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Sound Card..onboard vs PCI/expansion

Tweak155

Tweak155

Lifer
I'm not big on using my computer to watch DvD's, I use 360 for that...but I do plan on playing music.

I do play games and have a 5.1 amp I plan on hooking my computer to in December.

Right now I have onboard sound...is there any real reason to get an expanded sound card?

What do you think?
 
Originally posted by: Bobthelost
What motherboard do you have? 939 and some AM2 are pretty poor. Recent HD stuff is good enough.
Click to expand...

I bought an Epox 939 board...can't think of the model off hand but I figured most onboard sound was similar.

EDIT: 9N3PAULTRA NF4
 
Originally posted by: Tweak155
Originally posted by: Bobthelost
What motherboard do you have? 939 and some AM2 are pretty poor. Recent HD stuff is good enough.
Click to expand...

I bought an Epox 939 board...can't think of the model off hand but I figured most onboard sound was similar.
Click to expand...

what connections does your amp have?
 
Originally posted by: PurdueRy
Originally posted by: Tweak155
Originally posted by: Bobthelost
What motherboard do you have? 939 and some AM2 are pretty poor. Recent HD stuff is good enough.
Click to expand...

I bought an Epox 939 board...can't think of the model off hand but I figured most onboard sound was similar.
Click to expand...

what connections does your amp have?
Click to expand...


Front, Rear, Sub

Edit: Left and right of front and rear, although I do have a center speaker...maybe it is front, rear, center? I would have to look...I only hooked up 5.1 once.
 
Originally posted by: Tweak155
Originally posted by: PurdueRy
Originally posted by: Tweak155
Originally posted by: Bobthelost
What motherboard do you have? 939 and some AM2 are pretty poor. Recent HD stuff is good enough.
Click to expand...

I bought an Epox 939 board...can't think of the model off hand but I figured most onboard sound was similar.
Click to expand...

what connections does your amp have?
Click to expand...


Front, Rear, Sub

Edit: Left and right of front and rear, although I do have a center speaker...maybe it is front, rear, center? I would have to look...I only hooked up 5.1 once.
Click to expand...

Can you take a picture please?
 
Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Is it an amp or a receiver?
Click to expand...


Receiver. Duh, i'm retarded...i'm in the middle of a class right now wondering if I should get a sound card hahaha.

It is at home, I can look when I get there.
 
Originally posted by: Tweak155
Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Is it an amp or a receiver?
Click to expand...


Receiver. Duh, i'm retarded...i'm in the middle of a class right now wondering if I should get a sound card hahaha.

It is at home, I can look when I get there.
Click to expand...

Oh, I've spent some class days thinking about audio purchases 😛

I think where PurdueRy is going with his questioning is if your receiver has a 5.1 analog input or not. If it does, you can hook up pretty much any soundcard (including integrated) and get a decent sound experience (or true surround at least).

If you don't have a 5.1 input, then your options for getting true surround are more limited as you'd need to get a card that can encode 5.1 into a DD / DTS stream (this is assuming your receiver has digital inputs as well).

In the grand scheme of things, the quality of your speakers are going to play a role in this too. Depending on how good they are, getting an expensive soundcard may not get you a whole lot of reward.

So pay attention to your teacher and get back to us with more info later 😛
 
Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Originally posted by: Tweak155
Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Is it an amp or a receiver?
Click to expand...


Receiver. Duh, i'm retarded...i'm in the middle of a class right now wondering if I should get a sound card hahaha.

It is at home, I can look when I get there.
Click to expand...

Oh, I've spent some class days thinking about audio purchases 😛

I think where PurdueRy is going with his questioning is if your receiver has a 5.1 analog input or not. If it does, you can hook up pretty much any soundcard (including integrated) and get a decent sound experience (or true surround at least).

If you don't have a 5.1 input, then your options for getting true surround are more limited as you'd need to get a card that can encode 5.1 into a DD / DTS stream (this is assuming your receiver has digital inputs as well).

In the grand scheme of things, the quality of your speakers are going to play a role in this too. Depending on how good they are, getting an expensive soundcard may not get you a whole lot of reward.

So pay attention to your teacher and get back to us with more info later 😛
Click to expand...

Man, from your intuition on this you would think we have been through threads like this before....


😛
 
I have onboard HD audio on my Asus A8R32-MVP deluxe and I'm getting an Audigy 2 ZS even though I only have 2.1. After talking to others who have the same speakers as I do and similar onboard audio who said the difference was very much there I decided to cough up the money (got a good deal too from an ebay store, gotta love ebay sometimes 😀)
 
Originally posted by: PurdueRy
Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Originally posted by: Tweak155
Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Is it an amp or a receiver?
Click to expand...


Receiver. Duh, i'm retarded...i'm in the middle of a class right now wondering if I should get a sound card hahaha.

It is at home, I can look when I get there.
Click to expand...

Oh, I've spent some class days thinking about audio purchases 😛

I think where PurdueRy is going with his questioning is if your receiver has a 5.1 analog input or not. If it does, you can hook up pretty much any soundcard (including integrated) and get a decent sound experience (or true surround at least).

If you don't have a 5.1 input, then your options for getting true surround are more limited as you'd need to get a card that can encode 5.1 into a DD / DTS stream (this is assuming your receiver has digital inputs as well).

In the grand scheme of things, the quality of your speakers are going to play a role in this too. Depending on how good they are, getting an expensive soundcard may not get you a whole lot of reward.

So pay attention to your teacher and get back to us with more info later 😛
Click to expand...

Man, from your intuition on this you would think we have been through threads like this before....


😛
Click to expand...

I think I would have remembered if we had. 😛
 
Another reason onboard sound is weaker than a stand alone card:

Asus has just added a sound "riser card" to its intel 590 based board. Why? --to reduce electronic interference from other components.
 
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