What sound card should I go with?

[thereaderrabbit]

I built a new PC last month and after observing how background static and hiss all but disappeared when using my new on-board sound card with some optical cabling, I was hooked. This type of a connection was only an option with high end Creative products, so I tried putting my Creative products to mid range system I was working on. Here I got all sorts of IRQ conflicts, so now both systems are using on-board sound and I have an unloved X-Fi and Audigity card in the desk drawer.

-Reader

 

[Ghouler]

I have never experienced any sorts of IRQ conflicts with my Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer.

First thing I did when I got it was disabling onboard AC97 in BIOS to avoid conflicts though.

 

[sMgz]

I have an Audigy 2 ZS, and I've never had problems with it or IRQ conflicts. I also have a nice set of headphones, Sennheiser HD 555's. I've never used the onboard(Realtek HD) until just now, because I was curious, and I can honestly say that there wasn't a very noticable difference in sound quality. There was a big difference in volume though. The Audigy can put out much more volume than the onboard. That wouldn't really come into play unless you listen to things really loud anyway. A friend of mine had an issue where his onboard would put out a noticable amount of static when he wasn't listening to anything. He has sennheiser pc150's, which aren't high end but aren't really economy headphones either.

 

[nerp]

Originally posted by: Ghouler
It is not that black and white as you would like to see it I think.
Or was it just a bad day at work?}

Yes.

I think I'm stuck in 2001 sound card world.

 

[Andvari]

Well all my parts are here. Unlike the average builder throwing together a PC in an hour or two, I'm a paranoid perfectionist, so after I'm done triple checking everything, I'll check it a few more times. If I'm lucky, I'll be done with the build tonight and I'll let you know my opinion on the onboard sound OP.

 

[Blain]

You don't need to check it. Onboard sound is more than you'll need.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: shingletingle
Huh? Can't download full drivers? I've been downloading the full drivers off their site for years.

Last Creative Labs card I used was a Live. At the time the drivers available on their site required drivers already installed on your system, so that it can "update" them.

 

[dawza]

I have been using Creative cards for years in many builds, and have never had any IRQ, driver, or PCI bandwidth issues. My experience with the drivers and the X-Fi has been mixed, as for some reason I run into issues whenever I use the drivers on the Creative website, but all is well when I use the drivers straight off the CD. However, you can choose to install the bare drivers (no bloatware) only, which gives you control over all the basic functions you should need. This is all on XP, though- no experience with Vista.

As far as quality vs. onboard, there are those who say the latest HD onboard is comparable to low to mid-end cards. All of the Realtek onboard sound I have heard to date (most recently on the Gigabyte GA-MA69GMSH2) has been quite terrible compared to the Audigy 2 ZS, much less the X-Fi. That is not to say that the Audigy or X-Fi are great, but they are, in my experience, much better than onboard.

One benefit of the X-Fi is that you have the option to run bit-perfect over coax from the flexijack. So, should the day come that you are no longer satisfied with the sound quality of the X-Fi and want something better, you have the means to pipe bit-perfect audio to an external DAC.

You would be hard-pressed to do better if you are looking for an all-around card for <$70. In the $100 range, though, there are arguably better choices.

 

[NoelS]

Originally posted by: Andvari
Well all my parts are here. Unlike the average builder throwing together a PC in an hour or two, I'm a paranoid perfectionist, so after I'm done triple checking everything, I'll check it a few more times. If I'm lucky, I'll be done with the build tonight and I'll let you know my opinion on the onboard sound OP.

Andvari,

We're all waiting with baited breath Hope you like the on-board sound...

Noel

 

[Andvari]

Playing the craptacular "Sample Music" that comes with Vista...

It sounds pretty good! Gigabyte's audio driver download for the Realtek HD Audio seems pretty good. It's not overflowing with features, but it's got most of the important options. I can post pics of the audio driver interface later.

Certainly as good if not better than my Audigy 2 on XP, although I don't have any of my music on here yet to really notice any differences. After all I've never heard this dumb sample music before.

I'll get back with you guys tonight once I get Vista set up a bit more to my liking.

 

[themisfit610]

Onboard works a lot better in Vista than most other things... Especially Creative cards.

~MiSfit

 

[Andvari]

http://www.auburn.edu/~goldema/driver.jpg

There's a pic of the onboard audio interface. Still sounding great. I haven't tested my music still though, as I've been busy with Crysis and Team Fortress 2. Both of which sound great.

 

[Roguestar]

Congrats :thumbsup:.

And now think of the $$$ you saved on not buying a sound card .

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: Andvari
http://www.auburn.edu/~goldema/driver.jpg

There's a pic of the onboard audio interface. Still sounding great. I haven't tested my music still though, as I've been busy with Crysis and Team Fortress 2. Both of which sound great.

You might want to enable bass management.

 

[Andvari]

^Good point, heh. Although I didn't notice any distortion from my Klipsch 5.1 Ultras. Maybe it has a low and hi-pass filter built into the sub? A couple years ago my satellites just stopped working (sub still worked), and I noticed there was a rattle sound coming from inside the sub when I shifted it around. I opened it up and there was DEFINATELY a lot more in there than just two woofers. Basically a whole motherboard lol. After a short inspection, I noticed a wire that was just sitting there unattached. So I stuck it the only place it would go, which by the way caused a fairly large spark. So if you ever try this, be sure to unplug the thing and LEAVE it unplugged for a while first (I think it's like a TV, in that it holds a charge in it for a while even after it is unplugged). Plugged everything back up, and voila, satellites worked again. =)

 

[LOUISSSSS]

damn this thread really made me consider droppng my audigy 2 zs for my Gigabyte ds3p onboard so I can use the front audio ports and better cable managment inside. Hd555s & maudio lx4s

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: Andvari
http://www.auburn.edu/~goldema/driver.jpg

There's a pic of the onboard audio interface. Still sounding great. I haven't tested my music still though, as I've been busy with Crysis and Team Fortress 2. Both of which sound great.

good to hear. i'd be really interested in how music & movies sound. if they still sound good on *your* sound system, i got nothing to worry about

 

[themisfit610]

Maybe it has a low and hi-pass filter built into the sub? A couple years ago my satellites just stopped working (sub still worked), and I noticed there was a rattle sound coming from inside the sub when I shifted it around. I opened it up and there was DEFINATELY a lot more in there than just two woofers. Basically a whole motherboard lol.

Yep. That's called an amplifier and signal processor lol. The sub for the ProMedias (and most multimedia speakers) contains the amps for the entire system. It has apropriate crossovers to feed speakers what freqs they need. Bass management shouldn't be necessary..

~MiSfit

 

[Andvari]

^LOL, that's right, I knew it was an amp. =)

Anyway, I wasn't at my own computer when I saw these responses. Now that I am, I turned on Bass Management just to see what happens. Now my subwoofer outputs NO bass whatsoever. So, yeah, leaving bass management off is the way to go for my speakers.

Speaker Fill is nice, though. That puts stereo audio out of all my speakers, which I prefer.

More pics of the other tabs:

http://www.auburn.edu/~goldema/driver2.jpg
http://www.auburn.edu/~goldema/driver3.jpg
http://www.auburn.edu/~goldema/driver4.jpg

 

[billiam83]

Last time I checked the Creative X-Fi cards were the only ones to support EAX in Vista. But stay away from the xtremeaudio series. I also remember a lot of problems with the Audigy cards and Vista, but new drivers may have helped that.

 

[shingletingle]

Originally posted by: themisfit610
Onboard works a lot better in Vista than most other things... Especially Creative cards.

~MiSfit

And do you say that from experience? I notice in your sig you have an Audigy 2ZS with XP.

I'm using the X-FI in Vista (64-Bit) with no problems.

 

[GTaudiophile]

Are certain motherboard sound chipsets better than others?

I think on-board sound is good enough for 99.9% of the things my dad likes to do with this machine but he also recently figured out how to input an electric guitar into the line-in jack of his computer. Which soundcard(s) excel in this type of audio input/processing? (That also plays well with Vista should he upgrade to it.)

 

[Doclife]

Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
Are certain motherboard sound chipsets better than others?

I think on-board sound is good enough for 99.9% of the things my dad likes to do with this machine but he also recently figured out how to input an electric guitar into the line-in jack of his computer. Which soundcard(s) excel in this type of audio input/processing? (That also plays well with Vista should he upgrade to it.)

I found a post that compare various sound chips that are being used on diiferent motherboards. It looks like the Realtek ALC889A sound chip came out on top.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/.../viewtopic.php?t=45945

 

[imported_Husky55]

Originally posted by: Andvari
I too would like to know why one should avoid Creative. Like them or not, they seem to have the most support for games, EAX, Windows, etc. Quality might be better in certain other cards, but the compatibility could be iffy.

I can speak as a recent owner of the Creative SB X-FI Extreme Music card. The drivers for this card were somehow NOT working in Win XP PRO. Everything installed and worked fine originally then a couple day later NO SOUND.

I have used Driver Cleaner PRO, all the latest SB XFI drivers. Windows showed everything is working. I checked device Manager Audio device. Everything is as it should be. NO SOUND.

After three days of trying, I gave up. Still do not now for sure if it was a software or hardware problem.

In VISTA, the audio module was moved from the NT kernel so hardware audio processing will have to use the new layer interface/program by Creative Tech. Vista will be more stable or at least more immune to audio crashes.

I would not buy another CT SB card.

 

[Pabster]

The fact of the matter is that on-board audio is fine for 99%.

I like the ASUS Xonar, but at nearly $200...

And like a few others have said, stay away from Creative Labs. Far, far away.