external sound card or internal sound card pls help

[molesy]

Hello,

I am planing to buy a creative Sound blaster x-fi surround 5.1 pro this devices is a external sound card but i am not sure if this is better than my integrated sound card on my mother board. my motherboard is gigabyte GA-X58A-UD5

i have a music player from them with there x-fi technology and it really does make sound quality better but am not sure is it better than the one on this board.

Thanks for your help in advance

Regards

 

[wirednuts]

the alc889 sound solution on that motherboard is good. its going to sound very similar to the xfi. if you are using dsp to make your sound better, then more power to you. generally, if you have good speakers and good amplifiers, you dont need to tweak the sound much. thats why most audio enthusiasts dont like dsp... although in certain situations it can be very nice (low volume listening especially)

 

[Midwayman]

I generally find it hard to recommend an add-in sound card these days. Most on board sound is fine for most people purposes these days. I *own* a xfi card and haven't bothered to put it in my latest build due to this.

 

[Throckmorton]

Is onboard sound actually higher quality than it was 2 years ago? I find that hard to believe.

 

[wirednuts]

no onboard sound really hasnt got that much better the last 2 years. but to compare, the 889 sound package really does sound similar to a xonardx. the xonar sounds a little better out of the box, but a little teaking to the onboard sound and i promise you i do not miss my xonar at all.

just look at the specs for your onboard sound compared to that x-fi card. the xfi does have a little better THD ratings, but the difference is not distinguishable on 95% of the stereos out there. i think i remember the xonar having pretty damn good specs, but again it just doesnt translate into that much difference real world. your speakers and amps will matter WAY more.

 

[molesy]

Hello guys

thanks for all the reply i have been doing some research and wanted to know is this sound card is good compared to on board sound " creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series". i have a 5.1 surround sound and Logitech LS2.1 speakers when gaming watching movies etc i use the 5.1 but normal use the LS2.1. i will be connecting the 5.1 speakers through optical fiber.

Thanks for your help if i need to provide any more information i will be glad to provide them.