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Sound card needed these days?

J

jbltecnicspro

[H]F Junkie
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Alright, folks. Recently I built a new computer, and this is the first computer I've ever had that has Windows 7 (hurray!). I migrated an old SoundBlaster Audigy 2 ZS into it, and had trouble. After some testing, I determined that the thing was kaput and had to install the onboard audio solution in my motherboard.

Right now, I'm using my Sennheiser HD-650's with the onboard, and it definitely could be better. I already have a Headroom Micro amp, but no DAC. Here are some of my questions.

1. Does Windows 7 take advantage of hardware-accelerated audio cards? Are these cards a thing of the past? Last time I actually looked at gaming cards, the Creative X-Fi series was the "next best thing," and after looking at the new Recon 3D, it seems as if they've given up on the audio super processor thing.

2. This kind of rolls off of the first question. Should I get a separate sound card, or should I just get a standalone DAC? Would I see a benefit in having a separate audio processor, in the sense of computing experience; or should I just say screw it and use the optical output?

3. If the answer is "get a DAC," what out there is a good standalone for the money? I don't want anything fancy. Just something that will open my headphones up a bit. Anything will be an improvement over the on-board.

Thanks for your replies. :)
 
A good external DAC or audiophile SC like the Xonar Essence STX can provide low background noise and good conversion. If you have revealing cans such as the HD-650 they will be a definite upgrade over the onboard.

A good DAC will depend on the bit-rate of your source and how much you are willing to spend. If all you've got is 16 bit <48khz FLACs or CD's you can get a decent DAC such as the Fiio E7 and call it a day. Or you can wait for the ODAC some time in May.

What a sound card offers you over a DAC is 3D positional emulation with either Dolby Headphones or in the case of Creative, CMSS3D. It's your call whether you are a music buff (external DAC or Xonar Essence), or primary FPS gamer (Soundcard with 3D positional emulation).

As an aside, the most common complaint and my personal bias against onboard sound is the "hissing" and general background interference that I've experienced with all manners of Realtek DACs and mobo combinations. Can really grate the nerves to hear that shit even when your music is paused.
 
Hardware accelerated audio is dead in the water.

DAC vs. soundcard depends on your budget, and how picky you and your ears are, as well as what you are doing. You've got a great set of cans to start with at least.

Even the most expensive soundcard is sub-$200 and sounds pretty good for most things. Unfortunately, audiophile websites avoid reviewing PC soundcards like the plague, so getting any kind of thorough informed comparison between midfi/hifi standalone DACs and high-end soundcards almost never happens. In part I suspect there is brand snobbery, I have yet to see anyone other than computer tech-enthusiast websites touch Asus new standalone DAC for example.


Asus Essence STX is probably the best do-most-of-it-all sound solution there is now. It can drive headphones, do live on-the-fly encoding of PCM->DDL for surround sound via AVR setups, it can also be tweaked with different op-amps to music tastes. Also sounds decent doing games.
 
Skripka said:
Hardware accelerated audio is dead in the water.

DAC vs. soundcard depends on your budget, and how picky you and your ears are, as well as what you are doing. You've got a great set of cans to start with at least.

Even the most expensive soundcard is sub-$200 and sounds pretty good for most things. Unfortunately, audiophile websites avoid reviewing PC soundcards like the plague, so getting any kind of thorough informed comparison between midfi/hifi standalone DACs and high-end soundcards almost never happens. In part I suspect there is brand snobbery, I have yet to see anyone other than computer tech-enthusiast websites touch Asus new standalone DAC for example.


Asus Essence STX is probably the best do-most-of-it-all sound solution there is now. It can drive headphones, do live on-the-fly encoding of PCM->DDL for surround sound via AVR setups, it can also be tweaked with different op-amps to music tastes. Also sounds decent doing games.
Click to expand...

http://www.stereophile.com/computeraudio/asus_xonar_essence_ststx_soundcards/index.html

Bottom line , is that they were surprised by the quality. Many audiophiles without deep pockets go with these cards as they are great DAC's and a decent amp combo. Since you have HD-650's OP you will notice a difference. But hardware acceleration is DOW for sure at this point.

It really all depends on your budget. If you can't afford an external solution then the ASUS ST is your best bet for the price. If you can afford external solutions then buy an Objective 2 AMP ($156 plus shipping , comes pre-assembled) and HRT Music Streamer II ($149 on Amazon , praised and loved for its great sound and its low jitter USB output) as both are a great entry level AMP and DAC if you can extend your budget some and will sound awesome with the HD650.
 
Eh , take what's said in that thread with a grain of salt. Head-fi forum users are a bit overboard (not all but many) so I would honestly just buy either card and buy it from a place you can easily return it. Try out both and see which you like better.

Always trust your own ears over anything else.
 
I have a question. I have a Line6 GX that I use for recording guitar. I guess it has a DAC in it and can be used as an output. Would this be a better dac than the onboard SC?

*Edit. I just tried it and it sounds soooo much better. Guess I'll stick with it.
 
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Thanks for all of your replies. I'm really glad to know that hardware-accelerated sound is pretty much dead. One less thing to worry about with the computing experience. :) As far as sound is concerned. I do composing on the side, and have a couple of Roland synthesizers, so I'll probably get an M-Audio sound card. Glad to know that I should be able to use just that for games, music, and recording.
 
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