What sound card to get?

[Oldschool61]

Originally Posted by cre8tive Delay

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As to onboard sound: unless you have a decent soundprocessor on your mainboard, never go with onboard sound. The sound might be ok nowadys but the performance isn't. Your CPU has got to process sound here.
Using a soundcard frees ur CPU and that way increases your fps Also, a onboard soundcard is most likely not capable of bringing you complex sound effects or precise surrond positioning.

This isnt completely true. If you use software "rendering" it is but most onboard sound now is a chip just like on yopur PCI card so in reality your not losing fps. The only thing is a difference in quality and audio features from the sound chip. The term onboard sound refers to a sound processing chip just like your add in card but usually of lower quality, but still not CPU intensive. Several years ago that idea may have held true but not so much today.

[ICDP]

The difference between onboard and dedicated SC is narrower than it was years ago but the difference is still night and day. Why anyone would pay hundreds of dollars/pounds for a new rig and then use onboard SC is beyond me. "It's good enough" is the usual reply, but anyone who has tried a good SC compared to onboard usually never goes back to onboard.

I am using a Xonar DX, the positional audio and range of sounds from it compared to onboard is amazing. See this review from a few years ag o for the Xonar DX, the listening tests mostly apply to music but I found the same for games. For example in my tests on Rise of Flight the onboard sound was tinny and lacked range compared to the Xonar DX.

http://techreport.com/articles.x/14500/6

[kimosabi]

Originally Posted by T}{OR

The biggest advantage of a sound card is that you can pair it with good set of headphones = cheapest way to have a good sound, as some audiophiles would say.

Essence is an under priced product, for what it offers IMO. The only downside is that after trying your MP3's with this - you will be forced to switch to FLAC.

I went from the Auzen X-Fi Prelude to the Essence ST since music and movies are just as important as gaming to me, and I gotta say that the details and quality of the Essence ST is far superior to the Prelude. I don't get the same dynamics in gaming, because the Essence ST don't have EAX etc. but still, it's the best buy I've made in regards of audio.

Originally Posted by Oldschool61

This isnt completely true. If you use software "rendering" it is but most onboard sound now is a chip just like on yopur PCI card so in reality your not losing fps. The only thing is a difference in quality and audio features from the sound chip. The term onboard sound refers to a sound processing chip just like your add in card but usually of lower quality, but still not CPU intensive. Several years ago that idea may have held true but not so much today.

You still use motherboard bandwidth. Yes, you have a separate chip for processing audio but in 99% of all motherboards it's basically just one chip, no other components like powersource through extra caps etc. That's why soundcards sound better than onboard. They are designed to provide good audio, nothing else. Take a look at the new Gigabyte X58 Assassin motherboard, notice how much extra crap is on there for soundquality/features, and see how much extra space it takes to process/provide good sound frequencies.

Originally Posted by ICDP

The difference between onboard and dedicated SC is narrower than it was years ago but the difference is still night and day. Why anyone would pay hundreds of dollars/pounds for a new rig and then use onboard SC is beyond me. "It's good enough" is the usual reply, but anyone who has tried a good SC compared to onboard usually never goes back to onboard.

It is night and day, even on crappy speakers. I used to run my sound on a couple of Logitech Z-10's. It doesn't get much more plastic than those and still I noticed lots of differences and more clear sound from them when I hooked up a Prelude, instead of using the "7.1" onboard. But the better speakers you have, more easily can you discover noise. People disputing that has their ears full of wax or reduced hearing.

[Oldschool61]

Been looking this up on net and most info says with multicore cpu's and fast processors of today any drop from onboard sound is irrelevant.

[Katana1000S]

Originally Posted by Oldschool61

Been looking this up on net and most info says with multicore cpu's and fast processors of today any drop from onboard sound is irrelevant.

Sources?

These kind of arguments are futile though, for every link you find to support what you say a contrary link can be found.

At the end of the day the proof is in the listening and unless one is tone deaf the difference are there.

But no offence, folk will do what they do and want to justify what they do, so long as we are each happy with our route that's all that matters.

IMHO of course

[kimosabi]

Originally Posted by Oldschool61

People still buy sound cards??? Most on board should be fine.

Save your money and put it towards something else like ram or videocard

Originally Posted by Oldschool61

Been looking this up on net and most info says with multicore cpu's and fast processors of today any drop from onboard sound is irrelevant.

Ok, we get it. You don't see the need for having a soundcard because a possible loss in FPS would be minimal.... You are missing the main point of using one though.

[ICDP]

Originally Posted by Oldschool61

Been looking this up on net and most info says with multicore cpu's and fast processors of today any drop from onboard sound is irrelevant.

Very true, but it isn't FPS you buy a £50 soundcard for is it?

Unless an individual (not necessarily you) has a decent soundcard to hear the difference their opinion on this matter is worthless. I knew a few people who said their onboard sound was good enough for games and they are perfectly correct, it is good enough in that it does make sounds. The thing is that with a dedicated soundcard it makes much better, richer and clearer sounds with much better quality. I have tried my onboard sound on my ASUS P6X58D-E motherboard, it does not compare to the Xonar DX in either quality or range of sounds, and that is using the same speakers for both tests.