The mysteries of the soundcard

[Bloodstein]

For the last couple of years, I've pondered on the need for a separate sound card. Especially in recent times, onboard sound is almost standard. I've used some of the state of the art sound cards before. I've also used the onboard sound on my ancient pII. I absolutely DO NOT see a difference in sound quality. Improvement in sound quality, i find, is more significant when changing the speakers than when changing soundcards. The only reason I see for having a soundcard is for inputting sound and doing your own recording....which the normal user doesn't do. Could someone explain how do companies like Creative Labs ever turn a single dollar of profit on their sound cards?

 

[Jeff7]

Same reason nVidia pours millions into research for things like their NV30 - gaming. New soundcards, in addition to improved sound definition, also do calculations concerning environmental effects and more realistic sound.

 

[Woodchuck2000]

I absolutely DO NOT see a difference in sound quality.

That's because you should be hearing it rather than seeing it

Seriously, there's a massive difference between my Audigy and my (now disabled) AC'97. Aside from the better surround features and EAX effects, dedicated sound cards do just sound better for a lot of people. It's similar to the way that not everyone can see flicker at 60Hz on their screen.

 

[clicknext]

I notice a very obvious difference between my onboard sound and my Game Theater XP.

 

[Peter]

Seriously, there's a massive difference between my Audigy and my (now disabled) AC'97.

Funny that the Audigy uses AC97 too ... once and for all, AC97 is just the name of the bus that connects the sound engine (where the work gets done) with the codecs (that just do the digital/analog conversion for a number of in and out channels).

Quality of the analog signals is in the card (or mainboard) design mostly. Effects capability of the solution is up to the sound engine hardware and its drivers. System load is a question of how much does the engine, what is loaded onto the CPU, and on what bus you are. PCI is the slowest bus in a modern system, chipset sound engines are on the faster chipset internal bus.

On the bottom line, there is no generic answers. There are just as many bad PCI sound cards as there are excellent onboard solutions. And vice versa.

regards, Peter

 

[Bloodstein]

Hmn, so what everyone is saying is that I should be getting myself a soundcard....

*thinks*
I haven't tried the Audigy....which version r u talking about platinum?

 

[Woodchuck2000]

Funny that the Audigy uses AC97 too ... once and for all, AC97 is just the name of the bus that connects the sound engine (where the work gets done) with the codecs (that just do the digital/analog conversion for a number of in and out channels).

I know, I'm too lazy to type "My (now disabled) AC97 compatible integrated soundcard"

I'm currently using an Audigy Platinum, although my Original SBLive! also sounded far better than my integrated solution. The Audigy Value has similar sound quality to the Platinum, I believe, although it's lacking the various extra connectors.

 

[BDawg]

Originally posted by: Bloodstein
Hmn, so what everyone is saying is that I should be getting myself a soundcard....

Depends. I think the onboard SoundMax audio on my P4PE is very good. At least as good as my old soundblaster live.

 

[Goi]

There's not much difference, probably also because of the fact that most computer speakers are the weakest link in the audio chain. Hook up your soundcard to a good pair of headphones and you'll probably be able to tell more of a difference between onboard sound and say a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz.

 

[Mem]

I absolutely DO NOT see a difference in sound quality. Improvement in sound quality, i find, is more significant when changing the speakers than when changing soundcards.

I agree with Peter that there`s many good and bad PCI sound cards just like onboard sound as well,sound quality does vary etc,in the end many factors come into play like quality of your speakers and the most important thing is YOUR HEARING,if you find there`s no difference even after trying it with good speakers etc then that`s fine,you`re the one that has to live with it and only you can tell if your ears hear any difference.


One last thing ,onboard sound has improved over the years and is getting better all the time but as already stated quality does vary just like PCI sound cards,just remember it`s what you`re happy with that`s the most important thing.

 

[Bloodstein]

Originally posted by: BDawg

Originally posted by: Bloodstein
Hmn, so what everyone is saying is that I should be getting myself a soundcard....

Depends. I think the onboard SoundMax audio on my P4PE is very good. At least as good as my old soundblaster live.

Hmn....I'm interested. Can anyone do a lil' comparison between the onboard sound on the P4PE and say Audigy. I'm not really gonna use my PC for watching movies and stuff....jus for occasional gaming and music listening....

Also, if I were to get the P4PE motherboard, would I be able to turn off the onboard sound in the future if I decide to get an Audigy.

Thanks.

 

[Goi]

Hmn....I'm interested. Can anyone do a lil' comparison between the onboard sound on the P4PE and say Audigy. I'm not really gonna use my PC for watching movies and stuff....jus for occasional gaming and music listening....

If that's the case then the onboard sound on the P4PE should be sufficient. Onboard sound has come a long way, and IIRC from the reviews the onboard soundchipon the P4PE is pretty decent, providing 6 channels of decent quality sound.

Also, if I were to get the P4PE motherboard, would I be able to turn off the onboard sound in the future if I decide to get an Audigy.

While I'm not 100% sure of this, most if not all recent motherboards that feature onboard sound also provide the option for you to disable it in the BIOS.

 

[Woodchuck2000]

The thing about doing a comparison between onboard and PCI is that it's largely subjective.
There are various sites that have analysed the SNR and Frequency Response curves of various cards but I can't think of any right now...

Try and do a side-by-side comparison. If you can't tell the difference, go for the cheaper option.

 

[NEVERwinter]

that's it mr.bloodstein.. if you do games.. maybe you'll need something that supports Environmental Effect AKA 3d-sound....

because I can notice the difference between my old Vortex2 card with my Santa Cruz, or 16-bit to 24-bit sound quality.... and yes.. I can't notice the flicker on 60Hz monitor LOL