No need for Turtle Beach Santa Cruz w/ Asus P4B533 Mobo

[WayneTeK]

Ok.. here is the dilemma..

I bought this card for no reason i think...

I bought this card not knowing which mobo i was getting; turns out i got the ASUS P4B533 Mobo with a digital input already built in...

Now, should i just use this feature with my Yamah TSS-1 6 speaker system (has a receiver already built into it), or should i just use my Turtle Beach and forget the built in soundcard??? If i just use the built in sound card, i could save myself some$$$ by selling the Turtle Beach.. i need the $ anyways.

Are there noticeable differences between the built in sound card and the turtle beach?? The Yamaha has a built in receiver anyways, so... not sure what to do.. Help!

 

[RanDum72]

Let your ears be the judge. After that let your wallet be the judge. Then weigh the ears and the wallet and decide which one is more important.

 

[WayneTeK]

would let me ears be the judge, but i dont' trust'em either.. I trust you guys.. :-D

so, what should i do??? what does Turtle Beach offer that is better than the onboard sound card??? Probably something a bit better, but i have the Yamah TSS-1 with a built in receiver to decode Dolby DTS to level the playing field..

 

[CrazySaint]

Originally posted by: WayneTeK
would let me ears be the judge, but i dont' trust'em either.. I trust you guys.. :-D

Yes, but in reality your ears (and wallet) are all that matter. If we told you that the TBSC was 5 times better than the onboard sound (not saying it is, as I don't really know as I haven't used either) if you couldn't tell the difference.

so, what should i do??? what does Turtle Beach offer that is better than the onboard sound card??? Probably something a bit better, but i have the Yamah TSS-1 with a built in receiver to decode Dolby DTS to level the playing field..

The TBSC does offer some features that the onboard sound doesn't such as support for EAX, A3D (the onboard sound may support A3D, but I don't think so) and Dolby Digital. It may also provide superior performance (by using fewer CPU cycles). Since you have both, just try them both out. Play CDs, watch DVDs, play video games, do all of the things you would normally do that depend on sound quality in some way to see which one sounds better. Also run some benchmarks with both cards to see which offers better performances, and if the difference is even appreciable.

 

[Sid59]

i agree .. let your ears listen.

if you don't hear a difference, then use onboard sound and sell the turtle card.

 

[Goi]

I agree. Definitely let your ears decide. If you don't hear the difference after some critical listening and scrutinization, and if you don't miss the extra features that the TBSC might provide, then stick to the onboard sound. Here are some tips to help you decide though.
Play your favorite music on both setups, at moderate to high volumes. See if you can hear any distortion/compression. Which setup has a clearer/better sound? Which setup has deeper bass and clearer treble? Is the midrange congested? A good way to tell is to play music by a male/femal vocalist. Does his/her voice sound chesty? Does it sound natural?
Play your favorite games, with whatever mode that is available/which you intend to use. Which setup is more immersive? Which setup do you have more fun with? Which setup do you think you can win with more successfully?
What features are available with either setup? Check them out and see if they're just "cool" stuff to have, or will you ever miss it if you switched to the other setup.

My guess is that if you aren't a critical listener, either one will do, especially if you're using the digital output to your Yammy speaker setup, but let your ears have a go at them first. If you can't tell the difference, it will boil down to price, features and available PCI slots.