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Realtek ALC889A codec Vs Audigy 2

M

mir

Limp Gawd
Joined
Apr 4, 2007
Messages
200
Which is better ? How ? Why ?
OS going to be Win 7 and XP Dual Boot)
Speakers are Logitech 5.1 X 530
Content to be play
HD DvD
Blu Ray
Hi Def Media
Hi-Def TV off OTA
Games Flight Sim C&C 3 and in Futture Diablo 3
You Tube Stuff.
The reason I was using Audigy Zs because of 1394 and I was told it takes loads off CPU and have a better seperation for Audio channel.
 
Audigy 2 ZS has h/w audio processing abilities, where the ALC889 doesn't, in certain applications this can take some load off of the CPU, however it doesn't really matter either way (it isn't a massive difference to performance, and in s/w only games or audio situations it has no influence)

the 1394 port could very well be the selling point, if you don't have 1394 available elsewhere

otherwise, the A2ZS has the following advantages:
- EAX processing (which doesn't matter a whole lot in Windows 7)
- better analog inputs (line in and mic in)
- DDL with a software upgrade (from Creative), your onboard may or may not have this, depends on the board
- 1394 port as previously mentioned


it'll make a more dramatic difference in Windows XP, where h/w acceleration can leverage more advantages, I'd probably use it simply because you have it, and for the 1394 port
 
Other MB is P35C DS3R with E8400 but lacking on board 1394, which I can get by ( I no longer have to have it)
As long I do not feel sound quality degration I am cool with it
I do watch Movies (Hi -Def)
 
It will fill up all my PCI slots
Which is not a big deal for now
Perhap in future ?
Why did you suggest me to keep using Audigy2 ?
 
For the better sound quality and decoding features. in your case, I doubt you see a difference tho.

Do you really need that pci slot ?
 
I had an audigy 2 and switched to a mobo with the ALC889A. The audigy completely blows away the integrated. The big thing is that there's a constant buzzing with the integrated that never happened with the audigy.
 
Weren't the Audigy series drivers incompatible with Vista? Something about Creative trying to force people to upgrade to X-Fi? If so, I doubt they'd bother to fix the drivers for the Windows 7 you plan to get.
 
cesium666 said:
I had an audigy 2 and switched to a mobo with the ALC889A. The audigy completely blows away the integrated. The big thing is that there's a constant buzzing with the integrated that never happened with the audigy.
Click to expand...

your shit is fucked then. the alc888 is an awesome setup, i cant imagine youd be able to hear a difference unless u had a pro studio or something. im not sure but i wouldnt be surprised if its actually a little better specd then the audigy 2. people disregard onboard audio these days the same way vista was hated out the gate. things have changed, operating systems are designed to run with onboard audio and manufacturers are using super clear hardware to go with..
 
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fss69 said:
Weren't the Audigy series drivers incompatible with Vista? Something about Creative trying to force people to upgrade to X-Fi? If so, I doubt they'd bother to fix the drivers for the Windows 7 you plan to get.
Click to expand...
OS will be XP and Win 7
Both Manufacturers are providing the drivers, and I have it
 
fss69 said:
Weren't the Audigy series drivers incompatible with Vista? Something about Creative trying to force people to upgrade to X-Fi? If so, I doubt they'd bother to fix the drivers for the Windows 7 you plan to get.
Click to expand...

this is untrue, Audigy runs on Win2k through Win7


krupted said:
your shit is fucked then. the alc888 is an awesome setup, i cant imagine youd be able to hear a difference unless u had a pro studio or something. im not sure but i wouldnt be surprised if its actually a little better specd then the audigy 2. people disregard onboard audio these days the same way vista was hated out the gate. things have changed, operating systems are designed to run with onboard audio and manufacturers are using super clear hardware to go with..
Click to expand...

a lot of integrated/motherboard solutions have this issue, it has nothing to do with software or drivers
as far as differences, they'll be 1:1 assuming the onboard solution doesn't have issues, and neither does the Audigy card in question
 
obobski said:
this is untrue, Audigy runs on Win2k through Win7
Click to expand...

Wasn't there some controversy a year or so ago about somebody making unofficial drivers to get them to work right in Vista and Creative laying down the banhammer on him. Or maybe I misunderstood/remembered wrong what happened.
 
fss69 said:
Wasn't there some controversy a year or so ago about somebody making unofficial drivers to get them to work right in Vista and Creative laying down the banhammer on him. Or maybe I misunderstood/remembered wrong what happened.
Click to expand...

he violated Creative's EULA among other things and claimed "fair use", by reverse engineering Creative's software and implementing features they either had not implemented (For whatever reason) or implementing features they had not licenced, the claim/basis for this modification was to improve the Audigy series' stability under Windows Vista, yes

sorta like 3rd party mod drivers for ATI and nVidia cards, except Creative decided to enforce their legal rights

most of the features implemented are now available from Creative, and support issues under Vista and 7 seem to vary user to user (just like with X-Fi and Xonar)
 
OK...first off the easy and ONLY answer here is the Audigy 2. As far as I can tell that when it comes to intergrated audio the ALC889A is the best. But when compared to a Audigy 2 there are a few things that are better here.

First and foremost is the fact that the Audigy 2 has hardware acceleration, not that important anymore but still useful in games.

Also the Audigy is a seperate card and thus you dont get as much (if any) back ground noises like the hiss or pops you hear at no volume and such...just a much more clear and clean way of sound basically. You get this on onboard audio because of all the interference from the neighboring computer parts and such...but this varies depending on manufacturer and motherboard design of course.

As far as specification go they are basically the same...both 24-bit, both 192kHz, both 7.1, same 108db signal to noise ratio, etc...however, the Audigy is still a seperate piece of hardware driver audio and not something tacked on to a damn motherboard...
 
AndroidVageta said:
As far as specification go they are basically the same...both 24-bit, both 192kHz, both 7.1, same 108db signal to noise ratio, etc...however, the Audigy is still a seperate piece of hardware driver audio and not something tacked on to a damn motherboard...
Click to expand...

And still exposed to EM interference from all kinds of cables and stuff inside the system case. You think that fan spinning next to an unshielded sound card won't cause interference?

If you are going for a dedicated soundcard, either turn it into a shielded card (aluminium foil to the rescue), or use an external device (Firewire preferred).
 
just want to chime in about ALC889A.

I haven't experienced any type of noise/interference. this is with my headphones plugged into the front panel (I believe this is the most common case for when noise/interference will occur). I use the "Rock" equalizer setting because the default (flat at 0) setting is completely boring, bland, and flat to me. it should be noted though that equalizers can be different and the equalizers for Audigy and ALC889A might have different values for equalizing. so some experimenting between the two might be good to see which one you like more.

also, one odd issue that I haven't been able to figure out is when viewing streaming media (youtube), there is a noticeable difference in sound quality between speaker channel settings (ie the 2CH setting sounds muddied/dull while the 8CH setting sounds open/clear). this only affects streaming media. there is no discernible difference in sound quality when using WMP or playing games.
 
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Elledan said:
And still exposed to EM interference from all kinds of cables and stuff inside the system case. You think that fan spinning next to an unshielded sound card won't cause interference?

If you are going for a dedicated soundcard, either turn it into a shielded card (aluminium foil to the rescue), or use an external device (Firewire preferred).
Click to expand...

no offense, but this kind of hysteria would propagate better if *everyone* using any form of "internal" audio solution experienced these life ending problems, not just a few users

if it was really this bad, there'd be other issues for the computer as well

udgnim:
no idea, what you're describing is pretty subjective, unless you've got some EAX/CMSS setting enabled that's changing things, check through your settings and see if anything isn't defaulting to on, CMSS is a likely candidate
 
obobski said:
no offense, but this kind of hysteria would propagate better if *everyone* using any form of "internal" audio solution experienced these life ending problems, not just a few users

if it was really this bad, there'd be other issues for the computer as well
Click to expand...

You don't seem to realize that any system and any onboard sound implementation will experience different levels of interference. There always is interference, the question just is whether it's noticeable enough.
 
Elledan said:
You don't seem to realize that any system and any onboard sound implementation will experience different levels of interference. There always is interference, the question just is whether it's noticeable enough.
Click to expand...

effectively muting your point
 
obobski said:
effectively muting your point
Click to expand...

Why? If we are going to complain about getting the best possible analogue/digital audio quality what would be wrong about eliminating all significant sources of interference? I have noticed that most people are completely oblivious to audio artifacts due to bad compression, low bit-rate, interference and god know what else, yet which are totally obvious to me. Who is to say at which level of interference (lowering of SNR) the audio quality becomes significantly muddled for everyone imaginable?
 
Elledan said:
Why? If we are going to complain about getting the best possible analogue/digital audio quality what would be wrong about eliminating all significant sources of interference? I have noticed that most people are completely oblivious to audio artifacts due to bad compression, low bit-rate, interference and god know what else, yet which are totally obvious to me. Who is to say at which level of interference (lowering of SNR) the audio quality becomes significantly muddled for everyone imaginable?
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all devices, regardless of function, will fit into your model of "some interference", if it has electricity going into it, it will fit that model

the claim that just because theres an integrated or internal audio solution, its automatically rendered unusable by nature, would only be logical if all users of such solutions reported consistent issues (not just the audiophile types who tend to insist that they're somehow "born different" with more acute and accurate senses than the general population (yet this extra-sensory perception only seems limited to very expensive stereos)), and if measurements for those devices were accordingly much lower than external components with respect to SNR, THD, and IMD, in reality, neither of these postulates hold true, defective hardware is another story

onboard/integrated solutions for audio are generally the cheapest possible configuration available, and are likely to have problems with audible interference, however not all do, it varies from design to design and in some cases board to board (however most manufacturers won't process an RMA based on this defect, and most users will spend hundreds to thousands of dollars on some external solution, basically to "max out", simply because some tweako "audio reviewer" says to, instead of getting the board replaced)

basically the cause for 99% of the issues with integrated solutions are the result of poor design or low manufacturing tolerances (And indeed, in recent years a number of products have come to market which do not demonstrate the same audible hum in the background or whenever the disk accesses or whatever else)

however, just because a few users have experienced bad luck with some of the cheapest products available does not automatically mean that ALL "internal" solutions are somehow inherently going to fail, and that ALL "external" solutions are somehow inherently flawless, this is illogical to assume or insist, and simply waving one's hands in the air and insisting "oh its all subjective" the second science or reason is brought to the discussion is also illogical

the original point of this thread was:
is the onboard Realtek codec better or worse than the Audigy 2?
to that, the answer is more or less "its variable", both will offer quality audio (this assumes no hardware defects, and its truly sad that I have to qualify this or face further objection), however the Audigy 2 has a generally larger feature-set (such as the 1394 port, and h/w audio acceleration), and is generally speaking less likely to have hardware defects in its operation (As its manufacturing quality and tolerances are higher, given what its designed to do) leading to a lower potential of audible distortion, however this is not to say that the onboard solution even experiences this problem, its just a more favorable situation for the Audigy board (the odds are in its favor)
 
obobski said:
the original point of this thread was:
is the onboard Realtek codec better or worse than the Audigy 2?
to that, the answer is more or less "its variable", both will offer quality audio (this assumes no hardware defects, and its truly sad that I have to qualify this or face further objection), however the Audigy 2 has a generally larger feature-set (such as the 1394 port, and h/w audio acceleration), and is generally speaking less likely to have hardware defects in its operation (As its manufacturing quality and tolerances are higher, given what its designed to do) leading to a lower potential of audible distortion, however this is not to say that the onboard solution even experiences this problem, its just a more favorable situation for the Audigy board (the odds are in its favor)
Click to expand...

Which means we don't disagree on anything.
 
This thread just got serious.

So...mir, what did you end up using?
 
Morning all,

Sorry to hijack but im not having much luck with this issue and this thread still seems lively enough to possibly answer help with my problem

Ive struggled with this for a few weeks so i thought i'd let the hive mind have a go. Basically my Gigabyte motherboard uses the Realtek HD Audio AL889A codec you guys have been discussing. Ive recently installed Win 7 64bit, been to the GB website and downloaded the correct drivers. Everything runs fine but i have a sound problem.

My comp is hooked up to Sony AV receiver 5.1 setup via Optical cable. In the Realtek software i have enabled Dolby Digital Live 5.1 to take advantage of it.

The problem is this, every so often (every minute or so but gaps can be longer or shorter) the sound cuts off for a second when playing anything with sound i.e games, web videos, mp3's. This happens randomly and there doesn't seem to be a pattern to it. When the sound cuts out the AV receiver seems to loose the signal i.e it clicks from being in Dolby to nothing then back again like its being lost at the source.

Ive tried various drivers from the actual Realtek website and Gigabyte (there have been numerous revisions over the past 2 weeks) and the problem persists.

The AV receiver is working fine as i have various other devices working with it (360, DVD, Sky, etc). Also the optical port on the mobo and Realtek chip itself are working correctly because i have been using it when switching between an install of Win XP (on separate partition on HD) and Win 7 and in XP there is no problem.

It seems like a driver problem but i was just wondering if anyone had any pearls of wisdom? Or do i just need to wait for Gigabyte/Realtek to sort it out...

Cheers for any help and sorry if this is in the wrong place.
 
Buztafen: It might be easier if you make a new thread.
 
Buztafen said:
Cheers, i have but its in Bits & Bytes/Operating Systems. Might be better in here, is there any way of moving a thread?
Click to expand...

PM a moderator, they are listed at the bottom of every subforum.
 
i dont use an equalizer with onboard analog audio at all, by far the best sound comes from a flat eq.... as it should be.
 
krupted said:
i dont use an equalizer with onboard analog audio at all, by far the best sound comes from a flat eq.... as it should be.
Click to expand...

this is highly dependent on how the EQ is being used, and what its being used for, there are many situations where an EQ has plenty of advantages over "flat", but it requires the thing to be used correctly

for general computer use with headphones, yes, you are correct though
 
well, i have really good speakers that are balanced well, thats why i dont need an eq. sometimes for movies though i admit i do hike up the low end a little, as i dont have a sub. for music, it needs to be flat or it just sounds too 'worked'.
 
If I may say...specs be damned, a separate sound card just sounds better after truly testing both integrated and sound card.

Ive been using onboard for the longest time (realtek 885) mainly because of lack of slots on my motherboard to support a sound card. I used onboard for the better part of a year...always sounded good to me...well until I got a new motherboard and was able to use my X-Fi Platinum...and WOW!

Now, I dont claim to be an audiophile or w/e but I do have a good sense for sound...and I gotta say that the X-Fi on basic settings no EQ adjustment (none was made with onboard either) just sounded better...more clear and rich. Now Im not saying onboard sucks and I have no tests to prove what Ive said, but just overall, throwing out all arguments about interference/features/etc...the X-Fi just made my music and games really "pop" so to speak more so than my onboard EVER did.

Just my 2 cents...if you really care about audio and want the best then a separate sound card is simply just the better choice. Period!
 
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