Your rigs sound choice? - (onboard OR plug-in)

[gsparesa]

 

[MDE]

Onboard is fine as long as there aren't any pops, hisses, or static. That said, I got a deal on an Audigy2 ZS so that's what I use.

 

[mwmorph]

whats up with all these soundcard threads? but anyway, if you have decent speakers, get a plug in card.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

I use onboard sound, which has no problems for me.

 

[stevty2889]

Well for my main rig, I am using a soundcard, but onboard is good enough for the rest of them.

 

[Gurck]

my main rig has two sound cards

 

[JustAnAverageGuy]

I use my SoundStorm on my primary gaming rig. A plain Audigy 2 in my HTPC.

Everything else is integrated sound.

 

[compusaguy]

Most people say onboard is fine.

THEY'RE WRONG AND STUPID.

Get a soundcard, as onboard does not have the kind of processing ability or features of a soundcard. A good soundcard can make ordinary sound, sound great.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

AV-710 digital out to some real DACs in my HK AVR-325

 

[SrGuapo]

Originally posted by: compusaguy
Most people say onboard is fine.

THEY'RE WRONG AND STUPID.

Get a soundcard, as onboard does not have the kind of processing ability or features of a soundcard. A good soundcard can make ordinary sound, sound great.

I think you've lost all credibility with your other stupid and uninformed posts...
Edit: examples
here, here, here, and here
I just did a search of his recent posts, all on the first page...


Anyways, onboard is more than enough for any 2.1 systems (and crappy 5.1) as long as you don't need all the extra connectors and ports. If you have a high end 5.1 system, you want to be able to get the max out of it and you want as seperate sound card.

I use onboard sound (albeit with sh!tty old 2.0 speakers) and it works fine for me. no hissing, poppin, or anything. I don't do any sound work (just games), so no extra connectors are necessary.

 

[Nohr]

Nvidia Soundstorm, it's plenty good enough.

 

[fell8]

Honestly, onboard is fine for the average user. If you're an audiophile or something, spring for a good sound card like M-Audio, Audiorack or most anything with VIA's Envy chipset. I would recommend against the Sound Blaster unless you want it's superior sound processing for 3D gaming, the massive amount of bloat it comes with isn't worth having for any other reason.

 

[Megatomic]

I'm using the onboard Realtek chip on my motherboard but I have plans to acquire a sweet M-Audio card later this year. I may be wasting my money though, I have lost some hearing due to amplidyne generators and the onboard sound is pretty good IMHO. And with a powerful CPU in my system I'm not worried about losing a few CPU cycles to get 3D sound in my games.

 

[Chaotic42]

I use both. My Santa Cruz for sound, the onboard for microphone. The TBSC has some weird microphone problem that they don't seem to care about fixing.

 

[imverygifted]

cant go wrong w/ plug-in but every once in awhile a chipset has good sound ie soundstorm

 

[SynthDude2001]

Onboard (Soundstorm)

 

[AristoV300]

Audigy 2ZS. I prefer the better sound quality and saving the CPU cycles. If you are are using 2.1 speakers onboard will do fine.

 

[stevty2889]

Originally posted by: compusaguy
Most people say onboard is fine.

THEY'RE WRONG AND STUPID.

Get a soundcard, as onboard does not have the kind of processing ability or features of a soundcard. A good soundcard can make ordinary sound, sound great.

You haven't been banned yet? Please take your trolling elsewhere.

 

[CraigRT]

Onboard right now, my Chaintech AV-710 crapped out so I went back to onboard til it's back from RMA..

onboard is honestly fine, I wish I could hear the 2 side by side, but I can't tell much difference in 2 channel mode if at all.... I'm probably gonna run some tests when I get it back, because I want to know!

 

[imported_2x]

I only use a card to save the CPU for more important tasks like blowing things up in my games. Otherwise, the sound difference is alomst the same unless you have bat ears IMO.

 

[Ausm]

Originally posted by: 2x
I only use a card to save the CPU for more important tasks like blowing things up in my games. Otherwise, the sound difference is alomst the same unless you have bat ears IMO.

That would be a concern on a lowend machine.

I use onboard sound on my AMD 64 3400+ and it doesn't even flinch.


Ausm

 

[Baked]

Chaintech AV-710 & E-MU 0404. Planning on getting the Onkyo SE-150PCI. I use digital out to DAC to amp. Bookshelf speakers and headphones.

 

[piasabird]

If you are going to buy a good set of speakers then a sound card may be a good investment. Depends what you expect from your computer and what you want to use your computer for. If you like good music a good soundcard may be a good investment.

The question is, when will they quit making PCI sound cards.

 

[imported_Mitchell]

Plantronics DSP 500.