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Onboard vs Sound Card

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I use my onboard,using the digital output to my sony av amp(100wx5) I have pretty descent speakers,and it sounds fine to me.I took out the audigy4 as i could not use the digi out and headphones at the same time,it still sounds good to me.
 
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The only reason I use a dedicated hardware sound card is I have an Athlon64 X2 6400+ and lifting that burden off the older CPU does help in gaming (I get anywhere from a 3-10 FPS boost in most games depending on if the scene is GPU or CPU intensive).

As far as audio quality the onboard Realtek with current drivers is about the same as an older Audigy 2 Value on my Sennheiser headphones. If there wasn't a noticeable performance hit with the Realtek I would be happy with it.
 
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Do you listen to the radio in the car? If so, have you ever considered upgrading the speakers in your car, or done so? If not, then you probably dont need one.
 

jamesrt2004

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i use my on board sound it is cool and set creative 7.1 speakers on it surround sound work well , also creative headset , so i see there no need for expensive sound card

No offense but thats cause' you don't have "good"(expensive :( ) enough speakers or headphones to notice the difference anyway

the only way you will see a BIG improvement is if you do spend £100+ on speakers/headphones and only THEN upgrade the card.

I use my onboard,using the digital output to my sony av amp(100wx5) I have pretty descent speakers,and it sounds fine to me.I took out the audigy4 as i could not use the digi out and headphones at the same time,it still sounds good to me.

well if your using digital its all the same anyway so it won't make a difference, sound cards really only offer better analog quality + different connections.
 

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Onboard is good enough for my taste.
 
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That review actually mentions why I didn't pick up the cheap 5.1 set up from logitech. The overwhelming bass, my brother and my room mate can adjust the bass all the way down, but it still is the most noticeable thing and it doesn't sound that great, if anything takes away from the experience. Both use same card and speakers so it's no surprise they both do it. Some X-fi ridiculously expensive sound card, and the same 5.1 speakers dunno what the model number is. I went with the Z-cinema 2.1 speakers. The sound is clearer, not as loud, but it still isn't too high of quality audio, tries playing some mids through the sub and it sounds awful when it does that. Luckily I've managed to get it to stop most of that. But higher quality speakers, we're talking about $100+ per satellite speaker and stuff like that.
 

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They worked in my 64 bit vista just fine, when I was using a p35ds3l.

The drivers work, but ket himself admitted he didnt change much in vista compared to XP. kets drivers do not have working creative software in vista, while DK's do. Yes, read it again: DK's gets the creative X-fi MB software working in vista.
 

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Threads like these lead me to believe that some people just don't hear sound quite as well as others do. If you've never tweaked an EQ then you don't know anything about sound, period.
 
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I think a sound card is quite important above a certain threshold, you need something that goes with your other equipment. I'm currently using the DAC built into my AVR, and PCM from my graphics card, which is absolutely fine. If I was using analogue linkup however, I 100% would have kept my sound card, as it DOES make a difference, however if you have weak speakers you will barely hear it as your output isn't strong enough.

If you're using £1000/$2000+ dollars of audio equipment (hell my amp alone cost that much if I'd got it when it came out), then it makes a hell of a difference. Onboard is definately better than it used to be, and nowadays I'd recommend going for a hi-fi amp and speakers before a sound card, if yours is OK, as the speakers tend to be the biggest 'weak' link. No Logitechs, no matter the cost, do not sound good, the manufacturer of the driver actually rates them about 1/5 the wattage Logitech does...see the way this goes? (In general most PC speakers produce shrill treble and boomy inflated bass, with p**s weak middle)

Obviously every link in your system has to be comparable or like a PC system you end up with a bottleneck in your sound quality, however spending some cash and a bit of time to research decent second hand equipment, and re-ripping your CDs to Q0 VBR MP3s with a LAME encoder is certainly worth your time, if you play a lot of music, or care about sound quality. If you don't fine.

For the record I have upgraded my car audio before, a fiesta sounds HORRENDOUS as stock! I haven't changed more than the headunit in my current car for financial reasons though.
 

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I see no need for a sound card anymore, as long as the onboard has enough channels for you. For example my onboard only has 3 outputs: 2.1 speaker, headphone, and mic. Have a 5.1 speaker set so I had to have a sound card. If I only had 2.1 speakers I would have never bothered if I didn't have this sound card already.
 
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Eq's are to change the sound to allow for deficiancies in it,not to make it better.Look at top quality audio equipment,they do not have any eq on them at all,usually just a volume control and input selector.
 

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Eq's are to change the sound to allow for deficiancies in it,not to make it better.Look at top quality audio equipment,they do not have any eq on them at all,usually just a volume control and input selector.

:wtf:

All I'm gonna say is, you obviously don't know the difference between high end and low end equipment. The higher end something is, the more detailed EQ it has available.

Audiophiles don't listen to a system they can't tweak.

:shadedshu
 
D

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Given that each step in capturing, storing, and playing back music may degrade it, especially due to the fact that circuitry is prone to electromagnetic interference and electronic noise, audiophiles insist that the fewer and simpler the stages, the better. Many audiophile components, for example, lack tone control circuits, since it is felt that these may degrade the audio quality while moving the sound away from the ideal

from- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audiophile

I certainly do know audiohile equipment,i had a mate that had £7k worth of setup,theres no way he would have had an amp that had any sort of eq or bass and treble controls.Its about listening to the sound as it was recorded originally,not changeing it with an eq to how you think it sounds good.

I was at an audio show last year where you could listen to anything from a $5,000 system to a $300.000 one. I can't remember seeing a single equalizer anywhere

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/1821433-post3.html

I find it ironic that in true audiophile spirit, anyone would want to degrade the signal any more than it needs and that is exactly what putting ANY equilizer in the audio path would do.

Secondly, as a true audio (and I say this with kindness and respect), don't you want to hear the recordings as purely as possible? EQing them is changing them from their intended sound.

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/2187421-post20.html

You may find an eq on lower end equipment,but not on high end gear.

I think its you who dont know the differance,maybe you should dump your $50 amp and buy a good one.
 
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X-Fi Crystalizer > Onboard

The difference IS night and day, it's so obvious. I'm only using 30w 2.1 Dell speakers, but it's enough to notice the difference. Sounds are more alive, especially with the subwoofer, without X-Fi Crystalizer it sounds dull, with it on the bass is more responsive and has a solid punch to it.

I agree with others that people spend $1,000s on rigs and use onboard is stupid, my PC is a budget build and I still got a sound card, I love music and listen to it hours a day, so the sound card really helped me.

Try get one cheap if you can, I got my X-Fi Platinum for 20 euro.
 

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You may find an eq on lower end equipment,but not on high end gear.

I think its you who dont know the differance,maybe you should dump your $50 amp and buy a good one.

I don't care what this dude says. Show me professional audio equipment that doesn't even have a basic 'bass' and 'treble' knob.

That's called flat sound and me nor any true music fan I've ever known will stand for it.
 

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In response to Charper2013's original question - I'd definitely get your headphones first, then if possible try and borrow a friends sound-card and see if you notice any difference both in audio quality/clarity and performance in games.
 

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tigger,

There are different levels of audiophiles, just like there are different levels of computing enthusiasts, each level has their own preferences and requirements. We can not just assume that all audiophiles hate EQ just like we can not assume all computing enthusiasts hate 'forcing' AA or AF in games.


For example, most recent amplifiers whether its a cheap £250 Denon or a £2,000 Marantz one will have EQ and a host of DSPs and upmixing algorithms as standard. Whether one chooses to use those features is a different matter. But as an audiophile you'd expect the features as standard.

Most 'purist' audiophiles tend to dabble with stereo amplifiers more, usually without a subwoofer and hence rather listen to music as intended in two channels. They would watch movies in stereo using analogue regardless of whether the Blu-ray movie has 5.1 or 7.1 as standard. They would never tampers with EQ or enhancements.

The 'home cinema' audiophile, they are more likely to enhance stereo sources and upmix it to 5.1 or 7.1 via DTS Neo or Prologic, most of them can not stand basic stereo! Because of the multi-speaker configuration the distance and positioning of each speaker varies depending where you are sitting, perhaps the rears are 100W @ 8 ohms and the fronts are 120W @ 6 ohms - because of the varying power difference in speakers and positioning they are forced to dabble with the configurations such as EQs, spatial distances, decibel levels etc.

My point is both the 'purist' and 'home cinema' audiophiles are still 'audiophiles' and they are not your average users with plastic computer speakers, they take audio very seriously indeed but both types of audiophiles differ in the degree to the level of enhancements they'll apply to the sound.


Go to AVS forum and you'll see people spending up to £40,000 on 'home cinema' equipment in one transaction, spending £200 on digital cables, spending thousands on converting their garages into a dedicated sound room etc. You may ask why not spend £40,000 on a 'home stereo' equipment using analogue cables and listen to the sound pure?

The answer is no two audiophiles are the same and they should not be put into one category.
 
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I don't care what this dude says. Show me professional audio equipment that doesn't even have a basic 'bass' and 'treble' knob.

That's called flat sound and me nor any true music fan I've ever known will stand for it.

Any "true music fan" would want to hear the music "the way it was meant to be heard" IE as it was recorded in the studio, if you change the bass or treble you change the sound of the music.

Audiophiles buy high quality equipment so that they can achieve just this, a true, pure sound with nothing in between changing the sound.

Please don't make generalized statements about what others want, it makes you look a fool.
 

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X-Fi Crystalizer > Onboard

The difference IS night and day, it's so obvious. I'm only using 30w 2.1 Dell speakers, but it's enough to notice the difference. Sounds are more alive, especially with the subwoofer, without X-Fi Crystalizer it sounds dull, with it on the bass is more responsive and has a solid punch to it.

I agree with others that people spend $1,000s on rigs and use onboard is stupid, my PC is a budget build and I still got a sound card, I love music and listen to it hours a day, so the sound card really helped me.

Try get one cheap if you can, I got my X-Fi Platinum for 20 euro.

my onboard has crystaliser. sounds like arse. just because it helps compact the soundrage to make less distortion on cheap speakers, doesnt make it any good on even cheap speakers (logitech X-540's are what i tested with)
 

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Please don't make generalized statements about what others want, it makes you look a fool.

Psshh I never did such a thing.

I'm just saying that we're not all running $7,000 professional audio equipment on our computers.

But I guess everyone has $7,000 sound systems at their homes and doesn't need an EQ.

Or maybe we all have the same mediocre crap and the EQ argument DOES fit in here :banghead:
 

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Psshh I never did such a thing.

I'm just saying that we're not all running $7,000 professional audio equipment on our computers.

But I guess everyone has $7,000 sound systems at their homes and doesn't need an EQ.

Or maybe we all have the same mediocre crap and the EQ argument DOES fit in here :banghead:

i have $400 headphones, and while they're epic they lack bass on most equipment, so an EQ suits me just fine.

My logitech Z5500's on the other hand may lack an EQ, but they have bass and treble control so i dont need no EQ on the PC side of things.
 

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I think the crux of the matter is that there is a quality difference between onboard audio and a sound card. The problem is that not everyone can hear it, so for some people onboard audio is more than acceptable. It's hard to tell if you'll notice a difference since you've never compared onboard audio with a decent sound card. You might ask yourself if you listen for subtleties in your favorite song(s) or if you can tell the difference between a compressed MP3 and a lossless format, or if you just really take the music you listen to seriously. If you answered yes to these questions, to paraphrase Jeff Foxworthy, "You might need a soundcard".

Please don't make generalized statements about what others want, it makes you look a fool.

Do not call other members names.
 
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