Poll: CMedia CMI-8738 6ch onboard audio for free vs. seperate sound card for $x

[glenn1]

Trying to get a feel for the concensus opinion here on this popular onboard sound choice. Those who have boards with this sound chipset onboard, are you using the onboard sound or have a seperate soundcard?

For those who use the seperate soundcard, how much better do you think the Audigy/Santa Cruz/etc. than the onboard sound? (on a scale of 1-10, with your Audigy being a 10, where would the CMedia fall, around a 6? 7?)

 

[OS]

I want to know also. And make mention of what number an SB live value is rated at.

 

[Budman]

Cmedia rocks, as good or better than a seperate sound card

 

[Vette73]

I have had several boards with the C-Media chip and they all sounded great.

Just get the newwest drivers from windowsupdate.micorsoft.com

 

[Atif]

I haven't had the opportunity to compare the CMI8738-MX with a Sound Blaster Live! in the same sitting, so I can't comment on that, however, I would recommend that you take a look at this CODEC comparison as it'll show you (somewhat objectively, as the numbers are weighted) where the output of the CMI8738 stands against competing CODECS. Please do note that the motherboard you use will affect the output quality directly as each motherboard will have a different implementation of any given CODEC.

Peace

 

[Peter]

Exactly ... and particularly with mixed-signal single chip solutions that connect BOTH the sensitive analog audio signals AND a noisy high speed digital bus (PCI), the audio experience stands and falls with how much care has been taken in board or card engineering.

The quality difference in various onboard/PCI-card implementations of CMI8738 is massive, to say the least. Some of the onboard incarnations are unbearable.

That's the big benefit in separating the sound engine and codec (as seen on high end cards just as well as on "free" chipset integrated sound). Separate codecs connect through a rather slow AC97 bus, and you can easily put them in a faraway, well insulated, quiet corner.

 

[Kingofcomputer]

Anybody has tested onboard CMI-8738 vs separate pci card CMI-8738?

 

[Peter]

You'd still have to ask precisely what board and what card ... and if card, then also plugged into what board. That's because the quality of the power supplied to the PCI slot also adds to audio signal quality (or lack thereof).

 

[Kingofcomputer]

Just need a simple sample comparison, doesn't matter which motherboard and which 8738 card.

 

[pukemon]

The onboard C-Media 8738 on the Iwill KK266 imho was actually pretty good. (subjective i suppose) I didn't notice any difference in quality in sound vs the Hercule Maxi Sound Muse XL i used on another board. Then again I was only used a 2.1 configuration with Altec ACS33's. Another thing is I was running Red Hat 7.3 (at the time) on the machines. Painless configuration, I usually recommend the C-Media's for use in Linux (regardless of distro, i didn't have any problems getting it to work under Debian r2.2 Potato either) because it works very well there.

 

[Zap]

The real answer comes from the ears of whoever uses the setup. For me, I use the integrated sound in my Abit VH6T (2 channel AC'97) with a JBL receiver and some KLH speakers, and it sounds fine to my ears. There may or may not be any subtle differences between that and, say, an Audigy, but I wouldn't be able to hear it over my relatively quiet (but still noticeable) computer. It would have to sound REALLY messed up for me to notice. That has actually happened, with the same setup! My initial install, I couldn't find my driver CD so I downloaded some off the net and the sound was all crackly and crappy. Reinstalled Windows and let Windows Update handle things and it works beautifully now.

 

[optimistic]

Results only, please.