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Is it worth using a sound card in newer builds?
- Thread starter rjolin01
- Start date
The system in my sig is the first one I've built for myself that doesn't have a sound card. I was using an Audigy 2 with my previous system and had every intention of moving it over until I learned that Creative's drivers (at the time anyway, not sure if it has changed) did not support 5.1 audio in Vista unless you had an X-Fi card. Instead of feeding Creative's greed I decided to give onboard audio a try, especially after reading how far it's come. Truth be told, I don't miss having a sound card at all.
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It's not a simple yes/no answer, as it depends what equipment you partner it with (it might be just another weak link in a chain full of weak links!). Also, as Zachstar intimated, if you are using digital output then there should be practically no difference.
I'm running an analogue connection to a Marantz amp which is feeding a pair of Kef 104/2's - I had an Audigy4 which I was never impressed with (drivers aside), but then it died and I was forced to use the Realtek on my P5Q-Pro. The sound was actually less coloured but the bass was muddy and overall it was just too laid-back and lacking dynamics. Bit the bullet and splashed out on a Xonar STX, since it got good reviews and has proper RCA outputs. Could not be happier with that purchase, the difference is night and day.
I'm running an analogue connection to a Marantz amp which is feeding a pair of Kef 104/2's - I had an Audigy4 which I was never impressed with (drivers aside), but then it died and I was forced to use the Realtek on my P5Q-Pro. The sound was actually less coloured but the bass was muddy and overall it was just too laid-back and lacking dynamics. Bit the bullet and splashed out on a Xonar STX, since it got good reviews and has proper RCA outputs. Could not be happier with that purchase, the difference is night and day.
You know. Now that I look at that card I have noticed the huge lack of "Line Out" when it comes to computer audio. It seems almost everything out there is made for passive speakers (Or atleast those with a small amp in them)
BTW just curious how is the Pro Logic on that thing?
honestly i dont care what we call it. eax. openal...i just want the effects to work properly and have a good hardware excellerated card to take the load off and make the sound sound better. it just seems now that sound has gone 20 yrs into the past with the removal of directsound. alot of newer games are forced to use shitty software encoded sound. it works yea, but its not the same.
it only lives on if its supported. what decent cards are supporting hardware accellerated openAL? how many games are actually using this now? i just want a standard back in place so we can all enjoy high-end sounds and effects instead of shitty discrete 5.1.
OpenAL is the future. That an other systems like OpenSL that can follow basic pro logic standards.
I just don't see any standards going over them.
Both virtual speaker and dolby headphone modes sound good, at least compared to what I have heard before. But I don't really use anything, even basic EQ. I'd be happy with a plain stereo card
Both virtual speaker and dolby headphone modes sound good, at least compared to what I have heard before. But I don't really use anything, even basic EQ. I'd be happy with a plain stereo card
Some people really like their headphones. I use a USB Microsoft Lifechat headset when I need microphone or quiet listening. But I have seen some really elaborate setups for headphones in the past.
Interesting thing is I am now BACK on the Turtle Beach card. They kindly updated their drivers this month (Instead of the C-media ones I was using) so I am back to using Dolby Digital Live.
I have to admit this is the first time Ive ever seen a card (For digital) beat out onboard. It now creates speakers in windows that act like normal 5.1 or 7.1 speakers but when set to DD Live it routes those signals to its internal chip and out finally comes DD audio in 5.1 that is just about as clear as the PCM stream. Last time the audio quality was far worse and often didn't work right. So I am quite happy with this setup.