Is it worth getting a soundcard?

[ViralRazor]

Well I've picked up a pair of ATH-M50's and I'm wondering, as the title says, if its worth getting a sound card. They don't really need more powerful amplification (my phone drives them to ear killing levels, same with onboard) and I'm wondering if I'll hear a improvement in audio with a sound card.

Mind you I've tried one song on my onboard, z-2300 speaker jack (its amped) and my phone and they all seemed to sound the same...

 

[Sebastianem]

I had used soundcards for many years given the abysmal performance of the on-board sound solutions of motherboards past. Not too long ago I purchased a motherboard with what seemed to be a very decent on-board 5.1 solution and gave it a whirl. After about a week I went back to my X-Fi and I refuse to ever go back. In my experience, no matter the amount of tweaking I do, it never sounds as good. Not to mention a good soundcard will offer quite a few more IO options then that of the on-board solution.

I'm not a Creative fan boy, mind you, as there are some other outstanding cards out there. Check out some of the reviews on [H]

 

[MorgothPl]

Depends... for speakers I use my X-Fi. However, I do now most gaming on headphones. Got rid of Soundcard, picked the Creative Tactic Alpha headset, with that mini USB soundcard, and I'm really happy with purchase.

 

[Forceman]

If you are gaming, the big advantage of a discrete card is the ability to do Dolby Headphone or CMSS-3D to provide simulated surround. Unless you have one of the few motherboards that supports one of those technologies, I would look into getting something like the Xonar DG, which for around $20 provides good sound along with headphone features.

 

[ViralRazor]

My integrated can do dolby headphone surround! The main reason I'm asking is because I'll probably have space problems due to crossfired 6950s..