Sound Hardware

[TBSN]

Hey,
It's been a while since I've gotten a new computer. Last time I checked, it was necessary to get a sound card because the integrated audio was pretty lacking. Nowadays, it seems that the onboard sound has gotten better, so...

Would there be a noticable difference between an X-Fi Xtreme Music and the onboard sound on an Asus P5B-D, when using good headphones? Also, wouldn't a soundcard like the X-Fi do EAX processing (which most games have support for), while the onboard wouldn't? Any advice would be appreciated...

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

If you have good headphones and gaming is a priority, getting an X-Fi would be a good way to go.

The surround headphone feature of it is supposed to be very good. With headphones especially you should be able to get the benefit of the X-Fi's output compared to what onboard offers.

 

[TBSN]

Cool, thats what I was thinking. When You're connecting the case's headphone and mic I/O's (the ones in the front), is there a way to go from the sound card to those connectors? Does the case come with the necessary cables in most situations?

(sorry, kind of a random question)

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: TBSN
Cool, thats what I was thinking. When You're connecting the case's headphone and mic I/O's (the ones in the front), is there a way to go from the sound card to those connectors? Does the case come with the necessary cables in most situations?

(sorry, kind of a random question)

Creative had really made it hard on consumers wanting to do that. There's basically no easy way to do that ( even though it should be :| )

I've seen guide online where you can make your own cable splicing things together or buy one off ebay that someone made, but it's not going to be something you can do with your own stuff easily.

Creative wants you to buy their more expensive cards with the front drive bays instead of using the front panel connections.

If you just want a cheap option that makes plugging in headphones easy, you could get an extension cable and run that from the back of your computer up to your desktop. Kind of ghetto, but it would get the job done.

 

[Nocturnal]

Well my A8N32's onboard sound sucks, big time. You can hear a really noisy interference or some type of static when you turn the volume a tad bit loud. I'm going to invest in an X-FI soon.

 

[TBSN]

Creative had really made it hard on consumers wanting to do that. There's basically no easy way to do that ( even though it should be :| )
...
Creative wants you to buy their more expensive cards with the front drive bays instead of using the front panel connections.

Great, thanks creative... Well, whatever. I guess it's worth it for the better sound. Thanks for the reply

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: TBSN

Creative had really made it hard on consumers wanting to do that. There's basically no easy way to do that ( even though it should be :| )
...
Creative wants you to buy their more expensive cards with the front drive bays instead of using the front panel connections.

Great, thanks creative... Well, whatever. I guess it's worth it for the better sound. Thanks for the reply

No problem. If you want to consider the extension cable idea, something like this might be helpful for you
https://www.cablesforless.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=78

 

[Joony]

If you want to connect to the front panel headers, get the XtremeGamer, which are "intel HD Audio Compatible (2x5pin)".

It has the same specs XtremeMusic, and it's low profile!

 

[TBSN]

Doesn't that mean it just uses the CPU to do the work, then goes out to the board for I/O?

 

[benplaut]

Yup. Wallyworld also has a Belkin one for $4; i attached it to my keyboard cable and feed it from there

 

[w00t]

I've been thinking about this lately just did a quick search and brought up this thread sorry to jack the thread but I'd like to ask a question instead of making my own thread.

I've only used onboard audio never really had a sound card figured it wasn't worth it I am now thinking about it

I have HD555's
My onboard is Realtek ALC882M has 8 Channels
I don't have speakers and the onboard does support EAX.
I am having a little problem with adjusting the sound on this I notice it doesn't change much when I move the volume up and it doesn't get too loud I am thinking it's either open ear and it's actually louder than I think and or the onboard audio isn't enough.

edit: If i were to get a sound card I'd probably get the X-fi XtremeMusic I've heard this one is pretty good for the cost compared to the other x-fi`.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

I'm assuming the Realtek only does EAX 2.0 since I think Creative is the only one with rights to create anything that supports higher than that. If you're looking to do gaming, the X-Fi is the way to go.

The XtremeMusic would be a good choice as would be the XtremeGamer. The XtremeAudio does not have EAX support.

If you're just after better music reproduction, you could get away with something cheaper (or more specialized towards music reproduction) but the X-Fi is a good card overall. Recently the XtremeMusic was ~$51 AR, so I'd say wait until the next rebate deal and get one.

As for the volume issues, not really sure what to tell you since I don't know how loud you're trying to get them to play. It could be possible that your onboard is doing a crappy job driving them even though they aren't high impedence. I'd recommend double checking that you don't have any volume slider down somewhere that may be the issue.