Sound quality on recommended mATX boards

[ngolian]

I'm trying to choose a new motherboard and I was pointed towards this forum and the list of recommended boards.

For now I'll be using it in my main PC with a PCI-E graphics card, but at my next upgrade in a year or two I'd like to use it in my HTPC, so I'd like to use an mATX board. Both run Linux. So I'm most interested in the Foxconn G9657MA-8EKRS2H and also considering the Asus P5L-MX.

As I have two DVB cards it's pretty important to have decent onboard sound because there will be no free PCI slots for a separate sound card, unless I can get a PCI-E 1x sound card. What's the sound quality like on the above boards? I'm told there isn't much to choose between them, only that the Realtek chip on the Foxconn has better driver support.

The onboard sound on my current HTPC motherboard, something i810-based from Compaq, isn't much good. The quality is acceptable, but the output level is too low when plugged into a TV. On extra quiet DVDs it can be too quiet even with the TV volume up full. ILuckily the board has 3 PCI slots so I can use an additional sound card. I've heard worse quality on a very cheap board; there was a lot of noise. Even a £5 C-Media card has sounded fine to me in comparison, so I'm not after anything very special, just adequate.

 

[renethx]

GIGABYTE GA-G33M-DS2R uses ALC889A that supports Blu-ray/HD DVD full rate audio like ALC885. The SNR is

ALC889A: 106dB (the same level as AUDIOTRACK Prodigy 7.1)
ALC883: 95dB
AD1986A: 90dB

 

[ngolian]

That Gigabyte's a nice board, but it's expensive and again there's a potential problem with Linux drivers for that sound chip. I would wait but I need the board ASAP (unless the fault in my old system turns out to be the PSU rather than the CPU or motherboard - it's a speaking Asus BIOS and it says the CPU has failed).

Actually I think I'll go with the Asus. I don't think the Foxconn offers me that much advantage for the price difference, I trust the Asus brand more than Foxconn and I like Asus' Q-Fan.

Thanks for the SNR figures, they give me a point of reference. I'm currently using a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz that I got from eBay because I heard they were very good in their day; that has SNRs from 90-96dB AFAICT so the ADI audio should be adequate for me.

 

[Skott]

Intel DG33BU - mATX


I havent read the review. It might be something you are interested in though.


http://www.bcchardware.com/ind...view&id=4179&Itemid=40

 

[ngolian]

Thanks, but I went ahead and ordered the Asus P5L-MX. I'm a bit shy of the latest chipsets because of Linux drivers. Looks like everything on that except the graphics would work, but it would be a bit of a gamble that thhat would be supported by the time I want to use it without a PCI-E card. OTOH I expect I could get a low-end full graphics card for about the same price as an Intel DVI card. I didn't think of that.