About Newest MSI motherboards.

[mclaren85]

While every motherboard manufacturers provide audio enhancer software in their flagship motherboards, MSI dropped its support for its newest products. Nahimic Software, which was the MSI's audio enhancer software for previous models, is now missing in the support menu for new ones. After that significant change, users could only download "Realtek Universal Drivers" for audio. It is still unclear that why did MSI remove Nahimic, and they are yet to answer my e-mail. Nahimic has a lot of cool features including sound sharing, sound tracker, and some good equalizer settings, I really hope them to bring it back.

So why do you think they ignore audio in their newest products?

Here is the newest flagship motherboard and it's support menu:

MSI MEG Z790 ACE, E-ATX - Intel 13th/12th Gen - 24+1+2 Phases, DDR5, PCIe 5.0, 2.5G LAN, Wi-Fi 6E

The MEG Z790 ACE furnished premium aesthetics with its dark black finish and gold embellishes. Designed to unlock full gaming potential by elite hardware with premium durability, the MEG Z790 ACE is an outstanding E-ATX platform for extreme settings.

www.msi.com

And here is the Nahimic software only for pre-2021 models:

And Here is the video showing how MSI was proud of their software:

 

[JATownes]

I use this on my Meg X570S Ace Max and it has been pretty impressive software, in my opinion. Disappointed to hear it is not being included in the new software suite. I would also like to know why.

JAT

 

[mclaren85]

I use this on my Meg X570S Ace Max and it has been pretty impressive software, in my opinion. Disappointed to hear it is not being included in the new software suite. I would also like to know why.

JAT

I have the same motherboard. Will you do me a favour? What is your chipset temperature?

 

[ir_cow]

I'm not helpful here but I like to say that the Nahimic Software sucks. If I can avoid installing it, i will. All it ever does for me is cause windows problems. It made it so my MSI laptop couldn't do any sound after installing it. Couldn't uninstall it either. Fix was to reinstall windows, but seriously? that what it takes....

Edit: to be actually helpful it looks like it has been swapped out with Realtek Audio Control under utility. Nahimic is a licensed audio software. But looking at the sheer complaints on the internet (along with me), I'm not surprised it has been removed. Looks bad for a brand to use crappy bloatware software.

 

[mclaren85]

I'm not helpful here but I like to say that the Nahimic Software sucks. If I can avoid installing it, i will. All it ever does for me is cause windows problems. It made it so my MSI laptop couldn't do any sound after installing it. Couldn't uninstall it either. Fix was to reinstall windows, but seriously? that what it takes....

Edit: to be actually helpful it looks like it has been swapped out with Realtek Audio Control under utility. Nahimic is a licensed audio software. But looking at the sheer complaints on the internet (along with me), I'm not surprised it has been removed. Looks bad for a brand to use crappy bloatware software.

You were already helpful. But what was your complaints?

Second, Realtek Audio Control Center is primary audio related software found in every other mobo. Not a special one.

 

[JATownes]

I'm not helpful here but I like to say that the Nahimic Software sucks. If I can avoid installing it, i will. All it ever does for me is cause windows problems. It made it so my MSI laptop couldn't do any sound after installing it. Couldn't uninstall it either. Fix was to reinstall windows, but seriously? that what it takes....

Edit: to be actually helpful it looks like it has been swapped out with Realtek Audio Control under utility. Nahimic is a licensed audio software. But looking at the sheer complaints on the internet (along with me), I'm not surprised it has been removed. Looks bad for a brand to use crappy bloatware software.

I haven't ran into an issue like this at all. It has always been a pretty smooth experience for me so far. Now you have me on the lookout for issues.

I have the same motherboard. Will you do me a favour? What is your chipset temperature?

Here are my temps after some benching runs.

 

[ir_cow]

I haven't ran into an issue like this at all. It has always been a pretty smooth experience for me so far. Now you have me on the lookout for issues.

I'm probably just bad luck. Usually its fine until the update comes.

 

[AlwaysHope]

I never liked Nahimic audio quality with the onboard sound chip that came with my Z590 Unify board. In fact it was so poor I completely turned off the onboard sound chip via bios altogether & went with an Asus Xonar AE PCIe sound card & never looked back. Connect that device up to dedicated 7.1 surround (not virtual) Razer headphones (unfortunately, they don't make these headphones anymore) & game sound quality is the best I've ever heard in over 20 yrs of fiddling with PC game audio.

 

[JATownes]

I probably need to clarify that I use an external DAC and headphones for gaming, so I can't really speak to that aspect of it.

I use Nahimic for media exclusively. It's been great for movies and music for my purposes, but I'm also not an audiophile. My son is and uses a separate receiver over optical. I'm an old guy now and don't like it that loud. My younger self is very ashamed of me.

 

[mclaren85]

Here is the response from MSI

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

I am of the opinion that 3rd party software typically suck, other than volume controls.

 

[mclaren85]

I never liked Nahimic audio quality with the onboard sound chip that came with my Z590 Unify board. In fact it was so poor I completely turned off the onboard sound chip via bios altogether & went with an Asus Xonar AE PCIe sound card & never looked back. Connect that device up to dedicated 7.1 surround (not virtual) Razer headphones (unfortunately, they don't make these headphones anymore) & game sound quality is the best I've ever heard in over 20 yrs of fiddling with PC game audio.

Does Asus Xonar come with special software?

 

[thewan]

Most likely its because Steelseries (the current owner of nahimic) kinda abandoned it in favor of their Sonar software instead. It doesn't look like they have updated or added new features to Nahimic. I have a feeling it also may not be officially compatible/supported by Steelseries to be used with newer Realtek codecs like the 4080/4082 in the latest motherboards, and Steelseries hasn't bothered with updating the Nahimic software/drivers to be compatible since the newer codecs are USB based. Not to mention Sonar is free, so there is no incentive for motherboard makers to bundle Nahimic and add licensing costs, when users can just buy a cheaper motherboard and download Sonar instead.

 

[mclaren85]

Most likely its because Steelseries (the current owner of nahimic) kinda abandoned it in favor of their Sonar software instead. It doesn't look like they have updated or added new features to Nahimic. I have a feeling it also may not be officially compatible/supported by Steelseries to be used with newer Realtek codecs like the 4080/4082 in the latest motherboards, and Steelseries hasn't bothered with updating the Nahimic software/drivers to be compatible since the newer codecs are USB based. Not to mention Sonar is free, so there is no incentive for motherboard makers to bundle Nahimic and add licensing costs, when users can just buy a cheaper motherboard and download Sonar instead.

That is exactly the thing I was thinking. And absolutely the last thing I wanted to hear.

 

[AlwaysHope]

Does Asus Xonar come with special software?

Yes it does, proprietary stuff designed for windows 7 - 11. Never had a problem with it under 10.

 

[mclaren85]

Asus uses DTS
Gigabyte uses both DTS Ultra and Creative SoundBlaster
Asrock also uses Nahimic
Biostar uses SmartEar

and now, MSI uses just nothing, even in Godlike!.. I really want to know what they are up to..

 

[KrazyT]

Maybe they don't want to pay royalties for unnecessary program ?

 

[mclaren85]

Maybe they don't want to pay royalties for unnecessary program ?

They are absolutely not unnecessary also doesn't MSI have money to pay for it while others pay?

 

[claes]

Onboard sound is garbage, the fact that you need software to alter the output should say as much

That said, if you want audio enhancer software there are dozens of options available, most for free. Google is your friend.

 

[Deleted member 57642]

Nahimic was bought by SteelSeries back in 2020. Tho, by the looks of it - they integrated all of its feature in a SteelSeries rebranded App - called Sonar (the replacement for Nahimic - it's what they're actively working on).

As for MSI - they have a partnership with SteelSeries while using their keyboards - but same goes for Nahimic (be it they renewed their licenses for integrating it in newer products or they're recycling it / don't know the actual agreement between the two parties - since that part was not made public). Here...

Exclusive Features All Gamers Desire For

MSI's exclusive gaming features catered for gamers.In total, there are always 5 main aspects to consider: performance, visuals, audio, control and streaming.

www.msi.com

That's a 13th Gen intel CPU + nVidia RTX 40 GPU - yet, still comes with Nahimic. That being said - Nahimic is clearly not a thing of the past for MSI products.

Personally, i'm not so fond Nahimic. Even tho - i have support for it on my laptop - i did whatever i could to remove it (not an easy thing to do - since it's not enough to uninstall it... end-up disabling its leftover features - despite the core app being uninstalled). Mainly because i prefer a clean sound (or at least cleaner) - and apps like Nahimic or Beats - are more focused an a mainstream experience (to some extent - they're doing a better job at fooling the users - since they sacrifice sound quality for loudness, extra bass/treble - since it's something that the mainstream audience finds appealing). It is what it is: some people try to avoid sound distortion (it can be a costly hobby) - while others are embracing it (then again - this is the cheap way - since all it takes is an app).

 

[Kodehawa]

I'm very heavily of the opinion that the *less* software I have to install on my system, the better. I refuse to install any motherboard software, and onboard sound is probably gonna be mediocre regardless.

 

[Space Lynx]

I invested in a $100 Schiit Modi DAC many years ago, best decision I ever made, never had to deal with this kind of crap on any platform, OS, hardware config, drivers, etc. Life is much nicer with plug and play DAC device. Highly recommend the Schiit Modi for $109 over on Schiit's official website.

JDS Labs also makes a nice DAC for around the same price, both are good.