Worthy upgrade from a Sound Blaster Z sound card?

[zo1d]

Hi,

Having recently picked up a pair of Audio Pro Addon T14 speakers I'm considering an upgrade from my current sound card, a Sound Blaster Z internal OEM.

Wondering what you guys would recommend and if you think it's worthwhile, as the speakers while not being "hifi" quality do a really good job at producing clean and punchy audio with allot of detail....

https://www.audiopro.com/en/product/addon-t14/#black

Thanks in advance

 

[Marsman]

If you are using optical connection, then there's no point in looking at getting another sound card. Sound quality does not apply where a digital connection is concerned.

Audio data is sent via digital connection. It's the DAC (digital to analogue converter) and electronics inside the speakers that process and convert that data into sound. There would be no difference between optical output on a motherboard compared to the most expensive sound card.

Any benefit of a 'better' sound card, is when using the analogue outputs. That very often applies more to headphone use than using analogue to any speakers. Any speakers that have a digital input, will have a DAC that is suited to the speaker's capabilities. Using analogue from a sound card instead, wouldn't be a worthwhile purchase in my opinion.

If you using headphones as well, then depending on the headphones, there could more value in a 'better' sound card.