Sound Card Advice

[Ketxxx]

thanks for all the responses guys.
the speakers should come sometime between wed and friday (finally, they're almost 2 months overdue). I'll try my onboard first, then if it doesn't live up to my expectations, then i'll get a pci soundcard. hopefully something with 96/24, optical output, and dts and nonsuch. i'm sort of leaning away form creative right now, mostly because they are a bit spendy, and they don't have optical output and some of the decoding stuff right now. and a ton of their stuff has a front panel unit, and mine are all filled. grah humbug.

btw, does dts support for the thx speakers only work on some soundcards? or does it "just work" whenever?

well, i'm tired. i'll sleep on it tonight.

If you want a card that is awesome but not too expensive the Audiotrack Prodigy 192 is an absolute screamer

Still, heed our advice as you have done, get the latest drivers for your onboard sound and play around with the equalizer settings and so forth. IF you then dont think the sound can cut it still, THEN go looking for an add-in such as the Prodigy 192

Darren and AshenSugar are also right on the money in what they say. Also as they have said, ignore DaMulta, hes obviously a fanboy.

 

[randomperson21]

ok thanks for all your help guys.

 

[DaMulta]

NOt a fanboy of creative, they piss me off all the time. Its just I LIKE EAX, I wish other company's supported it(OR creative let other companies use it). Support sucks, if their drivers were updated all the time, you guys would be down with them too.

Its a simple fact, company's try to bring a sound card to the public it fails every signal time, why because creative owns the market. They have owned the market for years apone years. If on-board ever gets better than them, that's when they will be in trouble.

 

[Darren]

Its just I LIKE EAX, I wish other company's supported it(OR creative let other companies use it).

I like EAX too, and I also wish other cards supported EAX 3.0+, but this topic wasn't about what we want, its about what the end user wants. And it is clear that "randomperson21" wants Dolby/DTS over EAX hence the reason why he purchased an Logitech Z-5500 5.1 with built in decoder.

why because creative owns the market. They have owned the market for years apone years.

Only because they lie to customers and promise DTS/Dolby but then only give their customers prologic and stereo!!!!

 

[AshenSugar]

DaMulta the fact is that all onboard sound supports eax2, infact since creative opened eax2 to the pub everybody supports it.

it causts alot of $ to licence the right to use eas3+ with non creative cards, add to that the fact that creative isnt offering what people want but what they want people to have and you see why THEY ARE LOOSING MARKET SHARE YEAR AFTER YEAR and have been for years now, check the stats, most people just use onboard sound these days because the quility is FAR better then it use to be(ac97 use to suck in the 90's but its grown up)

many game companys have dumped 3-5 support till creative opens them up via openAL truth be told by buying creative cards your just helping creative hold eax hostage till they deside to open it.

u know what the sadist part is, eax isnt even the best way to do the job, a3d and its subsets are better, and ALL onboard sound supports a3d as do all cards even creative cards

well let us know what you think of what you get/got

 

[trog100]

"sounds are a genuinely subjective thing.. folks hear what they hear or think they should hear most of the time.. he he he

and most folks think they will hear "better" with a card so they do hear "better"..

to quote myself..

its all in the "mind".. or most of it is.. decent speakers make the most difference and dont lets dare get into which lot of those are the best.. he he he

and this aint even taking into account room acoustics.. which can totally alter the way any system sounds..

i have a decent sound system connected to my PC.. fiddling with the subs or any equalizer setting makes a noticable difference to how things "sound".. i can never make my mind up whats the "best" settings thow..

but in a blind test i would not be able to tell whether i was useing the onboard sounds or either my audigy four or audigy two sound cards..

they all make very nice noises fed thru a decent amp and speaker set up..

trog

 

[randomperson21]

they all make very nice noises fed thru a decent amp and speaker set up..
trog

hehe. nice noises are good.

when i get the speaker set, i'll try them out on my current setup and post the results.

 

[Deleted member 24505]

i have just removed my audigy 4 after reading this thread(as its developed).i am using the realtek alc882 7.1 channel onboard now and i cannot tell the differance.my spkrs are logitech x-530 5.1.not the best but not crap i would say.

it really sounds pretty good on games and music too.on wmp it uses 1-2% proc usage.

 

[Casheti]

Why would you take it out you n00b? lol

It's not like you're gaining anything by taking it out. Apart from another PCI slot

 

[Deleted member 24505]

too see wot it sounds like with the onboard hd audio.you might be suprised.it really does sound pretty good.and i was a hi-fi nut a few years ago so i do know how music should sound.

there is a plus side to taking it out too.i dont now have a card right under my graphics cards cooler.my stressed temp is now 44c for the card max.it was 50 odd before.

 

[Casheti]

Hmmmmmmmm, I'd still have the card inside the system anyway

Higher sound settings in games...you see?

 

[Ketxxx]

i have just removed my audigy 4 after reading this thread(as its developed).i am using the realtek alc882 7.1 channel onboard now and i cannot tell the differance.my spkrs are logitech x-530 5.1.not the best but not crap i would say.

it really sounds pretty good on games and music too.on wmp it uses 1-2% proc usage.

what was i saying all along?

 

[Casheti]

Hey, if you guys wanna get rid of your sound cards, fine by me. Send 'em my way lol

 

[Deleted member 24505]

sorry for the length of this but on these specs,i think it is pretty good.

The ALC882 series 7.1+2 Channel High Definition Audio codecs with UAA (Universal Audio Architecture), featuring five 24-bit stereo DACs and three 20-bit stereo ADCs, are designed for high performance multimedia PC systems. The ALC882 series incorporates proprietary converter technology to achieve over 100dB Signal-to-Noise ratio playback quality; easily meeting PC2001 requirements and also bringing PC sound quality closer to consumer electronic devices.

The ALC882 series provide 10 channels of DAC that simultaneously support 7.1 sound playback, plus 2 channels of independent stereo sound output (multiple streaming) through the Front-Out-Left and Front-Out-Right channels. Flexible mixing, mute, and fine gain control functions provide a complete integrated audio solution for next generation multimedia PCs.

The DACs (with a highest sampling frequency of 192kHz) and Realtek proprietary hardware content protection are applicable for DVD-Audio, previously only implemented in high-end consumer electronics, and now achieved by PCs with the ALC882 series inside. The ALC882 series also integrate three stereo ADCs that can support a microphone array with Acoustic Echo Cancellation (AEC), Beam Forming (BF), and Noise Suppression (NS) technology simultaneously, significantly improving recording quality for conference calls. With this feature (3 stereo ADCs), the ALC882 series can provide high-quality audio using S/PDIF to output analog data, or for multiple-source recording applications. All analog IO are input and output capable, and headphone amplifiers are also integrated at each analog output. All analog IOs can be re-tasked according to user's definitions, or automatically switched depending on the connected device type.

The ALC882 series support 16/20/24/32-bit S/PDIF input and output functions for both consumer mode and professional mode, offering easy connection of PCs to high quality consumer electronic products such as AC-3 decoders/speakers, and mini disk devices. The ALC882 series supports host/soft audio from the Intel ICH6/ICH7 chipset, and also from any other HDA compatible audio controller. With EAX/Direct Sound 3D/I3DL2/A3D compatibility, and excellent software utilities like Karaoke mode, environment emulation, software equalizer, HRTF 3D positional audio, and optional Dolby® Digital Live and Master Studio program, the ALC882 series provides an excellent entertainment package and game experience for PC users.


Features
High-performance DACs with 103dB SNR are ideal for Dolby® Master Studio
ADCs with 90dBA SNR
Meets performance requirements for audio on PC2001 systems
10 DAC channels support 16/20/24-bit PCM format for 7.1 sound playback, plus 2 channels of independent stereo sound output (multiple streaming) through the Front-Out-Left and Front-Out-Right channels
3 stereo ADCs support 16/20-bit PCM format, two for microphone array, one for legacy mixer recording
All DACs support 44.1k/48k/96k/192kHz sample rate
All ADCs support 44.1k/48k/96kHz sample rate
Applicable for DVD-Audio solutions
16/20/24-bit S/PDIF-OUT supports 44.1k/48k/96k/192kHz sample rate
16/20/24-bit S/PDIF-IN supports 44.1k/48k/96k/192kHz sample rate
Up to four channels of microphone input are supported for AEC/BF application
High-quality analog differential CD input
Supports external PCBEEP input and built-in digital BEEP generator
Software selectable 2.5V/3.75V VREFOUT
Six VREFOUTs are supported by default, with additional four VREFOUTs available by sharing unused analog I/O pins
Two jack detection pins each designed to detect up to 4 jacks
Reserve analog mixer architecture for backward compatibility with AC'97
Wide range (–80dB ~ +42dB) volume control with 1.5dB resolution of analog to analog mixer gain
All analog jacks are stereo input and output re-tasking for analog plug & play
Built-in headphone amplifiers for each re-tasking jack
Supports both analog DC volume control and GPI digital volume control
2 GPIOs (General Purpose Input/Output) for customized applications
Optional EAPD (External Amplifier Power Down) is supported
Power support: Digital: 3.3V; Analog: 5.0V (Minimum AVDD is 3.6V)
Power management and enhanced power saving features
48-pin LQFP lead (Pb)-free package
Meets Microsoft WHQL/WLP 2.0 audio requirements
EAX™ 1.0 & 2.0 compatible
Direct Sound 3D™ compatible
A3D™ compatible
I3DL2 compatible
HRTF 3D Positional Audio
Emulation of 26 sound environments to enhance gaming experience
10 Software Equalizer Bands
Voice Cancellation and Key Shifting in Karaoke mode
Realtek Media Player
Enhanced Configuration Panel and device sensing wizard to improve user experience
Microphone Acoustic Echo Cancellation (AEC), Noise Suppression (NS) and Beam Forming (BF) technology for voice application
ALC882D features Dolby® Digital Live output for consumer equipment
ALC882H features Dolby® Home Theater software
ALC882M features Dolby® Master Studio software

 

[Casheti]

I didn't ask for a novel. lol, is there any way you can summarise what you mean??

 

[Deleted member 24505]

the specs of this are as good as or better than some pci sound cards.

i think the days of needing a seperate sound card may soon be coming to an end.

AND i hate ALL the crap that creative insist your system needs when you install a creative card.the software for the realtek is small and effective without needing all the stuff with the creative.if you install all the junk that comes with the aud 4 it is about a 170mb+ install.

 

[Casheti]

Then again...CREATIVE FTW!

I got the Realtek HD Audio, I think it sucks ass to be honest, but it's implemented on the worlds most shite board, so most probably something HP did to it.

 

[Deleted member 24505]

is it alc882?.if not what is it?.

after hearing what this is like,creative can suck my bum hole after a curry.

 

[Casheti]

FFS tigger! Now I'm gonna have nightmares about that...

From HP themselves:

Integrated Intel High Definition (TM) audio (Azalia)

*Realtek ALC 882 CODEC
*THX certification support
*8-channels for Full Dolby 5.1/6.1/7.1 surround sound support with Dolby Pro Logic IIx

I should be getting to bed now, 1:58am lmao, cya tomorrow.

 

[Ketxxx]

Heres info on my soundmax audio complete with whitepaper. I'm too lazy but anyone that wants to look up the specific technical sheet for the chip used, the chip is the ADI 1988B

 

[AshenSugar]

Then again...CREATIVE FTW!

I got the Realtek HD Audio, I think it sucks ass to be honest, but it's implemented on the worlds most shite board, so most probably something HP did to it.

update the drivers to the current realtek drivers that helped mine sound 100% better(ones the board came with must have been like first revision beta or some crap)

also some of the stuff i have read recently leads me to belive that many intel chipset boards lack good emplimintation of the tech, INTEL brand boards tend to sound alot better then asus,msi,gigabyte and most other makers probbly because intel acctualy try and make intels azilia audio sound work properly.

from most reports AMD systems with HD audio(nforce5) tend to sound close to the same(well full atx boards, some matx boards already got a bad rep for onboard sound/video quility)
probbly because of 1. newer drivers for hd audio, 2. newer more tested emplimentation of hd audio
1 is more likely since drivers make a HUGE diffrance in quility.

i would remove all the drivers you have for sound, then install the latest realtek drivers, if that dosnt help then its probbly the board not having good emplimentation

been there, i got an msi board with soundstorm that sounded like crap till a buddy removed/replaced/added some caps (little inline ones) to the board, he just wanted to see if he could do it, i was shocked, good quility caps and adding a few more, oh and removing 4 helped ALOT it sounds as good as my nf7-s now

 

[randomperson21]

wow this thread's been busy.

i'm gonna download the new realtek drivers tonite, see if they're any better.


but no love from realtek: all their driver download mirrors seem to be down/broken. i'll try later.

My mobo is an ECS-NFORCE4-A939. Apparently, i have a realtek ALC655. Don't really know if its good, but heres the specs fresh from realtek's site. Sorry its long.


Features

* Meets performance requirements for audio on PC99/2001 systems
* Meets Microsoft WHQL/WLP 2.0 audio requirements
* 16-bit Stereo full-duplex CODEC with 48KHz sampling rate
* Compliant with AC'97 Rev 2.3 specifications
o Front-Out, Surround-Out, MIC-In and LINE-In Jack Sensing
o 14.318MHz -> 24.576MHz PLL to eliminate crystal
o 12.288MHz BITCLK input
o Integrated PCBEEP generator to save buzzer
o Interrupt capability
* Three analog line-level stereo inputs with 5-bit volume control, LINE_IN, CD, AUX
* High-quality differential CD input
* Two analog line-level mono inputs: PCBEEP, PHONE-IN
* Two software selectable MIC inputs
* Dedicated Front-MIC input for front panel applications (software selectable)
* Boost preamplifier for MIC input
* LINE input shared with surround output; MIC input shared with Center and LFE output
* Built-in 50mW/20ohm amplifier for both Front-out and Surround-Out
* External Amplifier Power Down (EAPD) capability
* Power management and enhanced power saving features
* Supports Power-Off CD function
* Adjustable VREFOUT control
* Supports 48KHz S/PDIF output, complying with AC'97 Rev 2.3 specifications
* Supports 32K/44.1K/48KHz S/PDIF input
* Power support: Digital: 3.3V; Analog: 3.3V/5V
* Standard 48-pin LQFP package
* EAX™ 1.0 & 2.0 compatible
* Direct Sound 3D™ compatible
* A3D™ compatible
* I3DL2 compatible
* HRTF 3D positional audio
* Sensaura™ 3DPA enhancement (optional)
* 10-band software equalizer
* Voice cancellation and key shifting in Karaoke mode
* AVRack® Media Player
* Configuration Panel for improved user convenience

 

[AshenSugar]

google for them, i never use realtek's site as its alwase to much work.

http://drivers.softpedia.com/catRedir/SOUND-CARD/REALTEK

softpedia=great place to download this kinda stuff

 

[Casheti]

Just thought you'd like to know!

Techpowerup=even better place to download this kinda stuff

 

[trog100]

"i think the days of needing a seperate sound card may soon be coming to an end."

yep.. its already come to an end and dual core cpus have put the final nail in the coffin..

the only reason i ever used a sound card in the first place was cos of the odd stutter or pause in the music output that used to happen when u did some cpu or system intensive task.. they always have "sounded" okay.. but that just dosnt happen any more so the need for a seperate one really has dissapeared.. and i dont have a dual core cpu..

it aint removed the need for a decent set of speakers thow.. he he..

the realtek interface is pretty good too.. i prefer it to the creative one..

so after years of saying yes u need a seperate soundcard i now say no u dont need one.. he he

trog