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Is it still worth while buying a sound board?

B

Bat123Man

Member
I used to have an Audigy, but couldn't take the SCP problems (snap-crackle-pop) any longer and finally gave it away. That was 3 or 4 years ago. Since then, I have been using the onboard audio on my Asus PCI-E mobo. I have never had a problem with it, and it sounds fine to my less-than-audiophile ears.

I have the bug again, for no apparent reason. I have a free PCI-E 1x slot on my mobo between my SLI vid cards (2*8800 GTS) and was looking at the Asus Xonar DX board which is onsale at the computer shop nearest my house until Thursday. I also have a free PCI slot if I absolutely need to use it. Not really interested in a Creative Labs solution because from googling SCP and X-Fi, it looks like that problem has never been solved (I spent months trying to fix it).

I run Win7 64-bit.

Thanks,
BM.
 
First questions I have: Primarily are you looking for improved gaming sound or improved media sound?

And how much do you want to spend and what kind of setup do you have (speakers/cans)?
 
Bat123Man said:
Not really interested in a Creative Labs solution because from googling SCP and X-Fi, it looks like that problem has never been solved (I spent months trying to fix it).
Click to expand...

Did you investigate/try the Daniel_K drivers?

Not having any such SCP issues here, but for this card the drivers are Windows 7 only.

I'd probably also avoid putting the sound card in between the GPUs if I could, in the interests of air circulation. Might even opt for a PCI card instead, if doing so kept it outside.
 
jackstar7 said:
First questions I have: Primarily are you looking for improved gaming sound or improved media sound?

And how much do you want to spend and what kind of setup do you have (speakers/cans)?
Click to expand...

Both, although more important for media. I game when I can, but it's not very often.

I don't really care how much I spend. I don't want to blow 300 bones or something on a sound board, but anything below that wouldn't be out of the question. I have a Cambridge Soundworks PCWorks as my PC speakers, which is definitely getting old (it's only 2.1 sound). However, when I watch movies on the computer, it's via Grado Alessandro's. The Realtek onboard audio does advertise HD 5.1 sound, but I doubt that is what I get out of the cans.

Upstairs when I watch a movie with headphones, I can take advantage of my Yamaha receiver and Silent Cinema, which is great virtual surround sound. Or if the kids aren't in bed, then full 5.1 with a nice big bass kicking out the low frequencies.
 
stahlhart said:
Did you investigate/try the Daniel_K drivers?

Not having any such SCP issues here, but for this card the drivers are Windows 7 only.

I'd probably also avoid putting the sound card in between the GPUs if I could, in the interests of air circulation. Might even opt for a PCI card instead, if doing so kept it outside.
Click to expand...

Yeah, wondered about that. I have exactly 2 slots because of the size of the SLI rig. One PCI-E 1x directly between the SLI rig, and one PCI at the very bottom of my case which is actually a pain to get to. I have to pull one of the 8800 cards out just to get the card in. Air circulation doesn't seem to be a problem with the current setup, but maybe adding a card in between would change matters..... The case is nicely ventilated, I have ensured the airflow goes in the front, passes over the CPU, and is pumped out the back. Have never had a problem with heat so far.
 
I have a Chaintech AV710 (ViA Envy24HT-S chipset) and I use the Wolfson DAC ouput on it. I've had this card for years, and I'll keep using it till motherboards no longer come with PCI slots.

The output of the high-quality Wolfson DAC is just amazing if you have the right hardware.

So yeah, IMO, there is still a reason to use an add-in soundcard.
 
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I found the HT Omega Claro XT a BIG step up from my on-board and definitely better than my Xfi.

Review here.

http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?...d-Build-Advice&p=357539&viewfull=1#post357539

5759859309_62732f1d45_z.jpg
 
An all digital signal coming from a simple AC97 chip going through HDMI to a receiver is better than all of the SNR dB's marketing can buy. 🙂
 
ripster55 said:
I found the HT Omega Claro XT a BIG step up from my on-board and definitely better than my Xfi.

Review here.

http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?...d-Build-Advice&p=357539&viewfull=1#post357539

5759859309_62732f1d45_z.jpg
Click to expand...

Ripster,

I have never heard of that board, but the specs are amazing! I may have to go that route just for the headphone amplifier. What is interesting is that it uses the Oxygen HD sound processor, which is the same one used by the Asus Xonar DX. Hmmm, choices, choices. Most of my HTPC movie watching is via headphones, so that Claro is starting to look good....
 
Cerb said:
The same is true going over USB, TOSLink, and plain old SPDIF, too.
Click to expand...

The problem with SPDIF is that it requires you to use Dolby Digital Live or DTS connect to pass through multi-channel audio. This compresses and degrades the audio as well as introduce about 150ms of lag.

Now if sound card makers would start making sound cards with an HDMI output, that would be spiffy. Unfortunately there aren't any on the market yet that I am aware of.
 
*gasp* Ripster is on this board?

I'm on my second Filco and looking at a third because of that damn geekhack place. 🙁 🙂
 
Looks like the Omega Claro Plus has all I need (don't need the XT breakout card) since I don't have an A/V receiver in the basement. What is interesting is that I found the card online from a Canadian retailer for 119.88, exactly the same price as the Creative Labs X-FI Titanium FATAL1TY. And now I am torn.... Leaning towards Claro for the headphone amp, but the Creative may give me more longevity since it is PCI-E. The Claro is only PCI.... decisions, decisions...
 
QuantumPion said:
The problem with SPDIF is that it requires you to use Dolby Digital Live or DTS connect to pass through multi-channel audio. This compresses and degrades the audio as well as introduce about 150ms of lag.

Now if sound card makers would start making sound cards with an HDMI output, that would be spiffy. Unfortunately there aren't any on the market yet that I am aware of.
Click to expand...
I agree. DDL is a step back from the 2channel Redbook audio gamers used to enjoy. Ever since lossless audio formats have been out, there has been zero excuse for not using them, be they 2 channel, 5.1, or 7.1. The only good lossy format I've ever heard is Sega's ADX, but maybe that's because I've never heard most of that uncompressed or losslessly compressed. 128KBps Ogg vorbis sucks, 256 KBps itunes suck, I'd rather just have recordings in sampling rates <44.1KHz if they're not lossily compressed. Same goes with textures, I'm so damn sick of the artifacts (blotchiness and shit) from DXT formats, regardless of how much larger they allow the textures to be. Extra detail doesn't matter when it introduces a shit load of artifacts.

Never understood the rage about 5.1 audio when it's lossy.
 
Anarchist420 said:
I agree. DDL is a step back from the 2channel Redbook audio gamers used to enjoy. Ever since lossless audio formats have been out, there has been zero excuse for not using them, be they 2 channel, 5.1, or 7.1. The only good lossy format I've ever heard is Sega's ADX, but maybe that's because I've never heard most of that uncompressed or losslessly compressed. 128KBps Ogg vorbis sucks, 256 KBps itunes suck, I'd rather just have recordings in sampling rates <44.1KHz if they're not lossily compressed. Same goes with textures, I'm so damn sick of the artifacts (blotchiness and shit) from DXT formats, regardless of how much larger they allow the textures to be. Extra detail doesn't matter when it introduces a shit load of artifacts.

Never understood the rage about 5.1 audio when it's lossy.
Click to expand...

Hi Anarchist420,

In theory, I agree with you. But in practice, my ears can't tell the difference between lossy and lossless. When I watch a movie upstairs with my home theatre (50inch plasma, BluRay, Yamaha AV receiver, Klipsch speakers, and JBL bass), the experience is great. When I can't make use of it (like when the kids are in bed), I watch with headphones and use a virtual surround solution (Yamaha's Silent Cinema if upstairs, Dolby Headphone if downstairs). I have to tell you, the experience is just about as good. For instance, watching Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift in the basement on my computer with Dolby Headphone turned on, I had the impression the engines were revving in the room behind me. It was a great effect, what I would call "true surround sound" despite the fact that I knew it was virtual. The first time I heard it in the film, I swung my head around to look behind me as if someone had parked their souped up Mitsubishi Lancer in my basement and was revving the engine. Very impressive.

So I agree in principal, the theory behind lossless is great, but I have found the practice of virtual surround sound or lossy sound to be just as good.

DD.
 
QuantumPion said:
The problem with SPDIF is that it requires you to use Dolby Digital Live or DTS connect to pass through multi-channel audio. This compresses and degrades the audio as well as introduce about 150ms of lag.

Now if sound card makers would start making sound cards with an HDMI output, that would be spiffy. Unfortunately there aren't any on the market yet that I am aware of.
Click to expand...

Actualy, there is at least one out in the market:
http://www.auzentech.com/site/products/x-fi_hometheater_hd.php

Reviewed here:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/auzentech-xfi-home-theater-hd-71-soundcard-review/


Here's another one out there:
http://usa.asus.com/Multimedia/Audio_Cards/Xonar_HDAV13/#specifications
 
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Who needs a sound card with HDMI when all current GPUs do everything those expensive HDMI sound cards do (except the analog portion).
I run the HDMI from my 5870 to my HT for movies/tv/music and switch to my XonarDX for headphone usage.
 
I don't know if buying a sound card for gaming any more is so important.

But when it comes to listening to old recordings (such as gramophone records) the Soundblaster X-Fi makes a real difference. The Audio Clean-up function (which probably is hardware accelerated) of Creative MediaSource Player makes a huge difference. The function literally transforms noise to music!

By the way is there any media player with the same function (Real time audio cleaning)?
 
Hi, I'm using RealTek HD onboard sound with a pair of AD900 headphones and the sound quality isn't that great.

I was thinking about buying an Asus Essence Xonar STX instead, primarily for gaming, but I was wondering if the sound card used in one of the PCI-E slots would chew up any of the bandwidth for 2 graphics cards?

Would they end up defaulting to a slower speed if more slots are full?

Part of me was thinking, should I buy an external sound card/processor thingy like the mixamp instead?
 
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