Think your Realtek ALC1150 is "audiophile" quality? Essence STX II blows it away

[jkauff]

I used to have a wonderful sound card, the M-Audio Audiophile 192. I had to sell it, though, when I bought a new rig with no PCI slots.

I didn't buy another sound card, because Asus was touting the Realtek ALC1150 with their enhancements as being very high quality.

Since then, though, something's been missing in my music playback. The sound is good, but somehow "not all there".

Just bought and installed an Asus Xonar Essence STX II card, and the difference is amazing. I'm back "inside" my music again.

Highly recommended for music lovers.

 

[nerp]

Cool. Onboard sound has made leaps and bounds over the years but yes, a real soundcard is usually going to deliver better results. The decline of the sound card market is a bit discouraging but understandable since onboard is no longer automatic garbage. Most audiophiles and musicians or folks using computers to drive high end equipment have ended up using USB based DACs and other devices. Good to know the Xonar cards are still kickin'.

 

[UsandThem]

The thing is what sounds great to one person, might sound average, or even bad to another person. Discrete sound is good no doubt. However, ALC 1150 if implemented correctly with chipset isolation and amplifier, will most likely satisfy 90%+ of users out there. ALC 1150 is simply a CODEC that is affected by what chipset it is being paired with.

://www.realtek.com.tw/products/productsView.aspx?Langid=1&PFid=28&Level=5&Conn=4&ProdID=328

A couple of years ago I decided to buy a pair of Beyerdynamic headphones that users on Head-Fi raved about, and when I go them and tried them out, it ended up being one of my most disappointing purchases I ever made. Nothing was wrong with them, I just absolutely hated their sound signature.

'Audiophiles' is just another word for enthusiast, and much like 4k gamers wanting to play everything with max settings, it is a very expensive hobby and they will always be chasing the dragon. There are audiophiles who claim they blindly notice the difference between $700 and $1000+ headphones. I am not one of those people who can do that.

A sound card is like any other component like a video card or CPU, if you feel like you want it or need it, go for it.

http://www.head-fi.org/t/685163/a-researched-question-about-realtek-1150-vs-sound-card

 

[JeffMD]

Meh, I cut the sound card out long ago, digital connection to yamaha receiver. ^^

Also is the Essence STX II using a dsp even? I see lots of small chips but nothing for any advanced processing task.

edit: Ahh they use CMedia Oxygen rebrands.

 

[jkauff]

The thing is what sounds great to one person, might sound average, or even bad to another person. Discrete sound is good no doubt. However, ALC 1150 if implemented correctly with chipset isolation and amplifier, will most likely satisfy 90%+ of users out there.

I agree, and Asus did a very good job with their implementation on the Z97-Pro. I lived with it for a year and was generally pleased.

I'm sure the Realtek will more than satisfy casual music listeners and gamers. However, I don't game. My PC is dedicated to media, and so audio quality is incredibly important to me. Frankly, I wasn't expecting the Essence to make as big a difference as it has.

I guess the fact that you have to plug it into your PSU should have given me a clue.

 

[UsandThem]

Agreed. I don't game much anymore, but when I'm working on my PC and I throw on Pink Floyd's 'Wish You Were Here' album, I'm quite pleased with my Gigabyte motherboard's ALC 1150.

 

[Puffnstuff]

I'm still rocking my old asus xonar d2x which is approaching 8 years old and is the best sound card I've ever used and the sound quality is amazing. If I had to replace it I'd be inclined to get a new essence stx to maintain that great sound.

 

[guachi]

I was thinking of getting a motherboard with a Realtek 1150 chip.

Assuming it is adequate audio, what would be the best way to connect them to a pair of HD600 headphones?

The speakers I have, inexpensive Logitechs, include a little control box with power/volume/headphone jack and I do like having a jack and volume control on my desktop.

Should I get a headphone amplifier? Or, uh, something else? I don't really have an idea.

 

[giantpandaman2]

I was thinking of getting a motherboard with a Realtek 1150 chip.

Assuming it is adequate audio, what would be the best way to connect them to a pair of HD600 headphones?

The speakers I have, inexpensive Logitechs, include a little control box with power/volume/headphone jack and I do like having a jack and volume control on my desktop.

Should I get a headphone amplifier? Or, uh, something else? I don't really have an idea.

Take a listen first, then decide. I wouldn't recommend using the control box...it usually makes the sound quality worse. Connect directly to the motherboard.

If the sound isn't up to snuff, then get a USB headphone amp.

 

[truckerCLOCK]

The thing is what sounds great to one person, might sound average, or even bad to another person. Discrete sound is good no doubt. However, ALC 1150 if implemented correctly with chipset isolation and amplifier, will most likely satisfy 90%+ of users out there. ALC 1150 is simply a CODEC that is affected by what chipset it is being paired with.

://www.realtek.com.tw/products/productsView.aspx?Langid=1&PFid=28&Level=5&Conn=4&ProdID=328

A couple of years ago I decided to buy a pair of Beyerdynamic headphones that users on Head-Fi raved about, and when I go them and tried them out, it ended up being one of my most disappointing purchases I ever made. Nothing was wrong with them, I just absolutely hated their sound signature.

'Audiophiles' is just another word for enthusiast, and much like 4k gamers wanting to play everything with max settings, it is a very expensive hobby and they will always be chasing the dragon. There are audiophiles who claim they blindly notice the difference between $700 and $1000+ headphones. I am not one of those people who can do that.

A sound card is like any other component like a video card or CPU, if you feel like you want it or need it, go for it.

http://www.head-fi.org/t/685163/a-researched-question-about-realtek-1150-vs-sound-card

So true I bet in a blind A/B test most people couldn't tell the difference between on board audio vs sound card. Majority of it is all mental. If you spend a lot of $$$ on something it has to be better..right? :sneaky:

Also true "Audiophiles" would scoff at the fact that your listening to music thru a PC.

 

[jkauff]

So true I bet in a blind A/B test most people couldn't tell the difference between on board audio vs sound card. Majority of it is all mental. If you spend a lot of $$$ on something it has to be better..right? :sneaky:

Also true "Audiophiles" would scoff at the fact that your listening to music thru a PC.

Most people can't tell the difference. Even more people don't even care. But it's not mostly mental if your ears can hear the difference, and the difference gives you pleasure. I'm no audiophile, I just go by what I hear (and some hardware specs). I happen to have been born with good ears for music reproduction.

The 1150 was "good enough" for me for a year, but my knew old PCI sound card was better. When I finally got enough spare change saved up, the first upgrade I did was buying the Essence. I could have used a better video card, too, but music is the most important thing I do on my PC.

And yes, anyone who calls themselves an audiophile would never compare PC audio to the sound they get on their primary home system. On the other hand, many use the computer as a lossless and/or hi-res digital music source that they'll feed into their main system via optical output. As good as a top-of-the-line CD player? No, but you don't have to find a place to put thousands of CDs in your listening room, either.

 

[giantpandaman2]

So true I bet in a blind A/B test most people couldn't tell the difference between on board audio vs sound card. Majority of it is all mental. If you spend a lot of $$$ on something it has to be better..right? :sneaky:

Also true "Audiophiles" would scoff at the fact that your listening to music thru a PC.

I'm sure the 1150 is a fine codec, but just because a motherboard has it, doesn't mean that it will sound good. There's more that goes into good audio than a codec. Different manufacturers and different motherboards will have different implementations that may or may not sound good.

It also depends on the headphones or speakers being driven.

That's not to say that everyone should go out and buy an external amp or sound card. Just that you shouldn't be so quick to say its only mental when someone can hear the difference.

 

[rchunter]

dacs and streamers have come a long way. Some can sound almost as good as analog. And yes a lot of audiophiles have computers in their listening rooms these days. Although most of those are highly tweaked... fanless, linear power supply, etc..

 

[UsandThem]

That's not to say that everyone should go out and buy an external amp or sound card. Just that you shouldn't be so quick to say its only mental when someone can hear the difference.

+ Yup.

Listen to music, game, or whatever you do on a PC. If the onboard audio sounds good to the person using it, no problem. If they don't like it or if it doesn't suit their needs, they can buy a sound card, different speakers, DAC, or new headphones that work for them.

Audio quality is such a personal and subjective thing. A $30 sound card might work for person A, but person B needs a $250 one.

 

[guachi]

Take a listen first, then decide. I wouldn't recommend using the control box...it usually makes the sound quality worse. Connect directly to the motherboard.

If the sound isn't up to snuff, then get a USB headphone amp.

I'm sure the control box does make it worse. Though the HD600s were so far beyond the headphones they replaced my first reaction when I used them was "these are amazing".

It's like your first taste of bacon being mediocre bacon. It's still so tasty you can't imagine it actually tasting better.

Thank you for your suggestion.

So if I like the sound quality from my sound card, I don't need a DAC.
Oddly, until now I've never tested my headphones plugged directly into the sound card. It's entirely too quiet.

I think I might get an amp simply for convenience. My headphones get plugged into three different devices frequently. And I think having a convenient plug on my desk would keep my wife from hating me. And that's worth $$$ all by itself.

[EDIT] My only actual experience with headphone amps are the Behringer HA-400 http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/373745-REG/Behringer_HA400_HA_400_Headphone.html
We use them to listen to voice comms and having four ports in a tiny package is really useful. We don't have them for high fidelity audio transmission.

 

[biostud]

It's fine for casual listening, but when I really want to enjoy music I switch to my DAC/amp.