Anybody still use add in sound cards

[renz20003]

The last one I used was a SB Audigy 2.

On board sound does the job for me.

 

[bruceb]

Me old Dell Dimension 8200 still has one. But any newer computer or when it gets replaced, will likely have 5.1 surround already on the motherboard. Would just need to hook up the speakers and microphone.

 

[MrSquished]

Some soundcards clearly beat onboard audio. You get what you pay for sometimes. Sound quality is a worthwhile thing.

I have a SoundBlaster soundcard that runs to my speakers - just cause I have it so I keep sticking it in my builds. But I really don't use the speakers partly cause they are mediocre (Creative Gigaworks) and I am apartment living so can't blast them much. I liked my Klipsch 2.1's but I had 2 sets break on me and again, apartment living means a powerful subwoofer is bad. When I move I'll go Klipsch again AND buy a high end soundcard like an Asus Xonar.

But I have a second desktop DAC and additional Headphone AMP that I run my high end headphones through. The headphones do 99% of the sound reproduction for me vs the speakers.

The DAC is a Schiit Audio Bifrost Multibit http://schiit.com/products/bifrost
The AMP is a Burson Soloist SL Mk 2 https://www.bursonaudio.com/products/soloist-sl-mk2/

The sound that comes out of my headphones is spectacular. I highly recommend getting into hi-fi headphone audio to everyone.

 

[Imp]

I use a Creative Labs X-Fi external... Tried my mobo's onboard and thought it sucked. Used my PCI X-fi Xtrememusic for the longest time, then got rid of it because it gave my video card virtually no room to breathe. When I got the external, PCI-E internal cards were still somewhat rare and/or needed a power connector.

 

[pimpin-tl]

Yep, better sound quality in games and music. I use a sound blaster zxr.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[sonoma1993]

I have a sound blaster z in my main computer. My other computer I have my amd r7 260x hooked up to my Onkyo receiver by hdmi cable.

 

[WaTaGuMp]

I do.

 

[Chaotic42]

I do because my motherboard doesn't have optical out.

 

[Fritzo]

I do. I'm a bit of an audiophile though. The built in cards usually have sucky amplification and tend to be a bit noisy.

Soundblaster Z is the best for the money (super cheap now too!)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102048&Tpk=N82E16829102048

 

[Ns1]

Onboard audio > *

 

[Yakk]

I do as the on-board audio jack does not supply the 600 ohm needed for my headset.

 

[futurefields]

I have a Focusrite firewire interface I use for my musician duties, I could also use it as a regular soundcard like for games and such but honestly I don't hear much of a difference. Think onboard audio is fine because high quality DAC's are dirt cheap.

 

[eldorado99]

Yep, Asus Xonar STX II with built in headphone amp. Pretty amazing card, pricey though.

 

[daveybrat]

I do as the on-board audio jack does not supply the 600 ohm needed for my headset.

Same, i also need the headphone amp boost that my Asus Xonar DGX provides to me. The sound quality is also significantly better than my crappy Realtek ALC892 onboard audio.

 

[FeuerFrei]

Nyet. I use a Gigabyte AMP-UP motherboard that isolates teh audio chips to a region of the board. Came with upgradeable op-amp, gold-plated USB (for DAC), gold plated audio outs, and switches to boost headphone gain (2.5x or 6x).

I believe these features have been integrated into a few Gigabyte models now. Probably pick one of those for my next m/b.

 

[Rubycon]

Thunderbolt has definitely opened up a plethora of interface options!
Finally replaced our firewire MOTU devices with Apogee Ensembles.
Onboard audio is full of noise, distortion and other bad things and most products with the name "Creative" in them are not much better particularly when dealing with drivers and i/o. The USB sound blaster is actually pretty decent though. But it lacks proper balanced outputs.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Same, i also need the headphone amp boost that my Asus Xonar DGX provides to me. The sound quality is also significantly better than my crappy Realtek ALC892 onboard audio.

Same here.

 

[RockinZ28]

Have a X-Fi Titanium Fatality card that I've had for ages in my pc. It's disabled these days though, as I have a Denon receiver for when using the TV, and use Logitech wireless headphones that just use a usb stick on the monitor.

 

[Sonikku]

I used one from a former system when I got my motherboard installed and assembled only to find the integrated audio was a dud and I didn't care to take it all apart and be without a computer for a month for RMA shenanigans.

 

[DeathReborn]

I still use a X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion PCIe card, it has much better sound quality and the I/O Console is quite useful too. I have tried onboard and it just isn't as good, the low frequency range is generaly lacking.

 

[Sonikku]

I didn't think there was that much of a gap in quality between integrated audio and add in cards in this day an age. The only thing I figured people needed an add in card for was the GPU.

 

[MrSquished]

Yep, Asus Xonar STX II with built in headphone amp. Pretty amazing card, pricey though.

that's the card I'm looking to get when I move. Sounds like you love it. What kind of headphones do you use with it and what kind of speakers?

 

[MrSquished]

I didn't think there was that much of a gap in quality between integrated audio and add in cards in this day an age. The only thing I figured people needed an add in card for was the GPU.

Higher end audio is definitely a thing. If you are running some cheap crap speakers and headphones, you probably may as well stick with onboard audio. Get anything decent in the speaker/headphone category and you are going to want a higher quality output cause they will be able to out-resolve the capabilities of your source.

Upgrading to a nice DAC and headphone amp like I mentioned earlier changed my auditory experience dramatically for the better. My only regret is not learning about it earlier than 40 years into my existence on the planet.

 

[KeithTalent]

I still have an old X-Fi in my rig; can't think of any reason to get rid of it.

KT

 

[Sonikku]

By decent I imagine you're talking some $500 headphones. I can't possibly afford to live so lavishly, I wish I did. Spending $100 on Sony Golds was the most I've ever spent for headphones which likely casts be a PC peasant in the order of things.