Onboard vs Dedicated Audio

[Avalon88]

For my new build, I've been thinking of buying an Asus Xonar DX audio card, as I've always bought dedicated audio cards for my PCs. However, I'm beginning to wonder whether it's better off saving the $98 and putting this towards bettering another component as motherboards like the Asus Rampage III have onboard audio that 'seems' good. Is it a smart option to do this?

I only use the audio on the PC for occasional music listening and gaming, no surround or anything.

What are your thoughts?

 

[Rifter]

What speaker system do you have? if its mid range or lower then onboard will be fine. If you however have some real speakers and seperate amp/reciever or one of the better computer audio setups then getting a better sound card is definatly worth the cash.

Also i love my Xonar STX you can pry it out of my cold dead hands. I do however have a good pair of bookshelf speakers and a seperate amp which is also of high quality. Definatly noticed the diff from onboard. With my old Altec lansing speakers though i could not tell the differance.

 

[memory]

I don't think I could live without my sound card. It sounds so much better than onboard. I am using a set of Logitech x-530 speakers and a sound card is worth it, IMO.

You could always try the onboard sound first and if you don't like it, then buy a sound card.

 

[Vette73]

I really doubt you will notice. Onboard has come a very long way and works great. I would go onboard and if you don;t like it buy a SC later.

What motherboards are you looking at? I have Gigabyte and use their onboard so that is what I am using as my current example.

 

[jacktesterson]

Go with onboard

 

[P4man]

If you however have some real speakers and seperate amp/reciever or one of the better computer audio setups then getting a better sound card is definatly worth the cash.

Only if you use analogue out. If you have a highend amp/speaker setup, why wouldnt you use digital out? Id very surprised if there was any difference at all in audio quality then.

The benefits of sound cards are overrated (and way overpriced) for most users.

 

[Rifter]

Only if you use analogue out. If you have a highend amp/speaker setup, why wouldnt you use digital out? Id very surprised if there was any difference at all in audio quality then.

The benefits of sound cards are overrated (and way overpriced) for most users.

I am using analog out. As far as i know all power amps are analog only.

You would need a reciever to get digital inputs and for a computer setup you only need a amp(unless you need more than one input or AM/FM). Having something as big as most recievers on your computer desk might be a little hard to pull off, my amp is about the size of a mATX tower with the top 50% cut off, fits ontop of one of my speakers.

And like i said with a mid to low end system you will not notice a differance, untill you start to spend over $300 on a speaker/amp setup onboard is fine.

 

[james1701]

If you are using the R3E, get the sound card. The on board sound is atrocious.

 

[P4man]

Even if he might want a soundcard, there should be no need for a $100 sound card for gaming/playing music etc.

Since Ive been bitten once too often by shoddy Creative drivers, so Id avoid any creative card when at all possible. If you dont need dolby digital, get the sonar DS instead of the DX:
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/soundcards/2010/04/08/sub-100-gaming-sound-card-reviews/2

 

[Nintendesert]

I was looking at picking up some decent quality headphones, maybe like the AD700s and figure I'll need a dedicated sound card. The DX or DS look like pretty affordable options. [FONT=&quot][/FONT]

 

[WaTaGuMp]

While I still believe a sound card is better overall. I am using the on board for mine right now. Its pretty darn good, I took back my Xonar Dx after trying the Realtek 889 my GB board has.

 

[pinktank]

for headphones, I'd rather get an external dac. No point in the bells and whistles of a card. Dac destroyer can be had under 50 on ebay and will beat any soundcard out there.

 

[Throckmorton]

USB M-Audio MobilPre
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/MobilePre.html

Edit: The MobilPre is I guess more for recording etc... The Transit is their plain soundcard http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Transit.html

 

[Schadenfroh]

Any title you play make use of EAX / OpenAL?

Not that big of a deal today.

 

[Teknic]

Definitely worth it. Makes a difference playing games too. However, where did you come up with the cost of $98?

The card is $60 after rebate, and I received it about a month out:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...Tpk=xonar%20dx

Xonar also has a new card for $30
http://www.techreport.com/articles.x/19997

 

[Nintendesert]

That DG is looking pretty decent. 19.99 at Newegg right now and it has a built in headphone amp. Looks like a much better option that using onboard sound with some headphones without spending a whole lot of money.

 

[Avalon88]

Definitely worth it. Makes a difference playing games too. However, where did you come up with the cost of $98?

The card is $60 after rebate, and I received it about a month out:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...Tpk=xonar%20dx

Xonar also has a new card for $30
http://www.techreport.com/articles.x/19997

Aussie pricing

Well, I think I'll go the route of trying the onboard audio and if it's crap, getting a sound card later on.

So that's that problem sorted, now the problem of 1156 vs 1155 vs 1366. WILL I EVER BUILD A NEW RIG?

 

[lsv]

Go with onboard

Agreed. Listen, all you audiophiles that listen to your FLAC albums on SoundBlaster USB cards on Logitech speakers and think you're getting fidelity or low latency can suck a fat one.

Unless you are an audio engineer there is zero use for a discrete sound solution.

Onboard is more than adequate, I've even produced tracks using onboard when a failure occurred on my firewire sound card of the time. I did not notice anything but a little higher than normal latency.

 

[lsv]

for headphones, I'd rather get an external dac. No point in the bells and whistles of a card. Dac destroyer can be had under 50 on ebay and will beat any soundcard out there.

Yea except your latency is going to be through the fucking roof.

Onboard has a small buffer and Directsound is great at superb low latency audio.

Don't get an audiophile Dac Destroyer. Fuck sake I hate these sound card threads with a passion.

 

[postmortemIA]

last time i tired to listen to onboard audio, it sounded too flat to me.

 

[WildW]

It depends on your application. I'll agree that there probably isn't a whole lot of difference for music, but I really notice the difference for gaming when using headphones.

If I play games using headphones with my motherboard's on-board sound, I find myself spinning around unable to find enemies, because the positional 3D audio doesn't work right. When gaming I use a USB X-Fi soundcard, and would not want to be without it. That's a "feature" though, nothing to do with "quality".

 

[jrichrds]

Wouldn't it depend on the audio chipset that's onboard as well? Mostly Realtek and some IDT. But they both make a range of audio chipsets. And how it's implemented on the board would probably matter as well. I just remember discussions in which people were comparing onboard audio between different boards and how there were noticeable differences in sound quality.

 

[wirednuts]

even the latest ALC888 or similar onboard chipset will NOT have the clarity of even a midgrade pcie solution like a xonar DX

most people wont notice because they have simple bookshelf computer speakers. you really need higher end speakers to tell, but if you do have a lot of range in your audio system then absolutely YES the soundcard makes a difference.

on my home theater system, i notice the clarity more then anything. especially the quiet sounds and vocals... its a huge difference over even good onboard sound solutions.

 

[cody_horner]

Xonar ST all the way Has replaceable Opamps, great quality caps (audio grade... which make a big difference versus what you find on your motherboard), extra timing chip/circuitry and excellent SNR.

Digital or not, the sound still needs to be processed and interpreted - the cheap onboard stuff is just that -> cheap. You get what you pay for.

 

[SirGCal]

For my new build, I've been thinking of buying an Asus Xonar DX audio card, as I've always bought dedicated audio cards for my PCs. However, I'm beginning to wonder whether it's better off saving the $98 and putting this towards bettering another component as motherboards like the Asus Rampage III have onboard audio that 'seems' good. Is it a smart option to do this?

I only use the audio on the PC for occasional music listening and gaming, no surround or anything.

What are your thoughts?

Honestly, for even gaming and movie watching, onboard audio is going to be plenty for MOST people today. Only the extremists will need/want a dedicated card. Some boards now even have advanced (X-FI) onboard audio for all the extra features.

The one catch is being on-board means it's limited to the boards noise capability levels. But asside from very quiet headphone use, you are not likely to hear that either.

As far as that goes, there aren't many aftermarket cards that even thrill me as an audiophile myself. The HT/Omega Claro + or ASUS Xonar STX would probably be the best of what's out there but... Unless you're doing professional audio stuffs, I'd spend the $ somewhere else myself. And I'm an audiophile (see my website for more there if you're bored enough). But for gaming and movie watching; onboard is fine. Even if you're making a true HTPC, it won't be using it anyhow as it'll be using the HDMI bitstream output from the video card...

But think about it... Worst case; you go just onboard and don't like it... You can throw the aftermarket card in afterward. No problem and no wasted money. Just gaming without even a surround system, I very much highly doubt you'll ever notice the difference unless you're talking about other processing items (EAX). But if you do, simple upgrade after the fact without any penalty. Just my opinion.