Sound cards really needed?

[Hoot471]

I know sound is needed for any video games. But I have a Sound Blaster X-Fi or something along those lines which is really good. I'm currently trying to replace parts of my PC (I.E. RAM and graphics card) But should I replace my sound card?

 

[Mark]

IMO I would say no, as long as you are having no issues with it, I see no reason to upgrade.

 

[z3r010]

IMHO most onboard sound now is more than good enough.

 

[Hoot471]

IMO I would say no, as long as you are having no issues with it, I see no reason to upgrade.

I have never had any issues with It at all. Only my graphics card (But that was due to PSU.)

IMHO most onboard sound now is more than good enough.

Yeah. I run some games on my laptop with a sound card built into the motherboard and I have had no problems.

 

[boxterduke]

My Audigy 2 is been jumping from one system to another as I upgrade and it still sound great. Your X-FI is even newer, keep it and save the cash

 

[grimreaper]

IMHO most onboard sound now is more than good enough.

i agree but.... onboard sound can do so much inn terms of codecs...especially when you have your computer hooked up to an AMP via optical digital cable.
Unfortunately I can't even install a dedicated sound card, got no room on my 780i

 

[graham.lv]

Mainboards come with pretty good graphics and sound embedded now, even on low cost models. (I know, just not quite enough for Vista Premium - pity board GPU going to waste.)

I don't play games, but like to listen to music of a reasonably high quality.

My MB is a great ASUS that was the lowest price in the store.. has..

8 Channel High Definition Audio
Enjoy high-end sound system on your PC! The onboard HD audio (High Definition Audio, previously codenamed Azalia) CODEC enables high-quality 192KHz/24-bit audio output, jack-sensing feature, retasking functions and multi-streaming technology that simultaneously sends different audio streams to different destinations. You can now talk to your partners on the headphone while playing a multi-channel network games. All of these are done on one computer.

and going to waste ....

Intel® G31 Chipset
The Intel® G31 Express Chipset boosts your gaming and multimedia experience with the integrated graphics engine Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 3100. It supports 1333MHz FSB (front-side-bus), and delivers breakthrough advances in 3D and 2D graphics; and video capabilities. This integrated chipset is able to meet the changing display requirements of visually rich applications and features the Intel® Clear Video Technology - which trailblazes new standards in high-definition video, crisp imaging, and accurate color control.

You should see the heatsink on the north bridge ..

P5KPL-CM
High valued performance with FSB1600 support
- Intel LGA775 Platform
- 45nm CPU ready
- Intel G31/ICH7 Chipset
- FSB 1600(O.C.)/1333/1066/800
- Dual-Channel DDR2 1066(O.C*)/800/667
- PCI Express x16
- PCIe Gb Lan
- 4x SATA 3Gb/s
- 8 CH HD audio
- EZ Flash2 & Crashfree BIOS3

ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
​

 

[Yoder54]

I am an audiophile, and I love my E-Mu 1820M. It is also used for recording. If you are just into games, then I would stick with on-board and crank the bass. But, if you like quality music then it is worth it to buy a card. M-Audio makes a very good card for around eighty bucks, that produces some excellent playback audio. "Gamer" cards tend to be a little too heavy on the bass for me.

 

[Vigilante]

I agree.

Basically, for 99% of people I'd say dedicated soundcards are excessive. I decided to buy an Asus Xonar D2X about 6 months ago, since I was going to use my computer to power an extremely high powered home theatre system. I chose the pci-e version since I knew that pci-e will be around for a long time to come.

The sound quality HAS improved, admittedly, but whether it would be worth the $200 cost for casual gamers and music lovers is doubtful.

Stick with what you have until it is no longer adequate for your needs. And when that day comes, buy something you know will last through many upgrade cycles; soundcards don't evolve overnight like graphics cards.

 

[icoola77]

Stick with what you have until it is no longer adequate for your needs. And when that day comes, buy something you know will last through many upgrade cycles; soundcards don't evolve overnight like graphics cards.

Yes that would be true if it werent for built-in obsolescence
as demonstrated so well by Creative, who refuse to update the drivers for their older generation of audio cards,
or purposely crippling the drivers/features for older cards,
thus forcing consumers into buying newer models of cards.

And when some good and technically knowledgeable person like Daniel K discovers their underhanded tactics and decides to give people back the fully functional drivers by releasing the modded drivers, Creative threaten to sue
him for "stealing theirr goods".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_obsolescence

http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/04/daniel_k-who-fi.html

 

[Jaqie]

my $83 gigabyte GA-EP43-UD3L came with the realtek azalia HD sound built in.

192Khz@24 bit...

The need for a discrete sound card even for audiophiles is getting smaller and smaller nowadays.

 

[DiamondNRG]

My new Intel board came with 7.1 built on and it blows away any 200 dollar sound card I ever bought before. I see no reason to go buy a sound card unless your built on audio does NOT perform some certain feature you need.

 

[baarod]

Yes that would be true if it werent for built-in obsolescence
as demonstrated so well by Creative, who refuse to update the drivers for their older generation of audio cards,
or purposely crippling the drivers/features for older cards,
thus forcing consumers into buying newer models of cards.

And when some good and technically knowledgeable person like Daniel K discovers their underhanded tactics and decides to give people back the fully functional drivers by releasing the modded drivers, Creative threaten to sue
him for "stealing theirr goods".

Planned obsolescence - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Daniel_K, Who Fixed Creative's Broken Vista Drivers, Speaks Out | Gadget Lab from Wired.com

I was similarly threatened by Creative some years ago over their acquisition of Ensoniq and prompt withdrawal of EAX support.

 

[Vigilante]

I agree,

Yes that would be true if it werent for built-in obsolescence, as demonstrated so well by Creative, who refuse...

Admittedly Creative's tactics are completely underhand and all that really tells me is to never buy a creative product. There are many more companies out there that simply can't AFFORD to implement that kind of policy, since they would just go out of business when people moved to competitors products.

Take Asus for example - Their cards are pretty high priced, which means that they are likely to be selling a lot less of them than say creative with its Soundblaster LE series, which are cheap and cheerful. That means they are likely going to want to keep their customers happy with what they have bought - it's unlikely they are going to be able to sell them two cards, unless they prove that their cards + software are worth it for a second/third/fourth pc. Case in point - this card is actually pretty old now, having been released in September of 2007 (old in comparison to how often Creative "refreshes" its line of cards, anyway), and yet there was a driver update just a few days ago fixing bugs and enabling more functionality on it.

 

[laxu]

Do you have a GOOD sound system, meaning something other than computer speakers (even better ones)? Do you use analog outputs or output everything digitally to an external DAC and amp? These are the important questions.

If you have a nice proper hifi setup and use analog outputs then a better soundcard will make a very noticeable difference in audio quality. I have a SB X-Fi in my system and it's obvious it doesn't hold a candle to my FireWire Echo AudioFire4 audio interface in sound quality and for audio recording the X-Fi is laughably bad.

If you're using digital output from the soundcard then even the onboard ones should be good enough since the digital to analog conversion is made on an external amp with its own DAC.

If you're using computer speakers then the onboard card will be good enough. You may notice some improvement by going to a better soundcard, especially when it comes to noise, but other than that the speakers will usually limit the quality.

 

[Jaqie]

I beg to differ, actually. Check my system specs to see what I have.

I use (and try) both TOSLINK S/PDIF and analog out with shielded cables and my onboard azalia out... I find TOSLINK is actually worse quality then the analog outs because of the limitations of TOSLINK (IIRC 96KHz but don't quote me on that).

IMO the problem with your comparison is comparing a creative product to a much higher end one - there's your problem... try something nice like an HT OMEGA card and then compare I find my onboard isn't quite as good as a decent HT OMEGA card (or the like) but it's way better then any other sound device I have access to nowadays (the HT omega was a loan)

I have everything from SB16 ISA jumpered to SB AWE32 jumpered to crystal audio built into my libretto 70CT to ALC850 (IIRC) that is in my nforce4 ultra a64 x2 system to a creative labs MP3+ (SB16 on a USB bus with TOSLINK out) to the SB16PCI I have stashed away... and on and on.

 

[jimbo45]

IMHO most onboard sound now is more than good enough.

True --especially with the HD audio codecs even built in to LAPTOP computers.

The weak links of computer sound systems are usually the "Boom Box" type of speakers -- they tend to be modelled on pumping out lots of "Boxy Bass" rather than decent Hi-Fi sound (aks Mission or Bose speakers at a nice wallet busting 1000- - 1500 USD "a pop").

For people used to listening to highly compressed mp3 sounds on bud earphones attached to an IPOD or similar device then the computer system will be OK. Also for movies and games then probably OK too.

High quality music listening requires a rather different type of speaker system for "the ultimate" experience.

However the answer to the question - do you need a dedicated sound card -- now not really any more.

OT - Consider using built in Video cards as well.

Unless you are a dedicated gamer most built in video cards are more than sufficient these days as well -- on one system I use with a 22 inch monitor the built in graphics handles 1680 X 1050 with no problems.

For really huge monitors or extreme gaming that's another issue bit for typical "Boring" normal applications an extra video card is also unnecessary in most cases.

cheers
jimbo

 

[damoh]

I have a razer barracuda soundcard, matched with the headphones, and yes im a gamer. However i have onboard 7.1 and when i actually compared the two i really noticed no difference in them. So basically i spent my money on something that glows blue lol. Wont do it again. And on the higher end mobo's the rampage 2 asus i think, they actuall give you a sound card with it now. But i wont buy another sound card again. Onboard is more then enough. lol lesson learned.

 

[Dwarf]

I use the on-board audio. I would rather have a slightly inferior sound quality (although the current range of onboard audio solutions is quite good, and to the vast majority of people indistinquishable from soundcards), and be able to obtain drivers easily. Some add-in cards, whilst their audio quality is better, suffer due to the lack of driver support. The chief reason for this is that they want you to buy a new card, as this generates revenue for them whereas developing a new driver (which they could, if they put their mind to it) doesn't.

 

[valtonray]

you know as im preparing to build a bunch of new PC's for my sister and her 2 kids i was just wondering this myself. i do remember a time when a sound card was a must have for gamers not only for the improved sound quality but because it improved performance. she will be happy knowing she is going to save about $800 from me not having to order those. if i do go with any it will only be for her htpc but i think the onboard sound should suffice for even that.