Need a sound card.

mnewsham · Jan 30, 2011

Numenorean said:
Don't want USB. Don't trust Siig.

Anyway I just said to hell with it and ordered a Xonar.

afraid your next computer might not have USB AND PCI hmm?

Numenorean · Jan 30, 2011

mnewsham said:
afraid your next computer might not have USB AND PCI hmm?

I clearly stated I wanted a PCIe card.

I don't want a USB thing that dangles around. I have enough USB stuff as it is. An audio card should be internal. And I want to hook up my front connectors on my case. Can't do that with a USB sound card. And yeah it's external but it would need a long cord to make it as usable as the front connectors on the case and that's one more cord I don't need or want.

mnewsham · Jan 30, 2011

but why PCIe? PCI isnt a good interface for some reason?

Numenorean · Jan 30, 2011

mnewsham said:
but why PCIe? PCI isnt a good interface for some reason?

That was already explained.

mnewsham · Jan 30, 2011

You said this....

Numenorean said:
Please read the OP.

I want a PCIe card, not a PCI card. Reason being is the next time I upgrade, my motherboard likely won't have a PCI slot and then I would just have to buy another sound card again.

However, you fail to explain why your next motherboard wont have PCI, there are too many expansion cards at the moment for them to phase out PCI in the next few years, sure you might only get one or two of them but you probably wont see them phased out except in high end MB's

Numenorean · Jan 30, 2011

mnewsham said:
You said this....

However, you fail to explain why your next motherboard wont have PCI, there are too many expansion cards at the moment for them to phase out PCI in the next few years, sure you might only get one or two of them but you probably wont see them phased out except in high end MB's

And I always purchase high end motherboards. And I have already seen a higher end one that has no PCI slots.

I bet in 4-5 years the one I require won't have PCI.

mnewsham · Jan 30, 2011

Numenorean said:
And I always purchase high end motherboards. And I have already seen a higher end one that has no PCI slots.

I bet in 4-5 years the one I require won't have PCI.

But the onboard sound will be better then most cards you will be buying today

Numenorean · Jan 30, 2011

mnewsham said:
But the onboard sound will be better then most cards you will be buying today

Really?

The onboard sound hasn't seemed to have gotten better in 10 years. I'm not holding my breath. I have never done onboard sound. I thought that after such a long time I could get away with it. All that I have done by trying to get away with it was reinforce why I didn't use it in the first place.

mnewsham · Jan 30, 2011

Numenorean said:
Really?

The onboard sound hasn't seemed to have gotten better in 10 years. I'm not holding my breath. I have never done onboard sound. I thought that after such a long time I could get away with it. All that I have done by trying to get away with it was reinforce why I didn't use it in the first place.

Unless you are looking for audiophile quality or are using some fairly advanced speakers/headphones you should be fine with MOST of today's on board sound (and it has improved greatly within the past 3 years in my experiences)

Numenorean · Jan 30, 2011

mnewsham said:
Unless you are looking for audiophile quality or are using some fairly advanced speakers/headphones you should be fine with MOST of today's on board sound (and it has improved greatly within the past 3 years in my experiences)

Well I tried it. It doesn't work properly. Now the hardware may be fine, but if nobody can figure out how to write software that doesn't do any good.

Why bother writing good software for some chip that costs $0.50 to make right?

mnewsham · Jan 30, 2011

Numenorean said:
Well I tried it. It doesn't work properly. Now the hardware may be fine, but if nobody can figure out how to write software that doesn't do any good.

Why bother writing good software for some chip that costs $0.50 to make right?

What board do you have now? I have found most of my boards use realtek and they have improved their drivers over the years.

Numenorean · Jan 30, 2011

mnewsham said:
What board do you have now? I have found most of my boards use realtek and they have improved their drivers over the years.

I have a P7P55D-e Pro. It has VIA on it.

I looked at a Gigabyte with the Realtek but it didn't have any eSATA ports.

mnewsham · Jan 30, 2011

This seems like it is the only thing with eSATA and realtek (for under $200 or from a respectable manufacturer)

Numenorean · Jan 30, 2011

It doesn't have any USB 3.0 ports.

Though I would consider that board. Not sure how well it handles overclocking the CPU though being an Intel board.

mnewsham · Jan 30, 2011

Numenorean said:
It doesn't have any USB 3.0 ports.

Though I would consider that board. Not sure how well it handles overclocking the CPU though being an Intel board.

My experience with intel boards is they have good features and OC well (not going to get MASSIVE OC's from it but you will get good OC's) and USB 3.0 was more of a gimmick on 1156 (and 1155 too) because you still dont find many USB 3.0 devices yet. when Socket 2011 comes out then USB 3.0 should penetrate the consumer goods enough to warrant some 3.0 connections.

Numenorean · Jan 30, 2011

mnewsham said:
My experience with intel boards is they have good features and OC well (not going to get MASSIVE OC's from it but you will get good OC's) and USB 3.0 was more of a gimmick on 1156 (and 1155 too) because you still dont find many USB 3.0 devices yet. when Socket 2011 comes out then USB 3.0 should penetrate the consumer goods enough to warrant some 3.0 connections.

Yeah. I have USB 3 on a new laptop that I'm using for an external drive. Kinda nice to be able to toss it on both.

Nintendesert · Jan 31, 2011

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-020-_-Product

The Xonar DG, maybe not the best out there but at only $19.99 its better than onboard sound and since I use headphones the headphone amp works well for me too.

Numenorean · Jan 31, 2011

Nintendesert said:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-020-_-Product

The Xonar DG, maybe not the best out there but at only $19.99 its better than onboard sound and since I use headphones the headphone amp works well for me too.

It's not PCIe.

And I already went with a DX which is.

Patrick Wolf · Jan 31, 2011

Numenorean said:
And I have already seen a higher end one that has no PCI slots.

Which board was that?

Davidh373 · Jan 31, 2011

To get great audio, an external DAC/Amp is your absolute best option. Having all these ridiculous requirements that narrow your options to the point that your choice is either crap, or expensive crap, isn't helping you at all. A USB DAC for $100-$200 is multitudes better than most any card.

As for PCI-E cards, I hear ASUS is doing good for themselves these days

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...e=&srchInDesc=

Numenorean · Jan 31, 2011

Davidh373 said:
To get great audio, an external DAC/Amp is your absolute best option. Having all these ridiculous requirements that narrow your options to the point that your choice is either crap, or expensive crap, isn't helping you at all. A USB DAC for $100-$200 is multitudes better than most any card.

As for PCI-E cards, I hear ASUS is doing good for themselves these days

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...e=&srchInDesc=

I already ordered a Xonar DX. I was just hoping there would be something that was what I wanted that I couldn't find.

Apparently not.

Need a sound card.

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