Alternative sound cards to CL

[Traxan]

CL's shoddy support for Windows 10 is the end for me. I am tired of their sloppiness and unresponsive.

Of course, where do I go from here? The lame AC'97 on my motherboard? No thanks. It sounds like crap, probably because it dates back to 1997.

So, who has stepped up in the sound department with good audio and good driver support now that CL has stepped back?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Of course, where do I go from here? The lame AC'97 on my motherboard? No thanks. It sounds like crap, probably because it dates back to 1997.

To be sure, mobo's haven't had AC'97 in many years. HD Audio / "Azalia" has been the standard since then.

 

[LTC8K6]

Yeah, you almost certainly have something better than AC97 on your mobo.

EDIT, I think your mobo would have this:

http://www.realtek.com.tw/products/productsView.aspx?Langid=1&PFid=28&Level=5&Conn=4&ProdID=284

 

[Traxan]

Well I have used the on-board audio on my mobo and didn't like it. So who makes a good add-in card that is well-supported? I've used CL literally as long as I've owned a PC.

 

[LTC8K6]

Well, your board has both types of audio, depending on the case connector and driver setup, etc.

Creative did put out this Win10 software availability chart:

http://support.creative.com/kb/ShowArticle.aspx?sid=126331

 

[Sheninat0r]

asus makes decent sound cards too. besides creative and asus, you'd probably be looking at pro audio cards.

 

[The Keeper]

There is no such thing as well supported sound card really.

Asus' Xonar internal sound card lineup has pretty good hardware, but Asus is at the mercy of C-MEDIA when it comes to drivers. Unfortunately C-MEDIA rarely publishes driver updates and they haven't released any Win10 drivers yet. Even state of Windows 8.1 drivers are still questionable. I'd go as far as to say that when it comes to drivers, C-MEDIA is worse than Creative.

Most people use unofficial UNi Xonar drivers instead of the official drivers from Asus.
http://maxedtech.com/asus-xonar-unified-drivers/
But they too depend on drivers released by C-MEDIA and partners.

If you want hassle-free audio solution that does not depend on drivers, then your best bet is to use HDMI to external receiver. But such receivers are meant for the living room, they won't normally (ever?) have DVI or DisplayPort output. There are adapters, but you'd be limited to 60Hz. The latter is relevant only if you have a display capable of higher refresh rates than 60Hz.

There are some alternatives to cover the middle ground. From Asus there are Xonar Essence One and Xonar Essence STU, which both have beta-drivers for Win10. Knowing Asus though, those might just be first and last Win10 drivers. Asus also has Xonar U5 and U7, but neither have Win10 drivers at this time.

Then there are other similar products, such as Cambridge Audio DacMagic Plus, which supports 24/96 through USB without any additional drivers, and 24/192 with drivers. No Win10 drivers have been released yet by Cambridge, but I don't know if they're even needed in Win10. It is entirely possible Win10 supports 24/192 USB audio natively, just like OS X and Linux does.

Edit: Looked into whether Win10 supports USB Audio 2, it does not. Disappointing.

See https://techsupport.cambridgeaudio....diophile_s_Guide_To_Bit_Perfect_USB_Audio.pdf for more information.

There is also DacMagic 100 and DacMagic XS if they suit your needs better, they're also significantly cheaper. Of course, there are many other brands that offer similar products as Cambridge Audio.

The biggest drawback in these devices is that none of them have mic-in. So you still would have to use onboard audio with your headset, or buy a new headset that uses USB instead.

Good luck.