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Creative Audigy Pro new first card since 2021

I'm still using my Essence STX from 2008 with unified drivers, can't believe it still works. I'm glad they are still being made, would prefer RCA out though.
 
giving this some thought. i haven't owned a dedicated sound card in many years. i have an MSI pro z690-p mainboard, has the realtek ALC897 for sound....its not great. any thoughts as to how noticeable of an upgrade this might be? its subjective. maybe i'll try to snag one on sale.
 
THRESHIN said:
giving this some thought. i haven't owned a dedicated sound card in many years. i have an MSI pro z690-p mainboard, has the realtek ALC897 for sound....its not great. any thoughts as to how noticeable of an upgrade this might be? its subjective. maybe i'll try to snag one on sale.
Click to expand...
I went through a similar process when my PC speakers began to fail. I verified it was the speakers as I plugged a different audio source and it was still weird.

My research results across two months.

To support your statement on how noticeable an upgrade will be:
Yes, will a soundcard be an upgrade is a subjective question. Along the lines of 'will Mega Super speakers be better than Super Mega speakers' or 'Primo DAC' vs 'Prima DAC', etc.

I found this a fun read.
https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Audio_woo

The question list I would suggest (based on what that I created for myself when I was looking to change my speakers):
  • What are your audio output devices (let's call them speakers)? (powered speakers, an external amplifier, headphones, basically, the last item that the sound comes from to your ears)
  • What issues are you facing (hiss, crackle, static, weird tones, sound isn't the same as a different output source)
    • Have you connected the device to a different audio source like a phone, a different PC, etc. using as close to the same connecter as possible to ensure that the issue is from the onboard audio and not the audio output devices.
    • For example, I figured out it was my speakers acting up, as opposed to the onboard audio of my PC.
  • Are you comparing the same audio content?
    • e.g. Don't compare a lossy vs a lossless version of the same song.
What I discovered that will affect subjective judgement.
  • your 'speaker' plays a big factor on whether you notice a difference or not (assuming your ears aren't as old as mine)
    • e.g. If you are using headphones that the soundcard cannot drive better than onboard, then you will probably notice no difference or maybe worse).
  • any audio processing (e.g. equalizer settings) settings for your onboard audio vs soundcard will affect what you consider better.
    • .e.g. You personally like bass, so if the soundcard increases the bass vs the onboard audio, you would think the soundcard better.
    • Learn to differentiate between processing based changes vs. what I consider objective changes.
      • Objective changes to me is something like a quieter backdrop (a.k.a. when no sound is playing, I should hear silence and not white noise).
      • no hissing, crackling, static, or anything that isn't the music.
Objectively, I think what you notice will depend on how well the audio related circuits were implemented on the motherboard vs the soundcard from an electrical engineering perspective.
If they are the same, then it goes back to how well your equipment matches what the devices can support.

Good luck with this journey.
One piece of advice that I strongly urge... don't fall too deep into the specification numbers.
Most audio sources will be 44.1/48kHz. This should be the target for normal PC usage.
Don't get dragged into thinking you need 192/384kHz, DSD, or vacuum tubes filled with unicorn farts.
 
duh FooL said:
I went through a similar process when my PC speakers began to fail. I verified it was the speakers as I plugged a different audio source and it was still weird.

My research results across two months.

To support your statement on how noticeable an upgrade will be:
Yes, will a soundcard be an upgrade is a subjective question. Along the lines of 'will Mega Super speakers be better than Super Mega speakers' or 'Primo DAC' vs 'Prima DAC', etc.

I found this a fun read.
https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Audio_woo

The question list I would suggest (based on what that I created for myself when I was looking to change my speakers):
  • What are your audio output devices (let's call them speakers)? (powered speakers, an external amplifier, headphones, basically, the last item that the sound comes from to your ears)
  • What issues are you facing (hiss, crackle, static, weird tones, sound isn't the same as a different output source)
    • Have you connected the device to a different audio source like a phone, a different PC, etc. using as close to the same connecter as possible to ensure that the issue is from the onboard audio and not the audio output devices.
    • For example, I figured out it was my speakers acting up, as opposed to the onboard audio of my PC.
  • Are you comparing the same audio content?
    • e.g. Don't compare a lossy vs a lossless version of the same song.
What I discovered that will affect subjective judgement.
  • your 'speaker' plays a big factor on whether you notice a difference or not (assuming your ears aren't as old as mine)
    • e.g. If you are using headphones that the soundcard cannot drive better than onboard, then you will probably notice no difference or maybe worse).
  • any audio processing (e.g. equalizer settings) settings for your onboard audio vs soundcard will affect what you consider better.
    • .e.g. You personally like bass, so if the soundcard increases the bass vs the onboard audio, you would think the soundcard better.
    • Learn to differentiate between processing based changes vs. what I consider objective changes.
      • Objective changes to me is something like a quieter backdrop (a.k.a. when no sound is playing, I should hear silence and not white noise).
      • no hissing, crackling, static, or anything that isn't the music.
Objectively, I think what you notice will depend on how well the audio related circuits were implemented on the motherboard vs the soundcard from an electrical engineering perspective.
If they are the same, then it goes back to how well your equipment matches what the devices can support.

Good luck with this journey.
One piece of advice that I strongly urge... don't fall too deep into the specification numbers.
Most audio sources will be 44.1/48kHz. This should be the target for normal PC usage.
Don't get dragged into thinking you need 192/384kHz, DSD, or vacuum tubes filled with unicorn farts.
Click to expand...
Thanks, this is great advice. i have a very old set of Z5500 speakers that are still in decent shape besides some cosmetic issues. To be honest, i don't use them often. mostly i have my headphones plugged into the volume controller that comes with them. Those are a good set of sennheisers i got this past christmas so they're in very good shape. I usually use these with younger kids in bed right above where my computer is.

The 5.1 issue is kinda weird. If i use the software for the onboard sound, i can set 5.1 speakers and run the test just fine, all work. However, nothing else plays sound through them. Windows control doesn't seem to allow me to set the speaker output for some reason. Stupid issue, have not had time to troubleshoot unfortunately. This is where I got thinking of a sound card as both a fix and an upgrade.

I don't have any particular issues, just was hoping for better quality is all. I will go over your advice. Thanks again.
 
THRESHIN said:
Thanks, this is great advice. i have a very old set of Z5500 speakers that are still in decent shape besides some cosmetic issues. To be honest, i don't use them often. mostly i have my headphones plugged into the volume controller that comes with them. Those are a good set of sennheisers i got this past christmas so they're in very good shape. I usually use these with younger kids in bed right above where my computer is.

The 5.1 issue is kinda weird. If i use the software for the onboard sound, i can set 5.1 speakers and run the test just fine, all work. However, nothing else plays sound through them. Windows control doesn't seem to allow me to set the speaker output for some reason. Stupid issue, have not had time to troubleshoot unfortunately. This is where I got thinking of a sound card as both a fix and an upgrade.

I don't have any particular issues, just was hoping for better quality is all. I will go over your advice. Thanks again.
Click to expand...
I think troubleshooting your current issue should be the first step, as there is no certainty those issues won't carry over to the soundcard.

When I was reading up on Creative PCIe soundcards, it seemed that the drivers were finicky and Creative wasn't really on the ball with driver/software updates.
Especially regarding Windows 11.
Mostly because onboard sound is good enough for 99% of users nowadays.

But you definitely don't want to install something new when the behaviour of the current setup isn't understood.
 
ashmelev75 said:
I'm surprised Creative is still alive.

"users who want more than standard motherboard audio" should just get a proper A/V receiver with 7.1 or 5.1 setup and use HDMI Audio.
Click to expand...
explain please I have used a sound card since forever and I have never went down this rabbit hole. my evga sound card software keeps bugging out for some reason so I might dip a toe into this pool.
 
p3sty said:
explain please I have used a sound card since forever and I have never went down this rabbit hole. my evga sound card software keeps bugging out for some reason so I might dip a toe into this pool.
Click to expand...
AMD and Nvidia cards have HDMI audio codec that can send digital uncompressed audio to an A/V receiver. You can probably find a used 5.1 channel HDMI receiver like Yamaha/Denon/Onkyo for about $100.
I've been using Yamaha RX-379 for over 10 years with zero issues, driver crashes or any other creative bullshit. And I can tell you I spend much more on sound cards prior to buying the receiver.
 
ashmelev75 said:
I'm surprised Creative is still alive.

"users who want more than standard motherboard audio" should just get a proper A/V receiver with 7.1 or 5.1 setup and use HDMI Audio.
Click to expand...
ashmelev75 said:
AMD and Nvidia cards have HDMI audio codec that can send digital uncompressed audio to an A/V receiver. You can probably find a used 5.1 channel HDMI receiver like Yamaha/Denon/Onkyo for about $100.
I've been using Yamaha RX-379 for over 10 years with zero issues, driver crashes or any other creative bullshit. And I can tell you I spend much more on sound cards prior to buying the receiver.
Click to expand...

As someone who just moved from onboard stereo to an external receiver, I would chime in that using a receiver isn't a cut and dry option.
I italicized receiver because it's really a mini-shelf system being used as a DACAMP, connected via USB-C to optical (kudos to pendragon1 as I had initially been looking to add a soundcard)
My system did not have HDMI input or I would have done what ashmelev75 mentioned instead.

A standard HT receiver is usually a large footprint to dedicate desktop space for (I'm only looking at the PC use case here being the primary audio source).
If you want to continue using existing powered speakers, you need to ensure the chosen receiver has pre-outs, since the powered speakers will have their own amplifier.
Otherwise, you now have to spend money on passive bookshelf/desktop speakers (which is yet another rabbit hole aside from soundcard/receiver).

Just adding this in case p3sty decides to start going down this rabbit hole.
If you're like me and easily suffer from analysis paralysis, don't do it 🙂
 
"Rabbit hole entered" if I only use headphones would I use a headphone amp/dac and will it do the same thing ? if I connect it to the video card and use its software for sound?
 
p3sty said:
"Rabbit hole entered" if I only use headphones would I use a headphone amp/dac and will it do the same thing ? if I connect it to the video card and use its software for sound?
Click to expand...

For headphones there are plenty of USB DAC choices, although I find it wild that the prices of those reach a "used A/V receiver" range. I guess that's the audiophile tax
There are also HDMI -> HDMI + Audio boxes that extract the audio stream and pass through the video signal, but they seem to be too cheap to have decent DACs inside.
 
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