Realtek ALC883 good onboard sound?

T

Toad21

Limp Gawd
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Jun 29, 2004
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I recently acquired a Logitech z-5450 wireless 5.1 sound system, and I have a Realtek ALC883 onboard sound card. Should I upgrade my sound card? Does it really make much of a difference? I am not an audio-file.

Thanks!
 
The only reason I would get a sound card these days is if either the onboard sound was not functioning correctly (hissing, channels not working, etc) or if I needed something it didn't provide. Basically, if your onboard works, you don't need a digital out jack that isn't there, or recording inputs for when you turn your rig into a digital audio workstation, why bother with a dedicated sound card?
 
It's a really good onboard sound codec, especially if you have a motherboard with 7.1 jacks. Unless there are sound quality problems or a feature you want there is not a compelling reason to get a discrete card.

Some people upgrade to discrete because they have driver or sound problems with onboard codecs, or need extra speaker or other ports not on the motherboard. Others do it because they hope to get better sound quality or take some load off the board. Yet others upgrade because they are recording and mixing and need features and inputs/outputs not available in an onboard codec.

btw I have an ALC883 and it sounds very good. Be sure to set up your speaker distances in the environment, enable bass management, and try setting the environment to "Plain" and the EQ to "Powerful". Those settings work very well on most apps.
 
I've worked with all the most common onboard audio solutions and the Realtek ALC883 is one of the more common ones. It's also one of the better ones. I've never found any huge problems with them but as is the case with most onboard audio solutions they can't record for shit. This issue seems to be uniform for most boards I've tested with few exceptions.

There are only a few reasons to upgrade to a higher end audio card and I'll point them out below:

You are an audiophile who can actually tell the difference.
You are a gamer and you want a more efficient sound card that uses fewer CPU cycles
You have a need to record often using your computer.

That's about it. Otherwise it's not generally worth it. In fact going with something else is sometimes more of a hassle than it's worth. Especially if you want to connect the front panel jacks to the card. You can do it with the Creative cards but it's a bitch.
 
Dan_D said:
Especially if you want to connect the front panel jacks to the card. You can do it with the Creative cards but it's a bitch.
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I think their latest cost reduced X-Fi, XtremeGamer, has the common universal plug for front mount headphone/microphone jack making it very easy.

But I think it's their only product with that feature.
 
Ranma13 said:
You won't hear a difference with those speakers.
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I disagree, as I am sure I could tell the difference between that onboard sound and an X-Fi. However the original poster may not be able to tell. Certainly the difference between the two would be evident to some and not others, however the original poster may or may not think that an upgrade would be worth while.
 
I don't think the difference will be so profound as to be worthy of a sound card upgrade. It all depends on usage. If the primary use is gaming, listening to MP3s, watching videos on youtube and maybe watching sitcoms that you rip off a TV card, then onboard will be fine.
 
if you are a gamer and want eax, openal, 3d sound, etc, than every onboard codec is substandard. the latest realtek codecs sound ok for music or movies but sound like absolute garbage in a game that uses eax. its THAT bad- the newer the game the worse the sound.
however if u dont game than it depends on if you are happy with it. some motherboards implement it better than others. an add in card might give u less hiss and pops and wider range (higher treble and lower bass)
 
The onboard XFI from MSI would work, Since Creative has a host driver that comes with the XFI audio drivers on the site. and then the latest Alchemy works with the XFI Extreme audio onboard because of the host openal driver which lets it do it in software like it was hardware like it bros. What ever way creative has it with the host Openal and Alchemy Because ,I seen it the host openal driver when i got nosey..

thats pretty much the only onboard that would be usefull if you want all of that stuff.. Then the motherboard it self cost a arm and a leg.But because of the host openal driver for it on creative site and newest

Alchemy which supports it the Xtreme audio is the reason why it can in the first place. if that host openal and newer Alchemy didnt support it. you would be out of luck with that too .
 
First, thank you for the good posts!

Ok so now I have been useing it for 3 days. I watch movies, play music, and most importantly play video games. Here is what I have noticed so far.

- As far as is the onboard sound good, the answer is absolutely yes.

- when connected via optical, the sound is more crisp (tiny bit). However, when i connect via 3 cables, I get to choose 6 channel direct sound, which is not an option when connected via optical. So for listening to music, and movies, 6 channel direct is the way to go. I honestly didnt even try optical for gaming, because it pissed me off that the sound was coming 80% through the center speaker.

I wish I could use the optical input and be able to choose 6 channel direct. Anyone with this setup and these issues?

Thanks!

-Todd
 
I've heard of that issue happening alot. It might be because the source is in stereo but your speakers are configured in the driver for 5.1 Dolby Pro Logic (or vice versa) or some other format. Basically the codec doesn't know which speakers to output to because it's not receiving the signal it expects. Or possibly the distances or gain are set up all wrong on the speakers) Definitely download the newest Realtek drivers ... they have some very good utilities to adjust everything from db gain on individual speakers to environments and other goodies.
 
I gotta chime in here. I think onboard sound is absolutely garbage. I watch a lot of TV shows, listen to music with heavy bass on my headphones. The dialogue when heard on an onboard solution absolutely stinks. You get 0 Bass, and everything just sounds flat and dull. Turning up the volume only amplifies the dullness.

You lose FPS due to the higher cpu utilization of the onboard solution as well. Yes, even the newer Realtek 7.1 codecs suck ass imo. An older SB Live 5.1 will sound better than most onboard solutions from what I've experienced. Unless you're tone deaf or oblivious, you will notice the difference on those speakers, OP.
 
dopee123 said:
I gotta chime in here. I think onboard sound is absolutely garbage. I watch a lot of TV shows, listen to music with heavy bass on my headphones. The dialogue when heard on an onboard solution absolutely stinks. You get 0 Bass, and everything just sounds flat and dull. Turning up the volume only amplifies the dullness.

You lose FPS due to the higher cpu utilization of the onboard solution as well. Yes, even the newer Realtek 7.1 codecs suck ass imo. An older SB Live 5.1 will sound better than most onboard solutions from what I've experienced. Unless you're tone deaf or oblivious, you will notice the difference on those speakers, OP.
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Acutaly when I was selling my A2zs. I had my SBlive 5.1 in. and it did not sound better then my onboard. I took it back out and use my onboard. Til the selling of my A2zs didnt go thru. It still did bass, but not as much as it would if it was plugged up into a sound card. But it still sounded better then my old Sblive 5.1 that I had laying around.
 
AdmiralFlameberg said:
It still did bass, but not as much as it would if it was plugged up into a sound card.
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No bass in music or dialogue is like a fine curvaceous woman with a butterface.

Btw, logitech speakers are known for driving hard bass. Coupled with an onboard it just sounds dirty IMO.
 
dopee123 said:
No bass in music or dialogue is like a fine curvaceous woman with a butterface.

Btw, logitech speakers are known for driving hard bass. Coupled with an onboard it just sounds dirty IMO.
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I not talking about my speakers i been mosting using my headphones. the only thing i used my speakers with it is thru Digital.
 
AdmiralFlameberg said:
I not talking about my speakers i been mosting using my headphones. the only thing i used my speakers with it is thru Digital.
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Oh, I was talking to the OP about his particular speakers. Onboard just doesn't do it for me. I prefer an SB Live to most onboards even the new Realteks because it sounds nasty to me. Dull and flat. IMO.
 
dopee123 said:
Oh, I was talking to the OP about his particular speakers. Onboard just doesn't do it for me. I prefer an SB Live to most onboards even the new Realteks because it sounds nasty to me. Dull and flat. IMO.
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The type of onboard sound obviously matters a great deal. AC 97, which is super popular we can all agree has its limitations. AC880 however, is on the level of a dedicated sound card that is a few years old.
 
I don't know about the AC880, but my AC889 on my DS3-P was listened to for a week before I replaced it with an XFi. Go with a soundcard, you will notice the difference if you watch a lot of movies, game a little, or listen to music.
 
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