View Full Version : Is a add-on sound card really necessary?
Ithinkwierdly
10-27-09, 09:37 PM
Is there something wrong with on board audio? Is it bad or does it do the job? And why is it necessary? Do you have to get it if you want to game? And what would be a good sound card then for gamers, if it is necessary. Does the card effect gameplay? Thanks in advanced.
It all really depends on what "onboard" sound you have and what you are driving.
Generally onbaord sound is of a lower quality, which can be heard when listening through good heaphones or speakers.
Depending on the Onboard, it may also not have digital out or Surround sound.
And no a sound card is definatly not necessary, but may be benificial.
tweakboy
10-28-09, 04:58 PM
If you want to play games and listen to music your fine with onboard. Todays onboard audio is much better then the older days..
If your a producer and run DAW , u need dedicated audio card. If your gaming and music onboard will do. gl
Mr.Guvernment
10-28-09, 06:18 PM
No one can say for you, it is the user that decides, for many onboard is fine, for many others a seperate sound card is better quality, but it also depends on what your using for speakers and headphones.
Onboard also doesn't offer many 'processing' options, like EAX or DolbyDigital and so on.
tweakboy
10-29-09, 09:29 AM
Actually onboard Realtek Audio has EAX 2.0 support.
Also it has dolby digital as well with spdif conn,,,,, gl
EarthDog
10-29-09, 09:43 AM
It all really depends on what "onboard" sound you have and what you are driving.
Generally onbaord sound is of a lower quality, which can be heard when listening through good heaphones or speakers.
Depending on the Onboard, it may also not have digital out or Surround sound.
And no a sound card is definatly not necessary, but may be benificial.
If you want to play games and listen to music your fine with onboard. Todays onboard audio is much better then the older days..
If your a producer and run DAW , u need dedicated audio card. If your gaming and music onboard will do. glI agree with these posts. A couple years ago I always swore off extra sound cards, but since I bought headphones and have decent speakers, I can definately notice a difference. But if you havent heard it and are powering some $20 speakers, you likely wont notice a difference.
Is there something wrong with on board audio? Is it bad or does it do the job? And why is it necessary? Do you have to get it if you want to game? And what would be a good sound card then for gamers, if it is necessary. Does the card effect gameplay? Thanks in advanced.
It depends on the onboard audio. Not all are created equal in regards to sound quality or performance resource hit. If you find your onboard fits your needs then don't bother with an add-in card.
Aynjell
10-29-09, 03:24 PM
Short answer, no. Only because if you don't want it, you don't need it. If you can't fathom where the difference might be, then don't do it.
If you spend hard earned money on good speakers or headphones, you're wasting it without having a good source.
You don't have to be a pro to be demanding.
tweakboy
10-29-09, 03:38 PM
I second that Aynjell ,,, hes right!
ArcturusVi
10-29-09, 10:02 PM
In games is where I've noticed less of a boost, honestly. I may not play enough games to concern myself with that aspect. But, for music, at higher volumes and bigger and better speakers, sound card wins hands-down.
If you're using packaged in speakers, or some flimsy headphones it may not matter. Good speakers don't matter with a cruddy source, same goes for the opposite.
ratbuddy
10-29-09, 10:10 PM
See http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=613934 for my own little experience with onboard audio. The sound from the aftermarket card with upgraded opamps is lightyears better. It really all depends if you're running a good enough set of speakers/amp to be able to tell the difference. If the speakers or headset are $10 specials that came with the machine, I wouldn't bother. If you have something nicer and aren't happy with the onboard sound, go for it.
Rich'[ard]
10-29-09, 10:14 PM
i'd also like to add, if you have a high-end Asus motherboard, the included Supreme FX II sound card is quite decent for onboard sound.
i have Logitech Z5400 speakers and the audio sounds ok to me.
my old Gigabyte board's onboard sound wasn't as great...once i turned the speakers up you could hear it wasn't up to the task.
Offsetting sound production from the mobo, which is run by the cpu, to a separate card can help fps too. Specifically with x-fi's I have noticed close to 20-25% increase in frames on games that are CPU bottlenecked. Ever since I noticed that I haven't used onboard sound since and don't recommend it for anyone. Things may have changed since the addition of addon cards that come with mobo's (like ASUS), but I haven't tried mine so I can't say.
Not to mention the sound quality itself....
freeagent
10-29-09, 10:27 PM
For the most part, onboard sound is fine for the masses, and their $100 speaker/sub setups..
But if you have a "real" stereo hooked up, you can instantly hear the differences, both in game, and music/movies. I like my supreme fx2 sound, but I much prefer my prelude over it :D
Theocnoob
10-30-09, 05:39 AM
Here's the thing--
A high end audio card is almost $200.
A good motherboard is $200- and it has all kinds of i/o, a socket, expansion ports, hard drive controllers, often extra PCIE controllers, northbridge/IO hub, southbridge (unless you're using a newfangled architechture like P55), etc etc, not to mention a 2 foot square PCB.
How good do you really figure the audio chip is on there? I've never agreed that onboard audio was any good- and yes I've heard it on recent chipsets.
It will always be shallow, full of interference, lacking depth and underamplified. I can tell the difference on $10 earbuds.
If you have reasonably good earphones speakers, a high end soundcard is a must. That's my opinion.
Theocnoob
10-30-09, 05:42 AM
It all really depends on what "onboard" sound you have and what you are driving.
Generally onbaord sound is of a lower quality, which can be heard when listening through good heaphones or speakers.
Depending on the Onboard, it may also not have digital out or Surround sound.
And no a sound card is definatly not necessary, but may be benificial.
How can a guy who runs both his PS3's to amps through optical and has ULTIMATE EARS (for those who don't know, they're unfathomably good earphones. Like 11 on a scale of 1 to 10 good) not suggest a discrete sound solution to everyone? :P:santa:
jobrien2001
10-30-09, 06:45 AM
Onboard is fine for the most part... but better quality sound is so cheap now that not getting it is only justified if you dont listen much to music, play games, have crappy headphones/speakers, or if you are on a tight budget.
How can a guy who runs both his PS3's to amps through optical and has ULTIMATE EARS (for those who don't know, they're unfathomably good earphones. Like 11 on a scale of 1 to 10 good) not suggest a discrete sound solution to everyone? :P:santa:
Because not everyone has Ultimate ears and headphone amps.
If he has some rubbish 20 quid 2.0 computer speakers, a dedicated sound card will make no difference what so ever.
Firey_chasm
10-30-09, 08:23 AM
Because not everyone has Ultimate ears and headphone amps.
If he has some rubbish 20 quid 2.0 computer speakers, a dedicated sound card will make no difference what so ever.
tru dat.
at the end of the day it sounds like he is wondering for general day to day computer use is onboard good enough? the answer is simple nowadays - yes.
If you are looking at building an audiophile system :) then probably not (again there is a large debate over this depending on what you will use the system for - if ATI sort out bitstreaming via their new 5XXX range then HT should in theory only need this - as the external reciever/amps will do a lot of the work) - however I havent read too much on this as I have the ASUS slim in my PC.
Currently though ASUS HDAV range (slim, normal and deluxe - the only differences are the addition of analgue channels as well as digital) is the only option that supports bitstreaming etc. Azuentech still need to sort out their drivers as far as I'm aware.
for gaming I'd recomend going elsewhere though as the ASUS card is designed specifically for HTPCs.
But to wrap up - as others have said, unless you care a lot about your sound and are spending a tidy sum of cash on all areas of your sound system then nah, onboard will treat you just fine :)
jason4207
10-30-09, 12:25 PM
I bought an Auzentech X-plosion a few years back. The reason? I wanted to play my games through my surround sound system.
I tried running an optical TOSLINK from the on-board audio to the receiver, but when gaming only 2 channels are sent over the link. The only way to send more channels via TOSLINK is to have the signal encoded into Dolby Digital or DTS. I tried running 8 RCA cables, and that worked and gave me full 7.1 sound in games. The only problem was that the RCA runs were 25', and there was quite a bit of noise.
So, I bought the Auzentech sound card, and now the game is rendered in 5.1, and then encoded into DTS for transport over TOSLINK to the sound system. Sounds great and only having to run 1 cable is nice.
The sound card came in real handy when I bought my latest mobo open-box. Normally the Maximus II Formula comes w/ a PCIe sound card, but since it was open-box I didn't get many accessories.
I recommend you experiment w/ your on-board sound first. If you feel the urge for something better than do some homework, and then go for it!
hmmm, the OPer hasn't been on Ocforums since he posted the OP ....
Theocnoob
10-30-09, 02:03 PM
I bought an Auzentech X-plosion a few years back. The reason? I wanted to play my games through my surround sound system.
I tried running an optical TOSLINK from the on-board audio to the receiver, but when gaming only 2 channels are sent over the link. The only way to send more channels via TOSLINK is to have the signal encoded into Dolby Digital or DTS. I tried running 8 RCA cables, and that worked and gave me full 7.1 sound in games. The only problem was that the RCA runs were 25', and there was quite a bit of noise.
So, I bought the Auzentech sound card, and now the game is rendered in 5.1, and then encoded into DTS for transport over TOSLINK to the sound system. Sounds great and only having to run 1 cable is nice.
The sound card came in real handy when I bought my latest mobo open-box. Normally the Maximus II Formula comes w/ a PCIe sound card, but since it was open-box I didn't get many accessories.
I recommend you experiment w/ your on-board sound first. If you feel the urge for something better than do some homework, and then go for it!
It's not a soundcard it's a riser card. There's no actual processor on it it's just a few capacitors and some I/O. It's rather gimmicky...
ratbuddy
10-30-09, 02:33 PM
hmmm, the OPer hasn't been on Ocforums since he posted the OP ....
It's possible that someone might not check the forum for 3 days :beer:
zangler
10-30-09, 04:04 PM
i had an xfi in my old machine, but sold it with the old box...i am using the on board sound right now, and for my gaming and music have not noticed that much of a difference. If I start to feel that it is lacking or i 'miss' something...i will just buy a card...but as of now the on board processor is doing just fine.
Massive
11-01-09, 03:29 AM
Is there something wrong with on board audio? Is it bad or does it do the job? And why is it necessary? Do you have to get it if you want to game? And what would be a good sound card then for gamers, if it is necessary. Does the card effect gameplay? Thanks in advanced.
I believe it is, there's 2 item I find most satisfying when upgrading my PC, a good big LCD, and a good soundcard.
A good add on soundcard is definitely worth buying, unless you're on ASUS Rampage II or other board which already has separate good dedicated sc.
I change from my onboard sound at Abit IP35 to a X-fi, different is earth and sky in sound quality, I don't really notice differences in gameplay as I already have a good processor, but I notice there is a big improvement is sound quality in gaming.
Playing COD, you can hear more detail about where the bullet come from and the footstep come in form back left, back right or stuff like that.
But before a good soundcard, you have to considered the output device liki speakers on headphones, there's no use using a good soundcard on crappy output device, you won't feel the differences.
Audioaficionado
11-03-09, 07:33 AM
I feed my onboard sound card SPDIF/Toslink directly to my Yamaha digital receiver and it sounds great. If I was processing inputs, then I'd want a dedicated card with multi-channel inputs. If you are worried about the electrical noise inside the PC case, you can get an external USB card or a well shielded internal PCI/PCIe card.
Freezer7Pro
11-03-09, 10:46 AM
It all depends on what sound chip is on the mobo, how well-implemented it is, and what you are driving.
madhatter256
11-03-09, 11:07 AM
I went from my onboard: Realtek ALC662
To X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatality. BIG difference. The sound has more 'depth' to it.
Also, with the onboard - whenever I played CSS and someone used the mic, I couldn't hear any sound effects while they were talking. But with the x-fi card I can hear everything just fine.
Aynjell
11-03-09, 03:22 PM
How can a guy who runs both his PS3's to amps through optical and has ULTIMATE EARS (for those who don't know, they're unfathomably good earphones. Like 11 on a scale of 1 to 10 good) not suggest a discrete sound solution to everyone? :P:santa:
Because of your babbling, I ordered up some "Super Fi 3's". They're super fi's rebadged, and were only 40$.
http://www.amazon.com/Altec-Lansing-UHP336-Snugfit-Earphone/dp/B000Q7IA5E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1257279733&sr=8-1
Because of your babbling, I ordered up some "Super Fi 3's". They're super fi's rebadged, and were only 40$.
http://www.amazon.com/Altec-Lansing-UHP336-Snugfit-Earphone/dp/B000Q7IA5E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1257279733&sr=8-1
Yes the high end UE's are "unfathomably" good.
The Super.fi 3's are not "unfathomably" good, but they are pretty dam good.
Aynjell
11-03-09, 03:32 PM
Yes the high end UE's are "unfathomably" good.
The Super.fi 3's are not "unfathomably" good, but they are pretty dam good.
40$ ear phones that should sound _GOOD_ will meet my needs. They'll be strictly portable for me, from a FiiO E5 and a iPod, most likely, if not a mini^3 when I get around to making one. :P
40$ ear phones that should sound _GOOD_ will meet my needs. They'll be strictly portable for me, from a FiiO E5 and a iPod, most likely, if not a mini^3 when I get around to making one. :P
You shouldn't need an amp for them.
My Zen X-Fi drives them with ease.
For a comparison, I just plugged mine into my Compass as well as my X-fi.
They do benefit slightly from an amp, but not enough to go out and get an amp specially.
The FiiO E5 should be as far as you need to go.
Aynjell
11-03-09, 04:02 PM
You shouldn't need an amp for them.
My Zen X-Fi drives them with ease.
For a comparison, I just plugged mine into my Compass as well as my X-fi.
They do benefit slightly from an amp, but not enough to go out and get an amp specially.
The FiiO E5 should be as far as you need to go.
If I like these earphones you best believe I'll be building a mini^3 for them, and what's wrong with spending 65$ to build a damned good portable 3 channel amp? :P
Also I have a line out for my ipod, and I prefer to use it, it's a 120$ part. :P I'd rather have a super bomb amp than no amp.
in my 15+ years of experience of audio systems there's two things you need to consider. 24bit DAC (digital to analog converter) and what you're hooking it up to... PC speakers (even the best logitech has to offer) stock mobo is fine, when it comes to the biggest and best consider the following. When using a SPDIF/optical output off your motherboard, everything is done by the device that you hook it up to (EMU/receiver). Why do you need the best sound card in the world to "pass the buck" down the line? Why do you need the best Burr Brown DAC ect to take that original signal and have it processed elsewhere? Your best solution is going to be a dedicated receiver for your computer with fiber optics (not digital coax) into a home theater (if you need ideas for rear speakers google images "F1 PC chair"). This stuff was stock in home theaters 15 years ago... We've been paying extra for it in our sound cards for about 10.
vBulletin® v3.8.7, Copyright ©2000-2012, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.