Who Killed PC Audio, and will Soundcards Ever Be a Thing Again?

[YeuEmMaiMai]

MS removed audio from the kernel space in Vista because Creative and other audio vendors were responsible for a significant amount of blue screens.

5.1 is doable without Dolby - HDMI supports PCM. And if you have a dolby encoded source you can bitstream it over HDMI to a receiver or other licensed decoders. Considering you can get a pretty decent receiver for under $200 its hard to justify a sound card

there is no such thing as a pretty decent receiver under $200... unless you go used...

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

there is no such thing as a pretty decent receiver under $200... unless you go used...

Yeah,

Accessories4less has 12 models under $200, but those are refurbished, and not neccessarily what I would consider "decent".


Some great deals can be had on craigslist though.

 

[YeuEmMaiMai]

Refurbished is better than used as they typically come with a warranty. My Yamaha B stock HRT-5635 lasted me 15 years before it went Tits up.. working on repairing PSU.

 

[IdiotInCharge]

Refurbished is better than used as they typically come with a warranty. My Yamaha B stock HRT-5635 lasted me 15 years before it went Tits up.. working on repairing PSU.

Rolling a cheap refurb Yamaha right now- great for its intended use, but it's getting replaced with a Pioneer I just picked up that can pass the proper modern signals.

 

[YeuEmMaiMai]

^ I'd go for for a used Yamaha RX-V 679 or newer amp... I have a RX-V 679 right now and it is awesome

 

[N4CR]

External DACs/soundcards are still very much a thing for those who mainly use headphones. Analog from integrated still can't match external solutions, despite the number of gold colored capacitors on the motherboard.

This. As a soundfag, usb dacs basically killed sound cards for most 2ch users. Why on earth would you want to use a pci slot and keep it in an emi infested box?
Hdmi integration also didn't help.