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I am now a proponent of integrated onboard audio solutions

Starbuck1975

Starbuck1975

Lifer
Since Creative first started releasing PCI audio cards, I have always had a SoundBlaster device installed in my system...this is not to say that I have always been impressed with the sound quality from those cards, but there was a time when they were the only option on the market.

My build of two years ago was my first PC to have an integrated audio device on the MOBO...the ABIT AN8 32X...but as I already had an Audigy on hand, I didn't think to try out the integrated audio, and simply installed my PCI device.

Well my AN8 32X recently died a premature death, and Abit replaced it with an AT8 32X...so I decided to try out the integrated audio this time before installing my Audigy.

All I can say is wow.

The sound quality is far more clear, crisp and balanced...I was listening to some MP3s the other night while doing work, and I enjoyed it far more than I ever did out of my Audigy card...even with gaming, I am noticing a major improvement...much less distortion, especially when it comes to explosions or other high bass audio sounds...not to mention I am picking up ambiant sounds from games like BioShock and Oblivion that I never heard before.

Now as a disclaimer, I strictly use headphones, so this could be a part of it...but I regret dismissing integrated audio in the past, as I have found the audio on my new MOBO to be quite capable and very good.
 
I dont know about the Audigy2 but I have the X-fi and it is much better than my onboard sound (and i think my motherboard has one of the best onboard chips [alc1988]). It does ok with headphones but anything above 2 speakers will definitly sound better on a dedicated sound card.
 
I've never tried integrated audio on my motherboards. I have a GTXP, and the connections and options are considerable with the breakout box. Since I haven't noticed sound quality problems, the options win out. It uses a PCI slot, which is the downside, but I always get motherboards with at least 5 PCI slots... which is getting harder!
 
On the flip side, my cat just chewed through my headphone cable. Clean cut...there was no saving them. These were top notch head phones too, I paid top dollar and planned on having them for a while. OH well.

But anyway...I skimped on the new ones I just got and I didn't realize how much a good pair of headgear can improve your sound. I am running the X-fi fatal1ty gaming card and it sounds like CRAP with these headphones. These are a ~$20 Sony pair. I want my other ones back 🙁 So yeah the moral of the story is that headphone choice really counts as well. If I didn't have the ones before, I would have though my sound card was trashed.

 
what onboard chip are you using and which creative card were u comparing to it?
the ALC889 chip does NOT compare to the Audigy 2. Its explosions in games are quite muddy and flat compared to the vibrant gunshots and explosions of the audigy 2.

i also had "static noise" coming through th front panel headphone adapter when it was connected to the motherboard. i did not get this when my audigy 2 was connected to its front panel.
 
Sorry to hear it. You could splice and solder the cable together again, though, if you're
careful. It'll just create about an two inch stiff spot where you cover up the repair with heat shrink tubing or electrical tape.

You can probably buy a cheap soldering iron and some solder tape or something for about $15 at Radio Shack or wherever. Heck maybe just the careful / skillful use of a lighter or mini torch and some solder tape would be enough.

Pet the kitty and give him/her some better treats to chew on and play with than cords. 🙂

Originally posted by: BigMoosey74
On the flip side, my cat just chewed through my headphone cable. Clean cut...there was no saving them. These were top notch head phones too, I paid top dollar and planned on having them for a while. OH well.

But anyway...I skimped on the new ones I just got and I didn't realize how much a good pair of headgear can improve your sound. I am running the X-fi fatal1ty gaming card and it sounds like CRAP with these headphones. These are a ~$20 Sony pair. I want my other ones back 🙁 So yeah the moral of the story is that headphone choice really counts as well. If I didn't have the ones before, I would have though my sound card was trashed.
Click to expand...

 
Well I'm running on a headset, turtlebeach earforce hpa 5.1 until my house is built then it's back to the klipsch wall shaking setup. I also run an x-fi and it's the best soundcard I've ever had bar none. No other pc sound card have even come close to it which is why I've got one in all of my machines. My mb came with an ad1988 based card and it sounds like crap. Only x-fi offers eax 5 which makes a huge difference when gaming. Their alchemy is improving for vista users further improving the gaming experience. A week ago I strayed to auzentech for a x-fi prelude but their mic jacks don't work so back it went and in went my current x-fi card. Just no comparison between the x-fi's with xram and lesser cards.
 
Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
what onboard chip are you using and which creative card were u comparing to it?
the ALC889 chip does NOT compare to the Audigy 2. Its explosions in games are quite muddy and flat compared to the vibrant gunshots and explosions of the audigy 2.

i also had "static noise" coming through th front panel headphone adapter when it was connected to the motherboard. i did not get this when my audigy 2 was connected to its front panel.
Click to expand...

I'm not totally disagreeing but ALC888 > ALC889 ???
 
Originally posted by: QuixoticOne
Sorry to hear it. You could splice and solder the cable together again, though, if you're
careful. It'll just create about an two inch stiff spot where you cover up the repair with heat shrink tubing or electrical tape.

You can probably buy a cheap soldering iron and some solder tape or something for about $15 at Radio Shack or wherever. Heck maybe just the careful / skillful use of a lighter or mini torch and some solder tape would be enough.

Pet the kitty and give him/her some better treats to chew on and play with than cords. 🙂
Click to expand...

Hahaha, he is a baaaad kitty. Chews on everything...even christmas lights...I am waiting for the Christmas Vacation scene to happen.

I tried to splice them back together but each wire was hair thin and had some sort of insulating coating (it was like red and green colored paint or something). I thought about soldering but I have never done it before so instead I just got a cheap pair.
 
Well, for the last several years and many, many motherboards I have been using onboard sound because after SoundBlaster Live! I just didn't see the point in spending that much for an additional sound card for environment effects. For me it wasn't worth it.

My current motherboard came with an X-FI PCIE add-on card as the audio option. And I do miss the sound that is noticeably missing from onboard audio. Crisp, clear and the option to change environments is nice. Will I buy an add-on card if my next motherboard does not include one? NO. Still not worth the extra money, but it does sound better just not price justifiable for me.
 
Originally posted by: BigMoosey74
Originally posted by: QuixoticOne
Sorry to hear it. You could splice and solder the cable together again, though, if you're
careful. It'll just create about an two inch stiff spot where you cover up the repair with heat shrink tubing or electrical tape.

You can probably buy a cheap soldering iron and some solder tape or something for about $15 at Radio Shack or wherever. Heck maybe just the careful / skillful use of a lighter or mini torch and some solder tape would be enough.

Pet the kitty and give him/her some better treats to chew on and play with than cords. 🙂
Click to expand...

Hahaha, he is a baaaad kitty. Chews on everything...even christmas lights...I am waiting for the Christmas Vacation scene to happen.

I tried to splice them back together but each wire was hair thin and had some sort of insulating coating (it was like red and green colored paint or something). I thought about soldering but I have never done it before so instead I just got a cheap pair.
Click to expand...

Solder iron is basic DIY tool, and not expensive. Get one around 25 watts, a pencil iron. Solder costs maybe $1. Kitty chewing (or worse, peeing) is sign of neurosis. Be good to him, get him better adjusted and he'll behave better.

I've fixed headphone cables probably dozens of times, but none lately. Lately, I use etymotics ER4S for portable (I have two), and never had to repair the cables. They are just so tough to begin with. I don't remember ever having to repair cables on non-portable type headphones, however. But then, I don't have pets.
 
I've been using onboard sound for years & haven't had any problems. I really like the cards that came with the ROG boards I'm using. Sounds great to me.
 
I just stick my old ass sound blaster live! in a PCI slot and disable it. The drivers that came on its disk have worked with everything I've played so I see no reason to change it. I'm not much of an audiophile.
 
I had a Sound Blaster Live! Value in my old system. I know it's rather old and not the best of comparisons but the onboard audio on my IP35-E is lightyears ahead.
 
I agree that the ACL888 is decent; my IP35-E sounds great, for the most part. Problem is when I crank my Klipsch 2.1's all the way, I hear a bunch of interference/static noise that coincide with CPU usage and mouse movements. This wasn't a problem with my EpoX boards, oddly enough, but at lower volumes audio sounds great. I can't hear the noise over headphones. The screechy and scratchy noises only kick in during the green loading bar time during Vista boot when the sound device is enabled. Otherwise, at full volume, there is no interference noise on the Klipsch speakers.

I'm basically going to m-audio's driver page and hitting refresh over and over waiting for 64 bit Vista drivers. Once that happens, I'm buying an Audiophile 2496 and disabling the Realtek.

I could remount the board and try to find out why I'm getting interference but, eh. Plus, I owned an Audiophile 2496 that I bought in 2000 and I know what it sounds like: awesome. That great card crapped out on me last year, sadly, but it had a long and plentiful life. I was in a band and it handled live sampling duties as well as simultaneous digial recording during road gigs etc. The thing was in a beatup desktop I carried around in a military bag, often sitting outside or in the back of trucks during winters, etc. I'm happy to buy another. Figures they release 32 bit drivers for Vista as soon as I upgrade to 64 bit. 😛
 
Hmm... well in my case, I only switched to onboard because of Vista - I thought my old Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 sounded better than whatever onboard I have on my A9N5X, at least under XP. When I went to Vista, my Sound Blaster ended up sounding like absolute crap because of Vista's new [or nonexistent] HAL.
 
For anyone with the Sound Blaster Live!...I dont think there is much of a difference from a Live! card than an onboard audio. I had one and I didn't notice any differences.

I upgraded to an X-fi card and wow, 10xs better. One function it has is the crystallizer. I think that is the gem of the card. That thing is amazing if you listen to music, watch movies, play games...just all around sweet.

It makes audio so 3D sounding it is a wonder that anyone would turn the function off. Music sounds so flat when I turn it off. A review described the sound difference to be something like when you turn it off it is like listening to music from behind a curtain. I find that absolutely accurate.

What I was getting at above, you need the right sound equipment (speakers or headphones) to hear a big difference in audio. You have to do your soundcard justice and not use crapola headphones ( like I just did ) or low budget speakers.



 
I find the crystalizer stuff unnerving and unpleasant. On my speakers, it sounds completley fake and full of whizbang wizzardry. It really sounds like something used to inflate a weak signal rather than accurately reproduce sound. My M-Audio Audiophile 2496 sounds shaper, clearer and cripser than the X-FI and thankfully doesn't need any special postprocesssing effects to sound good. The crystalizer might sounds better on standard speakers or non-pro headphones, but side by side, I'll take accurate reproduction over extra enhancements any day.
 
The only reason to spend money on a sound card is if you are going to use the DACs and run the audio out via the analog connections. If you are passing an SPDIF signal or are routing through HDMI there is absolutely no difference between the HD onboard solutions and current soundcards. That means that if you already are sending a signal to an AV receiver you are just wasting the expensive DACs in the receiver.
 
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