Do you use Onboard sound or a Sound card?

[cvrefugee]

Why should I spend $150 for a sound card when I have $50 speakers?

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: Megatomic

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: Megatomic
Sound card here. A2 ZS Platinum. I miss Soundstorm and Realtek is no good IMHO. And on top of that I needed the I/O on the Live Drive. The A2 ZS Platinum was a no brainer for me.

Theres a lot of options out there if you wanted something like soundstorm...

Aside from Creative, who makes a sound card that doesn't drag down system performance in 3D gaming situations?

You do realize that the performance increase going from a non-Creative card to Creative is about 2-3%?

 

[Megatomic]

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: Megatomic

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: Megatomic
Sound card here. A2 ZS Platinum. I miss Soundstorm and Realtek is no good IMHO. And on top of that I needed the I/O on the Live Drive. The A2 ZS Platinum was a no brainer for me.

Theres a lot of options out there if you wanted something like soundstorm...

Aside from Creative, who makes a sound card that doesn't drag down system performance in 3D gaming situations?

You do realize that the performance increase going from a non-Creative card to Creative is about 2-3%?

Yeah, so? Any increase is good. I'm a tweaker just like most of the rest of the membership here. Plus I got the I/O on the front that I needed.

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: Megatomic

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: Megatomic

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: Megatomic
Sound card here. A2 ZS Platinum. I miss Soundstorm and Realtek is no good IMHO. And on top of that I needed the I/O on the Live Drive. The A2 ZS Platinum was a no brainer for me.

Theres a lot of options out there if you wanted something like soundstorm...

Aside from Creative, who makes a sound card that doesn't drag down system performance in 3D gaming situations?

You do realize that the performance increase going from a non-Creative card to Creative is about 2-3%?

Yeah, so? Any increase is good. I'm a tweaker just like most of the rest of the membership here. Plus I got the I/O on the front that I needed.

Silly Creative lemmings.

 

[Megatomic]

Let me add, I was a Creative hater until I got this card. Before, I was all Turtle Beach. Montego. Montego II Quadzilla. Santa Cruz.

Then I got Soundstorm, which died a quick death.

I tried the Chaintech AV710 and didn't like it.

I tried onboard sound. As I said, Realtek was no good for me.

What was left for me as a gamer?

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: Megatomic
Let me add, I was a Creative hater until I got this card. Before, I was all Turtle Beach. Montego. Montego II Quadzilla. Santa Cruz.

Then I got Soundstorm, which died a quick death.

I tried the Chaintech AV710 and didn't like it.

I tried onboard sound. As I said, Realtek was no good for me.

What was left for me as a gamer?

Auzentech or intel HD-audio

 

[Megatomic]

Originally posted by: PurdueRy
Auzentech or intel HD-audio

Never heard of Auzentech. And I'm an AMD guy, how am I going to get ahold of Intel HD Audio to use on my X2 system?

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: Megatomic

Originally posted by: PurdueRy
Auzentech or intel HD-audio

Never heard of Auzentech. And I'm an AMD guy, how am I going to get ahold of Intel HD Audio to use on my X2 system?

just because you haven't heard of it doesn't mean its not there

 

[ddviper]

Audigy2 ZS FTW.........5.1 Speakers FTW

-Got sound?

 

[Megatomic]

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: Megatomic

Originally posted by: PurdueRy
Auzentech or intel HD-audio

Never heard of Auzentech. And I'm an AMD guy, how am I going to get ahold of Intel HD Audio to use on my X2 system?

just because you haven't heard of it doesn't mean its not there

True, but it's hard to buy a product you've never heard of.

 

[BFG10K]

X-Fi - better performance, better sound quality.

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: Megatomic

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: Megatomic

Originally posted by: PurdueRy
Auzentech or intel HD-audio

Never heard of Auzentech. And I'm an AMD guy, how am I going to get ahold of Intel HD Audio to use on my X2 system?

just because you haven't heard of it doesn't mean its not there

True, but it's hard to buy a product you've never heard of.

well now you've heard of it. So next time you can look into it

 

[humanure]

another vote for x-fi. bought the card mainly because my onboard was not working, no sound from the right speaker. the card is a big improvement imo.

 

[Megatomic]

Originally posted by: PurdueRy
well now you've heard of it. So next time you can look into it

I can't argue with that. :thumbsup:

 

[CKXP]

Originally posted by: thescreensavers
I love my onboard Creative sound Blaster Live 24-bit

 

[50]

Audigy 2. I haven't gotten a chance to listen to X-fi firsthand and am not sure it's worth the cost.

 

[Powermoloch]

Both for two comps

 

[earthling30]

1 vote for onboard

 

[ts3433]

I use a Chaintech AV710 since my onboard sound emits constant obnoxious noise even when nothing is playing.

 

[Aries64]

Originally posted by: RichUK
I currently use on board sound and i think it sounds just fine. Why do i use onboard sound. Because i think it sounds fine, and doesn?t cost me any more money.

So what do you use and why?

I?m really curious how many people do indeed use onboard sound, as I get the impression a lot of people detest onboard sound.

Personally, I've never used onboard sound because when I built my first PC some 15+ years ago onboard sound suuuuuuckkkkked bigtime. Because of that I always tended to use some sort of dedicated add-in card from Media Vision (remember them?), Turtle Beach, or Creative.

Fortunately, as time and technology have progressed onboard sound solutions have become much better, and each time I upgrade my system board I at least try the onboard sound to see what it sounds like (why buy a soundcard if the onboard chipset sounds good, right)? But you know what? So far I haven't heard an onboard audio chipset that sounds nearly as good as an add-in card.

While you feel that your onboard audio "sounds just fine", depending on what you use your audio for (games, music, movies, sound clips on MSN) I believe that if you were to try an add-in card you might actually prefer the add-in card over your onboard solution. I know that my Audigy2 ZS sounded much better to me than the Realtek ALC850 7.1 onboard my K8N Neo2 PE. When I upgraded my system to my current rig (see sig below) I compared the onboard Realtek ALC882 7.1 on my A8R32-MVP against the Audigy2 ZS. To me the Audigy2 ZS sounded "warmer", and the positional effects of the Audigy2 ZS still sounded better so moved the Audigy2 ZS over.

I've since switched-over to an X-Fi XtremeMusic and I am never going back to the Audigy2 ZS. Why? The X-Fi has even better positional audio than the Audigy2 ZS does, which is key in first person shooters. When using headphones the ability to hear sounds above, below, and to the side as well as in front of you is uncanny.

I don't detest onboard sound, but until they improve to the point where I can't trll the difference between add-in and onboard sound I'll keep using add-ins.

 

[Powermoloch]

Originally posted by: ts3433
I use a Chaintech AV710 since my onboard sound emits constant obnoxious noise even when nothing is playing.

I love that card :3

 

[InlineFour]

A2ZS - no onboard sound built into the motherboard.

 

[imported_killuminati]

got the Intel Azalia 5.1 Channel onboard .
works fine for me , coz

1 ) good Soundcard are around $100 .
2 ) normally using 2.1 Channel Speakers .
3 ) the Azalia is better then the $50 catagory soundcards .

Peace & ciao !!!

 

[ta8689]

I have a logitech x-530 setup... would i even notice a difference with say an x-fi sound card? (using onboard right now)

 

[cvrefugee]

Originally posted by: ta8689
I have a logitech x-530 setup... would i even notice a difference with say an x-fi sound card? (using onboard right now)

I would think the cost of the speakers should exceed that of the sound card. For example, I would probably go with a sound card if I was using my computer as a HTPC.