sound card

[natekoz]

I am by no means a big audio person but i do have questions about sound. normally the on board for me is good enough, but what is the real difference when you go from that to say an audigy? I do plan on using my laptop through a reciver for surround sound would i notice a really big difference by using a sound card?

 

[towert7]

There are diffrences, that's for sure... but whether or not you will notice them is dependent on how good your speakers are.

I would give the onboard audio a shot first... see if you are satisfied with it. If not, well... you can work from there.

And if you have a spare computer with a newer sound card already in it, you can compare them and see if you can hear a diffrence.

 

[hek1]

if you dont have good speakers and some interest in audio, you wont feel the difference really. Maybe youll hear less static noise, but that should be about it. Instead youll get some interesting features with the aufigy.. EAX HD and stuff like that.. along with that your PCs gaming performance will increase cause the audigy handles the soundside of games better. This takes load off the CPU and we're talking about like 8% increased game speed perhaps. Nothing really importent, but a small improvememt. Just dont expect the Audigy to work wonders for you if you dont have interest in sound beforehand, it really wont. Thats my experience, if anybody completely disagrees, go aheadn say so

 

[towert7]

if you dont have good speakers and some interest in audio, you wont feel the difference really. Maybe youll hear less static noise, but that should be about it. Instead youll get some interesting features with the aufigy.. EAX HD and stuff like that.. along with that your PCs gaming performance will increase cause the audigy handles the soundside of games better. This takes load off the CPU and we're talking about like 8% increased game speed perhaps. Nothing really importent, but a small improvememt. Just dont expect the Audigy to work wonders for you if you dont have interest in sound beforehand, it really wont. Thats my experience, if anybody completely disagrees, go aheadn say so

Just as a heads up, you really only get the noticible increase in game performance when your CPU is the limiting factor. If your graphic card is the limiting factor, it won't produce any noticible benifite even if it does reduce CPU usage.

I know that even with my Sennheiser HD497 headphones, I can notice a diffrence between my Acer Aspire 1681 (laptop) onboard audio and a Audigy 2 zs PCMCIA. And its more then just less static, the whole sound is changed.

~Hope this helps

 

[natekoz]

I would prefer better quality i just never spent the money to find out if it was truly worth it. I do like music and i have a nice set of speakers to go with it but i always get systems with built in sound support. I know that i would never want integrated graphics but i am not so sure i really see how upgrading the sound card can really produce to much results, call me a skeptic i guess. I am also looking at getting a real nice set of head phones, would a better graphics card produce a better sound with nice set of phones? Thanks again guys.

 

[towert7]

would a better graphics card produce a better sound with nice set of phones?

I bet you ment better sound card. ^_^

Anyways, your very right to be skeptical about upgrading to a sound card. Most people don't notice a diffrence.

I will be honest with you though, getting good headphones will make the WORLD of diffrence with your music/games.
The diffrence between a set of 200-300$ computer speakers, and say... 170-200$headphones, is like night and day.

Now'a'days I use my headphones about 95% of the time, and would only switch to speakers when im doing things, like cleaning my fish tank or whatnot.

A comfortable pair of Sennheiser or Beyerdynamic headphones for 170-200$ is well worth it! Or at least to me it was.

Lastly, with quality headphones, you can notice diffrences between onboard and dedicated sound cards.

If you want to ask more questions about headphones, start a new thread and there are people who can recommend some to you.

~Hope this helps

 

[wearefree]

Follow up the same questions: how much difference would it be on a set of computer speakers, say z-5300? I'm thinking about getting the x-fi extremusic, but I'm skeptical how much improvement will be for the sound quality if I upgrade from onboard audio to x-fi? There seems to be no direct comparison I can find anywhere with my particular speaker set or something equivalent. I basically listen to mp3s and watch movies on computer.

Also for movies with 5.1 sound channel (like DVD or divx-avi), will the sound channel be more discrete?

Any inputs are highly appreciated!

 

[strid3r]

I am also looking at getting a real nice set of head phones, would a better sound card produce a better sound with nice set of phones? Thanks again guys.

Yes, it will.

Anyways, your very right to be skeptical about upgrading to a sound card. Most people don't notice a diffrence.

Most people? Did you take a survey?

I'm not a rich guy by any means, but I sometimes manage to save up money long enough to afford a decent audio upgrade. My first "upgrade" was going from a SB Live! to a Fortissimo III, and I definitely noticed a difference on my set of Logitech Z560s at the time, although it was subtle. Going from the Fort. to the A2ZS was another upgrade and I noticed a difference from that too (on a pair of $60 Grado SR-60s). I had a Mint amp somewhere in there too. All part of climbing the ladder.

natekoz, grab a new sound card and do the comparison for yourself. If you don't think there is an improvement, sell the card on eBay, recover (most of) your losses and have the peace of mind and wallet that you won't ever have to buy a better source.

 

[towert7]

Most people? Did you take a survey?

When I say something opinionated, don't even bother contesting it, it won't get you anyware. ^_^

what strider said, about noticing a subtle diffrence is what's to be expected. In general, don't expect drastic diffrences in the overall audio quality.

~Hope this helps

 

[natekoz]

so for a lap top would it be better to go usb or PCMCIA? Are there any real differences?

 

[strid3r]

what strider said, about noticing a subtle diffrence is what's to be expected. In general, don't expect drastic diffrences in the overall audio quality.

I would've agreed with you for the most part up until the point I changed over from a modded Audigy 2ZS to a modded E-mu 0404. Not very subtle at all.

In any case, here's a list of sound cards for use with a laptop:
http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=112165

 

[wearefree]

How would the sound quality produced by a combination of x-fi sound card and z-5300 compare with a home theater in the low(<$200)/mid($200~$1000)/high(>$1000) range?

 

[hek1]

How would the sound quality produced by a combination of x-fi sound card and z-5300 compare with a home theater in the low(<$200)/mid($200~$1000)/high(>$1000) range?

Its hard to say when you havent got a specific alternative on your mind. But i'd say the Logitechs would fall behind unless the hometheater is very very cheap. The z560s have this "cheap sounding" "boomy" bass wich is too dominent. Also somewhere in the highs the sattelite has this peak wich makes alot vocal music annoying as hell (pop/rnb etc...). I dunno if these things count for the z-5300 but afaik its pretty much same design isnt it? And I cant imagine home theater systems would have the same kind of flaws. So finally i'd guess home theaters with similar price tags would be a nodge over the logitechs. At least im sure the speakers would be the bottleneck and not the audigy.

 

[towert7]

How would the sound quality produced by a combination of x-fi sound card and z-5300 compare with a home theater

My friend, your talking about two diffrent concepts I think.
Computer speakers are designed for "near field" listening, while regular speaker setups (bookshelfs and floorstandings) are designed to disperse the sound more, so to get the true effect you would have to be sitting back a ways.

So, all in all, the computer speakers may sound "worse", but compared to sitting right up close to a pair of bookshelfs, they may sound "better"........ if you get what im trying to say.

This is the major important thing to consider before even thinking about them (which sometimes people overlook).

~Hope this helps

 

[wearefree]

So finally i'd guess home theaters with similar price tags would be a nodge over the logitechs. At least im sure the speakers would be the bottleneck and not the audigy.

I guess at this point I have to live with z-5300 since I'm still in school, and anything larger/more powerful is only gonna cause complaints from the neighbors

So, all in all, the computer speakers may sound "worse", but compared to sitting right up close to a pair of bookshelfs, they may sound "better"........ if you get what im trying to say.

That's very insightful! Since my screen is only 20' I don't think I will be sitting too far away from it... When I get my real house I'll have a real set up of home theater with all new speakers, don't think the current set will hold up then. Luckily this sound card does offer digital output.

I figure the best way is to buy one and try it myself, and thank you guys for all the information! Also thank bestbuy for the awardzone 15% coupon