Do you use Onboard sound or a Sound card?

[ta8689]

Originally posted by: 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.

yeah if i were to get a z-5500 setup id buy an x-fi. For now... il live with the sound. it sounds fine for what i use it for. Ill get the z5500 as a stereo replacement for christmas or something....

 

[n7]

I used onboard sound for several years.

In fact, i pretty much had everything i wanted in a rig before getting a sound card.

What a mistake that was.

I finally got an Audigy 2 ZS & oh my, what a difference!

I listen to music a lot, so when i realized what quality i'd been missing out on, i wished i hadn't waited so long.

 

[unmerited]

I use a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz. Nothing fancy, but have always liked the way it sounded and still do.


unmerited

 

[bluemax]

Still loving how crisp and clean my Turtle Beach Santa Cruz is!
Need the joystick port for MIDI too.

 

[NeptuneBk]

I prefer to buy a soundcard, onboard sound just uses resoucres from other places, eg CPU

 

[Noema]

Originally posted by: John

Originally posted by: Omizzle
X-fi FTW!

After using Xfi, theres no going back

QFT

QFTX2

Onboard audio is fairly decent. I used it for over a year in my rig before I got my X-fi. But I wanted to upgrade my audio and now, gone are the crackles and the pops!! Classical music sounds great (I listen mainly to Bach) and my aging CPU also appreciates the load of processing audio been lifted off its back.

 

[yosuke188]

I use onboard because somehow my Chaintech 5.1 sound card does not fit in my Antec P-180....

I will figure it out sometime.

 

[Jadow]

I use an Audigy 2 right now. On my next PC, if the onboard sound has some sort of digital SPDIF out, I will just use that and not move the Audigy 2 over.

 

[Shadow Conception]

Onboard stinks, I use a Sound Blaster Live! 24-bit.

 

[KayKay]

Go Chaintech AV710!

cheap-y but good-y

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: NeptuneBk
I prefer to buy a soundcard, onboard sound just uses resoucres from other places, eg CPU

sound cards use very little in terms of cpu cycles, the small performance difference is not reason enough to justify a soundcard, it needs to be quality of sound, which also means you can't have $50 speakers. you are not going to gain 20+% fps like creative would like for you to believe

personally i use onboard sound because i only use it to game with a headset on, if i watch a movie or listen to music it will be on a multi-thousand $$$ ht system

 

[acegazda]

I have an audigy 2 zs for my office pc and the sound quality is great, makes me wonder how great xfi is...

 

[Crassus]

Audigy 2 for my 4.1 system. Haven't tried onboard sound on my new board (DFI LAN Party), but why should I when I can use my trusty A2?

 

[JBT]

I've got Onboard currently, but the next thing I upgrade is going to be a Sound card.

 

[klee]

X-Fi XtremeMusic

 

[Kyanzes]

Originally posted by: Omizzle
X-fi FTW!

After using Xfi, theres no going back

The closest thing to acceptable onboard sound is the SoundBlaster 24 on my MSI Diamond. (Don't use it though. I just love my X-Fi) Some say the SoundStorm (was it called soundstorm?) was also awesome. Aside from these, I can't recall anything usable. Well, there was a motherboard once that had some kind of onboard sound with VACUUM TUBE AMPLIFIER on it. That had to be good. Never owned one though. It was like five or six years ago I think. There must be people here who remember it.

 

[Smartazz]

I use X-Fi, huge diffrence from integrated sound.

 

[Skott]

Seperate sound cards. Always. Usually the best Creative board availble at time of build/purchase.

 

[NanoStuff]

Well, there was a motherboard once that had some kind of onboard sound with VACUUM TUBE AMPLIFIER on it. That had to be good. Never owned one though. It was like five or six years ago I think. There must be people here who remember it.

Hard to forget but it wasn't an amplifier, it was a pre-amp, and as far as I remember I think it was a solid state hybrid.

As far as it being good, it was no better than a vacuum tube device can get.

 

[Baked]

Chaintech A-710. Using the optical out to mini DAC to portal headphone amp.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

Creative Audigy 2 ZS Platinum. got for 276+ship about a year ago and dont feel that upgrading to XFi would give me any notable increase in anything

 

[OvErHeAtInG]

Does anyone here still use a Philips Acoustic Edge?

And onboard ALC850 for me. I would throw in the old Philips, but it doesn't support 10-pin input for my front panel....

 

[Mavrick007]

I'm using my X-Mystique 7.1 DDLive card.. it sounds awesome for music, movies and games too. It's one of the cards by Auzentech that someone mentioned earlier

 

[Raduque]

Originally posted by: Kyanzes

Originally posted by: Omizzle
X-fi FTW!

After using Xfi, theres no going back

The closest thing to acceptable onboard sound is the SoundBlaster 24 on my MSI Diamond. (Don't use it though. I just love my X-Fi) Some say the SoundStorm (was it called soundstorm?) was also awesome. Aside from these, I can't recall anything usable. Well, there was a motherboard once that had some kind of onboard sound with VACUUM TUBE AMPLIFIER on it. That had to be good. Never owned one though. It was like five or six years ago I think. There must be people here who remember it.

I remember that one, I think Asus made it. It wasn't to long ago, it was a 754 board, IIRC.

I use onboard sound on my main rig, mainly because speclab can't hook into my USB SBLive. Which sucks, because my onboard realtek is very noisy. =( I'm waiting for the DD/DTS cards (X-Plosion, X-Raider) to drop in price, or for somebody to put an Intel HD chip on a card, then my main box gets my HTPCs AV710 for the Wolfson Dacs and Burrbrown op-amps.

 

[smopoim86]

I will get x-fi when i get speakers good enough to tell the difference. for now i'm just using the realtech integrated stuff