboard as the OP and I can't tell the difference.

Cybermyk · 6 Dec 2008 at 12:16

Sound cards give a much better music and in game experience IMO.

dangerstat · 6 Dec 2008 at 12:21

Ole shiny head (Pilky01) is spot on, sticking something like an old Creative card WILL NOT be an upgrade. Technically something like a Audigy card would be better, but hardly noticable. If you a music freak the DAC on an Audigy board would outperform any onboard stuff, but really you wouldn't notice.

MooMoo444 · 6 Dec 2008 at 12:22

Only worth it if you have a good speaker setup, no point in a £70 soundcard if you're using poundshop speakers like me. Well, they're not £ shop.. but they're not brilliant.

reflux · 6 Dec 2008 at 13:01

Edinho said:
I think your talking carp

Onboard in my experience is low quailty, but then if you listen to music, films, and game through a pair of £2 speakers I guess you wont know any difference.

Actually I spend most of the time I'm using my PC listening through a £120 5.1 surround setup. Buying an X-Fi for £60 was worth it, but onboard sound really isn't that bad. I mainly bought the X-Fi for the toslink connection.

I don't know where you're coming from here - you into home cinena/hi-fi seperates and all that?

Edinho · 6 Dec 2008 at 13:03

dangerstat said:
Ole shiny head (Pilky01) is spot on, sticking something like an old Creative card WILL NOT be an upgrade. Technically something like a Audigy card would be better, but hardly noticable. If you a music freak the DAC on an Audigy board would outperform any onboard stuff, but really you wouldn't notice.

~2003 soundstorm was all the rage. It was the best thing ever to hit the onboard sound market and was equivalent to an audigy. It would work in 5.1, dreadful background hiss, and the sound input was awful. Went back to a soundblaster 5.1 live.

2004. Soltek SSF PC. Awful if you could get it to work that was. Didnt even bother to sort it out and got a 5.1 Live Digital

2005. MSI neo2 platiinum. Same onboard a pile of donkey dung, sound was better than Soundstorm but lacked any clarity and depth, and sounded like I was gaming in a tin can, the input sucked more than the soundstorm. Got a 2nd hand 5.1 live digital. Funnily enough it sounded 1000x better.

2008. MSI p35 neo. Soundcard would work in Vista 64 so used the onboard. Yep you guessed it gaming was lousy, the input for TS appalling, so got the Asus DX.

Also have had an m-audio audiophile 2496 since 2006.

reflux said:
I don't know where you're coming from here - you into home cinena/hi-fi seperates and all that?

Not heavily just want a good sound. Some people think pc speaker sound fantastic and others think a £10000 hi-fi system is the only way to go.

I think for the sake of £30 there is no comparison to OB and a seperate SC

Glaucus · 6 Dec 2008 at 13:05

Also depends on speakers. if you have cheap speakers no need to get a sound card, if you output to a stereo/amp/av receiver again no need for soundcard.

Edinho · 6 Dec 2008 at 13:10

AcidHell2 said:
if you output to a stereo/amp/av receiver again no need for soundcard.

You typed that wrong, right?

reflux · 6 Dec 2008 at 13:11

Edinho said:
Some people think pc speaker sound fantastic and others think a £10000 hi-fi system is the only way to go.

Indeed, my uncle spent £16,000 on his floorstanders alone! It's an amazing setup, but IMO a bit pricey.

DJ_Switch · 6 Dec 2008 at 13:22

He may mean that outputting digital audio from an onboard soundcard via the optical/coax to a suitable amp is just as good as a quality analogue output from a £100 dedicated soundcard.

I have to agree with others when they say that onbard sound has come a long way over the years. My onboard sound supports Dolby Digital Live via the digital outputs so the suggestion that a £5 souncard could better that is a bit silly tbh. Besides that card my other Mackie sound card is £700 and I can assure you I'd be quite happy to listen to either.

Depending on what your uses are and ultimately how you'll be outputting the audio and what it'll be connected to then the need for an expensive sound card could be pointless for some.

Edinho · 6 Dec 2008 at 13:35

Yeah, but this is just noob (no offence) asking a general question about OB V a soundcard. Hes hardly going to using TOS/optical/digital out connections.

Think the consensus is if you use the pc for internet and general stuff use onboard. If your playing games, music, films then get a soundcard.

Glaucus · 6 Dec 2008 at 13:58

Edinho said:
You typed that wrong, right?

No, you take the digital out to any of them and a soundcard is pointless.

Although you will need hdmi output for sound if your using blu-ray.

Edinho said:
Yeah, but this is just noob (no offence) asking a general question about OB V a soundcard. Hes hardly going to using TOS/optical/digital out connections.

And exactly the same if he's outputing to £50 speakers, no point having a dedicated soundcard.