Which on-board audio is better?

[Zebo]

Realtek ALC650 6CH or C-Media CMI9739A 6CH or 6-Channel AC97

 

[Zebo]

ttt

 

[Andyman53]

They're really not that different, all onboard audio doesn't come close to audigy cards. If you're looking at motherboards, there are so many more important features to consider....

 

[dexvx]

Originally posted by: Andyman53
They're really not that different, all onboard audio doesn't come close to audigy cards. If you're looking at motherboards, there are so many more important features to consider....

The original Audigy?

The nvidia SoundStorm and the Analog Devices SoundMax Digital can beat it handily in quality.

 

[InlineFive]

Originally posted by: dexvx

Originally posted by: Andyman53
They're really not that different, all onboard audio doesn't come close to audigy cards. If you're looking at motherboards, there are so many more important features to consider....

The original Audigy?

The nvidia SoundStorm and the Analog Devices SoundMax Digital can beat it handily in quality.

SoundStorm = :beer:

On a more serious note it performs better then my old Hercules Fortissimo III and it is easily the best integrated solution, not just because it has hardware processing.

-Por

 

[Nebor]

Everyone praises soundstorm, but if you're using the analog connections, it's no better than any other onboard solution.

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: dexvx

Originally posted by: Andyman53
They're really not that different, all onboard audio doesn't come close to audigy cards. If you're looking at motherboards, there are so many more important features to consider....

The original Audigy?

The nvidia SoundStorm and the Analog Devices SoundMax Digital can beat it handily in quality.

Where are you finding boards with "soundstorm" here are the choices of Nforce2 ultra 400 boards.

Here

 

[Zelmo3]

As I understand it, Soundstorm is the software that accompanies nVidia's APU, which is present on their MCP-T south bridge (but not on the ordinary MCP). None of the boards in the above link use that south bridge.
As for its sound quality, I just finished playing a bit of Battlefield 1942 after installing a new motherboard with nVidia's APU, and the first thing I noticed was how much more alive the sound is compared to the Audigy LS I was using before. It's like everything suddenly got a lot more real. Of course, that was the first time I'd played after installing the 1.6 patch for Battlefield, so it might just be that the game patch included better sounds, but I doubt it.

 

[Kingofcomputer]

Both are just the codec chip, not the sound engine.
You've to compare the sound engine (embedded in the motherboard chipset).