SB Live! or nForce2 on-board audio? What's better?

[dequinix]

I was thinking of getting an nForce2 motherboard, but don't want to buy a new sound card. I have one of the original SB Live!'s as of now, and it does the job fine. But I was wondering which one is better: the nForce2 audio or my SB Live!?

 

[beatle]

If it's a board with Soundstorm it will blow the Live away. It's comparable to the sound from an Audigy 2.

 

[dequinix]

I was looking at

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?DEPA=&sumit=Go&description=13%2D130%2D419&searchdepa=0

Which lists the audio as "Realtek ALC650 6-Channel Codec"

 

[ViRGE]

I've seen a similar thread floating around hear earlier this week, so do a search on that, and you'll find some good answers. I think the outcome was that the Live still had a better SnR ratio, along with more umph to drive headphones.

PS dequinix, that board is not Soundstorm certified. It effectively still uses the same audio compoents as a SS board, but it doesn't have the quality/feature requirements SS brings

 

[WobbleWobble]

The specs only say MCP and it is not the same MCP-T chip that drives SoundStorm.

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: WobbleWobble
The specs only say MCP and it is not the same MCP-T chip that drives SoundStorm.

MCP-T is simply the DICE enabled MCP though; since Nvidia pays Dolby for every DICE, it was nessisary to split the chips up between those who had DICE, and those that didn't.

 

[WobbleWobble]

So if you're using the analog outputs, the sound processing and output between the MCP and the MCP-T are the same?

 

[EstoyLoco]

I dont really like that MSI boards... if you want to take use of all the features you will end up using up alot of PCI slots...

the model you want with SoundStorm is: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-130-418&depa=0

I recommend, the
Abit NF7-S (very mature and awesome board)
Abit AN7 (if you don't mind a young board with alot of potential - btw they fixed the trace cut)
both of these will run ~$102

or go with Asus A7N8X Deluxe, this will run you $116

just look at it this way... if you buy an NF2 with SS, you pay around 100-120...
if you go with the SB Live option, you still end up paying extra for the seperate soundcard...

just keep in mind SoundStorm requires an external receiver, but these guys will support 4.1, 5.1 channel analog outputs as well if you dont have an external receiver

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: WobbleWobble
So if you're using the analog outputs, the sound processing and output between the MCP and the MCP-T are the same?

In theory, yes. The MCPs are sending what is the same digitial signal to the codec on the board, but the codec itself can vary based on the board. Most companies use the same Realtek codec(on both SS and non-SS boards), but there are some boards out there that use cheaper and crappier codecs.

 

[Budman]

I have one of the original SB Live!'s as of now, and it does the job fine.

I say keep the live then.

 

[Mem]

I was thinking of getting an nForce2 motherboard, but don't want to buy a new sound card. I have one of the original SB Live!'s as of now, and it does the job fine. But I was wondering which one is better: the nForce2 audio or my SB Live!?

This really depends on your ears only,I know a guy that actually prefers his SB Live sound card to his MCP-T nForce motherboard(Epox),he even went and purchased a decent Hi-Fi AV rig to go with his nforce audio(in digital mode) but ended up going back to his SB Live.

If I was you I would try the nForce sound first and see how it sounds,if you`re not happy with it you can always install the SB Live soundcard.

 

[Adul]

nf2 by a mile

 

[suklee]

Originally posted by: Adul
nf2 by a mile

 

[Budman]

Originally posted by: Kai920

Originally posted by: Adul
nf2 by a mile

really? did you borrow dequinix's ears? like Mem said it all depends on the user.