Is any sound card better than any internal sound card ?

[KB24]

I have a cheap Sound Blaster Live that I pulled from a garage sale for 1$ .

(Sound Blaster Live Sb0200)

I haven't installed it yet in my current pc , but I was wondering ;

will a after market sound card be better than any internal motherboard sound device ?

 

[LouPoir]

Yes

 

[unfalliblekrutch]

well, if you have integrated HD audio vs something pretty old like that SB live, i'm not sure which would be better.

 

[KB24]

Thanks for the post .

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: unfalliblekrutch
well, if you have integrated HD audio vs something pretty old like that SB live, i'm not sure which would be better.

SB Live if he is a gamer for sure, EAX supported on the SB Live.

 

[Ichigo]

No, it definitely depends on his motherboard.

 

[happy medium]

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh

Originally posted by: unfalliblekrutch
well, if you have integrated HD audio vs something pretty old like that SB live, i'm not sure which would be better.

SB Live if he is a gamer for sure, EAX supported on the SB Live.

It will also increase your fps in games.:thumbsup:

 

[frostedflakes]

I've been pretty pleased with the ALC888 HD audio that came with my ASRock board. Bought a Chaintech AV-710, set it up to use the high-quality stereo output through the Wolfson DAC, and couldn't really tell a difference. Stuff that I thought a better soundcard might fix are either problems w/the MP3 encoding (am just not willing to do FLAC for space reasons) or speakers (Klipsch Promedia Ultra 2.0, maybe not the fanciest speakers but they're not crap either). Got rid of the Chaintech to free up a PCI slot.

You may see a big improvement with an older codec like AC'97, but based on my experiences and what I've read, recent onboard HD codecs aren't supposed to be too bad.

Then again, I'm not a huge audiophile, so take my $0.02 with a grain of salt.

 

[Roguestar]

Originally posted by: Ichigo
No, it definitely depends on his motherboard.

Indeed. My motherboard has 8-channel HD digital audio and is waaay more than enough for my needs, even with gaming.

 

[mercanucaribe]

WTF does "HD audio" mean?

 

[frostedflakes]

Marketing jargon I'm sure.

 

[Roguestar]

High Definition. Basically what frosted flakes said. It has to be rated as such or it doesn't count as vista premium ready, if I recall correctly.

 

[SparkyJJO]

My A8R32-MVP has 24-bit "HD audio" on it but I could hear the difference when I put my audigy 2 ZS in.

 

[frostedflakes]

That's what's so fun about audio discussions: It's all subjective.

Just out of curiosity where could you hear the differences?

 

[herm0016]

i use the digital out on my MB into a reciver with a good DAC. this way i dont have to rely on any soundcard on my computer. its hooked up to a large yamaha reciver and a pair of higherend bookshelf speakers. I use the software EQ to clean it up a bit. I do not see any improvement using the digital out of a sound card. If i ever use an analog out of a computer i will have an m-audio or similar card with better driver support and better sound than creative products. if i had to guess that sblive card will be about the same as ac97 codec. its more about the speakers and the compression scheme that it is about the codec IMHO.

 

[ForumMaster]

depends. some of the newer motherboards have pretty decent onboard sound. i have the famous nforce2 soundstorm audio and while it's probably hardly as good as the top of the line creative soundcard, it sounds just fine to me. then again, i'm hardly an audiophile.

if you have it, try it and if you can tell a difference, keep it. otherwise, waste of power and a PCI slot.

 

[Ausm]

Originally posted by: mercanucaribe
WTF does "HD audio" mean?

It pwns ALL!




Ausm

 

[Markbnj]

Do a little Googling. Studies show that in terms of SNR and most other quality measures, add-on boards do much better than integrated audio. But the research also shows that most people run with speakers that wipe out any differences.

 

[equetefue]

For the price and quality of sound you get your best 2 choices are

X-Fi Xtremegamer
X-fi XtremeMusic (discontinued)

Do not get the new X-Fi Xtreme Audio. It's garbage.

 

[imported_kiwik]

A PCI soundcard is really worth it. Even an old Sound Blaster Live 5.1 sounds better when using analog output than the wannabe HD audio you can find on virtually every motherboard. It is true that alot of speakers won't reflect the benefits of a dedicated sound card, but if you have spent over 100$ for a 2.1 system, it will start to show the cards strenghts.

 

[KB24]

Thank you guys for all the posts and the suggestions.

I'm probably just going to buy a new one and toss this one.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: KB24
Thank you guys for all the posts and the suggestions.

I'm probably just going to buy a new one and toss this one.

You have good headphones / speakers already?

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: happy medium

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh

Originally posted by: unfalliblekrutch
well, if you have integrated HD audio vs something pretty old like that SB live, i'm not sure which would be better.

SB Live if he is a gamer for sure, EAX supported on the SB Live.

It will also increase your fps in games.:thumbsup:

by maybe 2-3fps....wow :shocked:

 

[snowdogg187]

I just cared about it maybe improving performance. Plus I had it lying around.

 

[deadken]

Originally posted by: equetefue
For the price and quality of sound you get your best 2 choices are

X-Fi Xtremegamer
X-fi XtremeMusic (discontinued)

Do not get the new X-Fi Xtreme Audio. It's garbage.

BTW: I just got a X-Fi Xtreme Music from Office Depot for $65, they have the Audigy4 on clearance for $44.


Hey OP, there is no reason to toss that Sound Blaster Live until you try it. As others have said, it will most likely beat out the integrated sound and I see no reason not to at least try it (being such a simple job to install/remove).