Creative T3100 speakers: ALC889a or Upgrade?

[veblen]

I've been using onboard audio and was wondering if I should upgrade to a dedicated sound card.

I'm on a rather tight budget ($80 or lower) and have been looking at the X-Fi Titanium (on eBay) and the Asus Xonar DX. Are there other options I should consider given my speakers? I know if I go higher, the HT Omegas and Auzentechs seem to be popular recommendations but they don't come cheap! I'm also not sure if I should be concerned about the lack of EAX support on the Asus; I remember when I first got my SB Live card almost ten years ago, I was quite taken by EAX.

I anticipate upgrading my speakers to the Swan M10 (or the M12 if I can stomach the look) or the M-Audio AV40 once I save up enough money. Again, I'd appreciate any other recommendations. I listen mostly to music (jazz, classic rock, heavy metal) and game occasionally.

On a separate note, what budget 2.0 speakers ($30 or lower) would you recommend for a secondary computer with onboard audio? There are so many choices! I've been toying with the Logitech X-140s, the Altec Lansing BXR1220, and one over my budget - Creative Labs Inspire T12 (or T10, I don't know the difference).

Thanks!

 

[Modelworks]

The ALC889 has 104db SNR. Most people can't tell the difference between 104db and 80db so that part is fine. PC audio has really reached the point that unless you are mastering audio in a studio most of the on board chips are fine. The area I pay more attention to than anything else is the output stage of the sound card. If you are using speakers that plug into the line out jacks on the pc then that can be a problem depending on how well shielded the design of the output stage is. If it isn't done right then you can get everything from the hard drive to the mouse movement adding whines or static noises in the audio. Higher end cards like auzentech pay more attention in that area by using better parts and shielding.

If you use optical or coax output then the sound card makes little difference. Chips like the realtek 889 send the digital stream straight to the port and will sound identical to a high end card because they are just converting the stream from data on the bus to a stream of bits in the correct format.

If it were me I would stay with the on board audio and get either an external receiver that can do optical/coax or a set of speakers that can. They will always work with any system in the future and will always sound the same regardless of drivers or os.

 

[veblen]

Thanks for the response, Modelworks. Pardon my ignorance, but which speakers do optical/coax? Are these typically costly, and will I need an amp?