Question regarding onboard audio for reciever

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ForcefulPWNZ

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Jan 26, 2013
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I currently run the Realtek 892? Onboard audio off of my z68, I run it to a Harman Kardon AVR-85 via a 2 rca to 3.5mm adapter running to the green channel on the onboard audio.
Now my question is, Am I going to see a noticeable improvement in sound quality since I am just using the one plug on the onboard audio if i upgraded to a better sound card and did the same? / would I notice an improvement running a toslink on onboard or a new sound card, and in that case would it be worth upgrading?
 
It varies depending on the motherboard. There is MUCH more to onboard sound than just what audio interface/DAC they use. Some motherboards have pretty quality sound. Some have very noisy output where you'll hear hiss, hum, or hear noise from PC components in the audio (such as the hard drive), etc. Also, some power supplies can cause audio noise issues with some PCs.

If you don't hear noise in your audio then the benefit you will see will range from absolutely nothing to barely anything, and in any case will not be worth the money, because it will be like a drop of water in a 55 gallon drum. Electronics contribute SIGNIFICANTLY (from tens to thousands of times) less distortion than headphones/speakers do. Rarely is upgrading electronics worth it for anything other than new features.

If you do not have these noise problems, then personally I'd say if you want to upgrade electronics, the receiver would be better to upgrade, because you could get something like a Denon AVR-1712 which has Audyssey MultEQ XT, a quite good auto equalization system, one of the best on the market. The 1612 has the lesser MultEQ version, and the 1912 does too (it has other stuff to make up for dropping the XT from the 1712). I think XT is standard on 2112 or 2312 and up. (They are into xx13 models now and probably xx14 soon but the xx12 and xx13 models are pretty much the same.)

The improvement that MultEQ XT would bring (if properly used) will beat ANY improvement the DACs and such that others here recommend... by a LOT. In fact it's probably the only electronics upgrade that will actually upgrade your quality in ANY noticeable way... unless your onboard sound is one of the problematic, noisy ones (again).

I do recommend using TOSlink if possible. It has the highest chance of not having noise issues, and will probably be 1:1 samples if settings are correct. But even onboard analog is sometimes good.
 
Yes if you have a digital out, Optical or digital coax, you can run a DAC and hook it to your H&K for a noticeable improvement without buying a receiver.

Even saying all that your receiver may have digital in with a built in DAC.
 
dandragonrage said:
It varies depending on the motherboard. There is MUCH more to onboard sound than just what audio interface/DAC they use. Some motherboards have pretty quality sound. Some have very noisy output where you'll hear hiss, hum, or hear noise from PC components in the audio (such as the hard drive), etc. Also, some power supplies can cause audio noise issues with some PCs.

If you don't hear noise in your audio then the benefit you will see will range from absolutely nothing to barely anything, and in any case will not be worth the money, because it will be like a drop of water in a 55 gallon drum. Electronics contribute SIGNIFICANTLY (from tens to thousands of times) less distortion than headphones/speakers do. Rarely is upgrading electronics worth it for anything other than new features.

If you do not have these noise problems, then personally I'd say if you want to upgrade electronics, the receiver would be better to upgrade, because you could get something like a Denon AVR-1712 which has Audyssey MultEQ XT, a quite good auto equalization system, one of the best on the market. The 1612 has the lesser MultEQ version, and the 1912 does too (it has other stuff to make up for dropping the XT from the 1712). I think XT is standard on 2112 or 2312 and up. (They are into xx13 models now and probably xx14 soon but the xx12 and xx13 models are pretty much the same.)

The improvement that MultEQ XT would bring (if properly used) will beat ANY improvement the DACs and such that others here recommend... by a LOT. In fact it's probably the only electronics upgrade that will actually upgrade your quality in ANY noticeable way... unless your onboard sound is one of the problematic, noisy ones (again).

I do recommend using TOSlink if possible. It has the highest chance of not having noise issues, and will probably be 1:1 samples if settings are correct. But even onboard analog is sometimes good.
Click to expand...

Yeah, A big reason for considering an upgrade was the fact that when I plug into the analog output on the motherboard I do hear hissing until I unplug and replug the RCA's on the back of the harman kardon and its feeding 2 cerwin vega re-38's so it's quite noticable. However I was not currently looking to upgrade the receiver as I have had some Marantz and Yahmaha's running the speakers and I just don't like any of the sound as much as I have from my old H&K, I will try a TOSlink and see if that helps any though, Thanks alot, alot of useful information here for me.

mannyman said:
Yes if you have a digital out, Optical or digital coax, you can run a DAC and hook it to your H&K for a noticeable improvement without buying a receiver.

Even saying all that your receiver may have digital in with a built in DAC.
Click to expand...

I know for a fact that the receiver has a TOSlink in on the back, But I'm not sure if it has a built in DAC, so I think I'm going to try a TOSlink and if that doesn't work I will look for an external DAC and see if that helps any.

Thanks alot guys, I appreciate it.
 
doesn't that receiver have optical in? your motherboard has optical out right?


if so order a cheap optical cable from Monoprice or wherever and give it a go....
 
ForcefulPWNZ said:
I know for a fact that the receiver has a TOSlink in on the back, But I'm not sure if it has a built in DAC, so I think I'm going to try a TOSlink and if that doesn't work I will look for an external DAC and see if that helps any.

Thanks alot guys, I appreciate it.
Click to expand...


if it has TOSlink it has a DAC onboard... how good of a DAC? don't know but it has a DAC
 
Awesome. I thought having a DAC was something that could have been optional on the receiver and didn't know it was directly linked to the optical in (thought it was an adapter/converter for an analog input like the hook up on the back of the computer im currently using to toslink). Learning more and more as the day goes on haha, gonna give it a go after work! Thanks guys. (also I think my definition of an analog input may be off haha.)
 
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