Do I Need A Sound Card

[jman20nnsss]

hi guys,im using the t40 gigaworks series ii 2.0 speakers and i was wondering if i got a sound card(creative recon 3d), would it make a difference for gaming,music,movie etc

 

[micropage7]

if you are not so serious bout sound, onboard soundcard would be fine
except you need like THX, dolby with outstanding sound quality

 

[Crap Daddy]

No. For a setup with 2.0 "multimedia" speakers you won't feel a difference.

 

[HammerON]

if you are not so serious bout sound, onboard soundcard would be fine
except you need like THX, dolby with outstanding sound quality

No. For a setup with 2.0 "multimedia" speakers you won't feel a difference.

What they said.

 

[RejZoR]

No. For a setup with 2.0 "multimedia" speakers you won't feel a difference.

Wrong. 2.0 and 2.1 speakers are where good soundcard actually shows its power. Especially in 3D games where you need to simulate 3D sound positioning on just 2 speakers.

 

[Dent1]

hi guys,im using the t40 gigaworks series ii 2.0 speakers and i was wondering if i got a sound card(creative recon 3d), would it make a difference for gaming,music,movie etc

It wont make a difference with those speakers.

Wrong. 2.0 and 2.1 speakers are where good soundcard actually shows its power. Especially in 3D games where you need to simulate 3D sound positioning on just 2 speakers.

Wrong. It's only good if we are talking about amplified stereo or hometheatre grade speakers. Not cheap budget plastic Creative junk boxes.

 

[jman20nnsss]

Ok,thx guys for the advice!

 

[nleksan]

I don't know, maybe I am biased, but I feel like if a person is spending a lot of money on graphics-enhancing products, it would be a shame to be stuck with "meh" sound quality. I do a lot of sound editing, uncompressed audio mostly, and I would consider myself an audiophile so I am prone to getting the best sound equipment I can.
As an analogy... Would you go out and get a top-of-the-line 4K resolution Projector, a 180" 2.33:1 screen, custom made theater-style recliners, a high-end Blu-Ray Player, and hook it all up to a $50 75W/ch stereo receiver with 2 $50 speakers?
Or would you grab a Denon/Onkyo 9.4ch Receiver with a McIntosh Amplifier, a line power conditioner, and a full 9-speaker Definitive Technology Mythos II surround sound setup with 4 Subwoofers?

I realize it may not be the best analogy, but I would suggest going with a decent sound card that supports multi-Channel surround sound, Dolby/DTS, and has a better SNR than onboard sound. You can get one for under $50 and it will make a difference, whether you have Creative Gigaworks speakers or Klipsch Studio Monitors...

 

[Dent1]

I don't know, maybe I am biased, but I feel like if a person is spending a lot of money on graphics-enhancing products, it would be a shame to be stuck with "meh" sound quality. I do a lot of sound editing, uncompressed audio mostly, and I would consider myself an audiophile so I am prone to getting the best sound equipment I can.
As an analogy... Would you go out and get a top-of-the-line 4K resolution Projector, a 180" 2.33:1 screen, custom made theater-style recliners, a high-end Blu-Ray Player, and hook it all up to a $50 75W/ch stereo receiver with 2 $50 speakers?
Or would you grab a Denon/Onkyo 9.4ch Receiver with a McIntosh Amplifier, a line power conditioner, and a full 9-speaker Definitive Technology Mythos II surround sound setup with 4 Subwoofers?

I realize it may not be the best analogy, but I would suggest going with a decent sound card that supports multi-Channel surround sound, Dolby/DTS, and has a better SNR than onboard sound. You can get one for under $50 and it will make a difference, whether you have Creative Gigaworks speakers or Klipsch Studio Monitors...

It's the perfect analogy.

 

[n-ster]

for gaming onboard is fine IMO... for music it's another story

 

[erocker]

Try with onboard sound. If you don't like it, get a sound card. Sometimes onboard sound can be fine, other times it may not be loud enough, have issues (popping, etc.) and whatnot. Need is a very subjective term.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

hi guys,im using the t40 gigaworks series ii 2.0 speakers and i was wondering if i got a sound card(creative recon 3d), would it make a difference for gaming,music,movie etc

Not really. Slightly better FPS but that's about it.

I think cards really become necessary where you need surround sound processing. Stereo/2.1 doesn't benefit much/at all from audio cards except in the volume/SNR department.

 

[techguy31]

If you need that extra umph for your 2.0 speaker set, my HT Claro Plus will give you quality sound. It has a Front OPAMP which means that if you plug in your analog cable into the front channel it will be noticeably superior than that onboard sound of yours.

Here --> http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=163326

 

[SuperSonic X 316]

I find a slight difference in the way songs sound with an ASUS Xonar DG and the integrated Realtek chip that the ASUS Maximus V Gene has. It's more noticable on headphones than it is on my stereo speakers (M-Audio AV 40s); basically music sounds more narrow to me, less open I guess I want to say.

Edit: I should add that I mostly listen to normal music and stuff so I leave the sound output at 44.1kHz / 16 bit on the audio output options. Mostly the reason why I went with the cheap Xonar DG instead of a 7.1 sound card; the Xonar DG uses the Oxygen HD chip that some other expensive cards also carry.