Best Soundcard for 2.1 audio

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Nology

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Feb 2, 2010
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My 7 year old PC had a sound blaster card which was good for its time. I figured after 7 years of technology that onboard audio would be decent but I was wrong. I need a sound card that will be good for 2.1 audio and possibly 5.1 down the road. I've been using old school powered Allison speakers with a powered subwoofer. Thanks in advance.
 
I have often wondered, given how (relatively) rare 5.1, 7.1, or more systems are in the PC gaming environment, that we don't see more soundcard makers really pouring their souls into KILLER 2.1 cards.

You are right, though - onboard just sucks, pure and simple. Even the "HD" onboard audio just doesn't compare to the bulk of the entry-level soundcards, it's really quite amazing.
 
Ya I'm surprised that there arent some serious 2.1 cards out there. I love my music and surround systems just don't cut it for me. Even with car audio. I'll install component sets in my car and completely eliminate the rear.
 
Nology said:
I need a sound card that will be good for 2.1 audio and possibly 5.1 down the road.
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dderidex said:
I have often wondered, given how (relatively) rare 5.1, 7.1, or more systems are in the PC gaming environment, that we don't see more soundcard makers really pouring their souls into KILLER 2.1 cards.
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The E-MU cards are known for their sound quality and features, though they're not geared toward gaming at all. For a card with excellent sound quality that will also do well in a gaming rig, the ASUS Xonar Essence ST and STX are about as good as it gets ATM.
 
I have an Essence STX and have no complaints in games. It is great for music. Very low noise with my monitors and drives my headphones well.
Night and day vs on-board, noticeable difference from generic Sound Blaster/Audigy types. Do not have any experience with any of the Auzentech cards, I hear good things, but have learned to hate anything with a Creative based driver. All of my other experience is with receivers and mixers; don't imagine that would be too helpful.
 
I don't do any gaming whatsoever on my PC. Awesome sound for music is my main concern.
 
You said you might need 5.1. Do you need spdif coaxial/optical or 5.1 analog outputs?
 
^ Another vote for Essence STX. For computer audio this card blows me away. With good headphones/speakers the diff from Soundblaster is from here to the moon.

I haven't given onboard the time of day since longer than I can remember except for a short period where I was stuck with an old laptop, just for kicks the other day I decided to give the newest realtek a go just to see how it sounded. I knew it would be bad, but I had completely forgotten just how bad. I was absolutely disgusted. So disgusted that I laughed my ass off hysterically. Even my buddy's $20 creative xmod sounded a world better. HAHAH

If you want the juice baby go Xonar!! From what I hear Forte is great too.
 
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HT Omega Halo for headphones, but Im currently using it in a 2.1 setup and its amazing. It comes with a built in headphone amp.

HT Omega Claro Plus+ for anything else.
 
"HT Omega Halo for headphones, but Im currently using it in a 2.1 setup and its amazing. It comes with a built in headphone amp.

HT Omega Claro Plus+ for anything else."

This.
 
Asus Xonar Essence STX has the Burr Brown 1792A DAC, the best that is currently commercially available.
 
Check the reviews, I believe there is no better 2.1 sound card then the Asus Xonar Essence STX.
 
I replaced my dead Forte with a Xonar D2/PM and think it's fantastic for music, games, videos, etc. I'm running a 2.1 audio system, too.
 
Forgive me if I'm wrong, but would the aforementioned Asus Essence STX and HT Omega Halo cards technically be 2.0 channel audio cards?

I noticed the OP is using 2 powered speakers and a separate powered subwoofer, and it doesn't appear that either soundcard has a suitable port for his subwoofer.
 
These sound cards seem to be getting more expensive! Whats up with the USB sound cards? I haven't looked for a card in years so these are completely new to me.
 
Why not opt for a M-Audio Revolution 5.1 which features native ASIO. Any music player that supports ASIO out (MediaMonkey, Winamp, Foobar or J. River) combined with the Revo is perfect for great 2.1 channel sound at a reasonable price. ASIO out prevents signal degradation caused resampling of Windows Kmixer.
 
Mr. Wolf said:
I replaced my dead Forte with a Xonar D2/PM and think it's fantastic for music, games, videos, etc. I'm running a 2.1 audio system, too.
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Hey Mr. Wolf, I was just wondering why you use a soundcard instead of just using optical or coaxial off the motherboard. Is it due to jitter? Also are you running digital or analog from the Xonar? I'm guessing the Marantz in your sig has a much better DAC than the D2.
 
450 said:
Hey Mr. Wolf, I was just wondering why you use a soundcard instead of just using optical or coaxial off the motherboard. Is it due to jitter? Also are you running digital or analog from the Xonar? I'm guessing the Marantz in your sig has a much better DAC than the D2.
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Hey 450! I like using a card because I seem to get louder and better/cleaner sounding audio than with onboard. I use a coaxial connection and am very pleased with the results.
 
Back to the original question, does anyone make a true 2.1 channel sound card, or would I be better off buying a multichannel card? This is pretty much for music and movies only.

Any recommendations besides the HT Claro Plus? I'm kind of thinking about a PCI-E card. A front panel connector with headphone detect would be nice too since the back of my computer is hard to reach.

I currently have an X-Fi so I'm looking for something else.
 
If you wanted the lowest priced high quality 2 sound card the one that comes my mind is the ESI Prodigy HD2 by Audiotrak which has a bit better quality parts and all the op-amps on the card can be changed to better ones since they are in sockets. For myself I just got the Juli@ card and it is far better sound quality that the M-Audio 2496 card that I had for many years.

http://www.audiotrak.net
 
I am curious - I happen to have a set of Bose Companion 5 speakers that I don't currently use. Would they be sufficient to drive some phones of decent quality compared to the onboard sound I currently am using? I have a set of Senn 515 phones currently but am looking to get a nicer set and trying to understand more about audio in general.
 
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