Are sound cards worth it?

I was using an external, don't know if you can call it a real sound card, creative x fi. It was pretty expensive being in the 50 dollar range. I bought it cause I thought it would fix the sound on my other new machine, that I've since trashed after multiple trips to the repair center(no replacement for you!). I bought a compaq for 300 bucks that performs miles better. I believe there is no improvement over the sound quality other than a loss of a very faint hiss with the creative x fi. In fact I really think my IDT onboard audio might be better. I've tried the x fi with generic drivers and their drivers (btw the internal card mem came with a virus on it but it was easily removed) and I actually think the generic windows 7 drivers sound better with it. I kind of want to use the dang thing though because of the price but I just don't hear anything better coming out of it. BTW I just use two speakers or a set of headphones.

been out of town for a few days but i'm back and today i just finished installing my new card. I ended up going for the Creative XFI-Titanium Fata1ty camp1on series, a little more $ than the origial but i wanted volume control and headset jacks at the front of my pc. As i said in my earlier post i think its a case of suck it and see...let me just OMFG wow!! Mp3's played through itunes are clearer and crisper than ever. For instance where i notice it is the clarity of sybols, hihats and the drums in general. Havent even tweaked the EQ yet!! The guitars especially the acoustic's sound awsome, all this with the same 2.1 logitech speakers, can't wait to get my hands on some nice BOSE jobbies!! Theres a lot of settings to play with but so far i'm very pleased. Had no problems installing the card or driver box, and the internet update for software drivers was also straight forward. Cant wait to crank up BFBC2, should sound great.

A big thanx to all for your comments and input, much appriciated
cheers to all

I'm glad you like the card. I really is a great sounding card.

BTW did you see this part of my post here My thoughts on Creative’s X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro - Vista Forums, where I said you could use your case's front header with the card?

At any rate enjoy.

Peace

Thanks. As one who enjoys music, especially jazz, this card really shines. To be honest I was kind of surprised. I've owned several generations of Creative's soundcards, and this one definitely stands out musically. The soundstage and clarity is impressive.

And thanks for compliments on the article.

Peace

That's really going to take some comparative testing to determine which sounds better.

For what it's worth, I still have not heard my on-board sound system on my Gigabyte motherboard so I cannot tell you how good or bad it is. I simply prefer standalone soundcards.

My two cents.

+1 for add-on soundcards.
+1 if it has SPDIF or optical I/O's.
-1 for onboard regardless of analog or digital I/O's

My 2 cents.

Pieloi that board and any other like it with the SupremeFX audio on it do not have integrated Creative audio on them. What they all have is either a Soundmax or Via based audio chip on them, and they are ussing what is known as X-Fi MB which is nothing more than a software package.

sygnus21 said:

For what it's worth, I still have not heard my on-board sound system on my Gigabyte motherboard so I cannot tell you how good or bad it is. I simply prefer standalone soundcards.

Same here. Last onboard I tested was the Realtek ALC850 and it was so bad, I haven't even tried the onboard on the last 3 motherboards I have owned.

snipermouse said:

hi all, with todays mobo's and onboard HD sound are sound cards still worth the money?
I'm currently looking at a Creative Sound Blaster X-FI Titanium PCIe Fatal1ty Pro for around $175 AUD. My pc is mostly used for gaming and listening to music. I'm pretty fusy when it comes to sound quality and not real happy with the music quality out of itunes. Gaming sounds good though espesially in BFBC2 (sounds awsome, but thats in the game with 1 processor taken up by sound alone...great job EA!!!) The speakers i have at the moment are a pair of logitech desktop speakers and a floor sub. Would buying better speakers improve the sound or should i upgrade to a soundcard and new speakers??

Any thoughts guys would be great on brands, setup and experiences good or bad?
Are the drivers for sound cards a pain in the a*#s??
Almost forgot, whats the power draw on these things?

cheers

What type of Logitech speakers? The best 2.1 Logitech speakers are the Z-2300. For the money they are probably the best PC multimedia speakers you can get.

What motherboard do you have so that we know which onboard you have? Most Realtek is decent audio. My Asus P5Q PRO Turbo has good VIA onboard audio.

I would avoid anything with Fatal1ty in it's product name.