P4P800 onboard sound vs. SB Live! value

[Kaama]

I currently have a SB Live! value, will this be far better than what's on board the ASUS mobo?

I understand that the on board sound is software based, so this will take up lots more cpu power then the SB Live! value, right ?


K

 

[OverVolt]

Go with the SB Live!

 

[Tavoc]

Just try it both ways, the sound card will likely take more CPU usage though.

 

[Budman]

Originally posted by: Kaama
I understand that the on board sound is software based, so this will take up lots more cpu power then the SB Live! value, right ?

K

Right,use the live for lower cpu utilisation.

 

[ronnn]

Soundmax states that the onboard sound actually increases speed over a sound card.
http://www.soundmax.com/products/documentation/SoundMAX4PH_Final.pdf

 

[Kaama]

well now, that is interesting, the data sheet says:

Preliminary testing shows that as CPU speed increases, SoundMAX 4 outperforms traditional hardware based PCI sound cards, which are plagued by data traffic congestion on the PCI bus. In other words, game frame rates (by which PC systems are measured) will work better with a software based SoundMAX 4 than with a hardware based PCI sound card, regardless of the display resolution.

I wonder at what sort of CPU speed it starts to make a difference, does anyone else have any info to back this up ?

 

[ronnn]

Also the specs looked not that bad, so when my board arrives I will try the onboard sound before i break down and buy an audigy.

 

[Sunner]

Originally posted by: Kaama
well now, that is interesting, the data sheet says:

Preliminary testing shows that as CPU speed increases, SoundMAX 4 outperforms traditional hardware based PCI sound cards, which are plagued by data traffic congestion on the PCI bus. In other words, game frame rates (by which PC systems are measured) will work better with a software based SoundMAX 4 than with a hardware based PCI sound card, regardless of the display resolution.

I wonder at what sort of CPU speed it starts to make a difference, does anyone else have any info to back this up ?

But then, all the "real" cards out there do things like EAX, Sensaura, etc.
Builtin sound is fine for mom&dad type usage, but for anyone who enjoys listening to music, or gaming, a real soundcard is the way to go.
nVidia SoundStorm excluded.

 

[Kaama]

the soundmax supports:

SoundMAX SPX (Sound Production eXtensions)
Sensaura 3D Positional Audio (3DPA)
EAX, A3D and DirectSound 3D support

edit ------

Also just found this:

Since much of the SoundMAX Digital Audio Solution's functionality is implemented in software, what is the typical CPU load?
Typical CPU load is less than 3% on a Pentium III 800MHz processor; with faster CPUs, this becomes a non-issue. Since the PCI sound card taxes system resources, often that load will show up in the reduction of graphic frame-rates in games. Recent benchmark data demonstrates that SoundMAX allows games to exceed the frame-rates achieved with dedicated hardware-based sound cards on Pentium 4 systems of 1.8GHz and above.

 

[Rand]

Originally posted by: Kaama
well now, that is interesting, the data sheet says:

Preliminary testing shows that as CPU speed increases, SoundMAX 4 outperforms traditional hardware based PCI sound cards, which are plagued by data traffic congestion on the PCI bus. In other words, game frame rates (by which PC systems are measured) will work better with a software based SoundMAX 4 than with a hardware based PCI sound card, regardless of the display resolution.

I wonder at what sort of CPU speed it starts to make a difference, does anyone else have any info to back this up ?

Third party benchmarks have shown the CPU utilization with the integrated SoundMax is still higher then an older SB Live even with a P4 3.0/800 though.

 

[Kaama]

Do you have specific details, link ?

I have seen some third party benchmarks on a P4 2.53 that indeed show cpu usage to be higher than SB live! but by 1.3 - 1.8% tops. This does not seem like much to me and is likely to be a very unnoticeable hit.

Im not about to buy an Audigy card just to widen that gap by 1-2% and if the soundmax audio quality is on a par with my SB Live! value then I'm not sure I will really gain a lot buy plugging it back in.

I know a lot of people do not like on board solutions, and understanably as past efforts have been rather poor, but from the 3rd party reviews I have been reading this chip seems like a fair jump forward.

K

review links

 

[Sunner]

These are the reasons for my dislike of integrated audio solutions:
Crappy sound quality, due to poor DAC's, filters, etc. integrated is supposed to be cheap, so the components will likely be of less than stellar quality.
EAX/A3D/Seansaura/Whatever often doesn't work the way it should, I've seen it marked as "Supported", when in reality it doesn't work all that great.
Drivers tend to be lacking, basically they just allow you to lower/increase the volume, nothing more.

If the SoundMAX solves these(and those reviews seem favorable indeed), then by all means, it sounds like a good solution

 

[Quackmaster]

I have the p4p800 deluxe and a Creative SB Live 5.1. The onboard sound is acceptable or "aaaiiiighht", but stinks compared the the Live. But then again maybe I can only tell because my computer is hooked up to a 200 watt 12inch Klipsch subwoofer enclosure

 

[Kaama]

Well I've ordered my P4P800, just have to wait 'til it arrives and and i'll do a little 'compare and contrast' : )

 

[Slammy1]

Hmmm... I have my system hooked up to 600W+ speakers, and in general I'm happier with the Soundmax. I ran 3dMark both w/ and w/o my 5.1 mp3+ Gamer and found that my scores jumped from 5200 with the SB to 6000 w/o it. The reason I took it out in the first place was it would crash 3dMark03 during the sound check, and I also found removing it solved a few other issues like Asus probe problems. The S/P DIF works much better on Soundmax for DD5.1 transfer to my receiver, but given the software and my riser card running a Toslink to my receiver music was definitely superior on the SB. I'm selling it to a friend along with my MB, so I'll live until I ultimately upgrade to a Terratec or something similar (my next upgrade).

 

[Quackmaster]

Originally posted by: Slammy1
Hmmm... I have my system hooked up to 600W+ speakers, and in general I'm happier with the Soundmax. I ran 3dMark both w/ and w/o my 5.1 mp3+ Gamer and found that my scores jumped from 5200 with the SB to 6000 w/o it. The reason I took it out in the first place was it would crash 3dMark03 during the sound check, and I also found removing it solved a few other issues like Asus probe problems. The S/P DIF works much better on Soundmax for DD5.1 transfer to my receiver, but given the software and my riser card running a Toslink to my receiver music was definitely superior on the SB. I'm selling it to a friend along with my MB, so I'll live until I ultimately upgrade to a Terratec or something similar (my next upgrade).

So in your case did you prefer the Onboard due to hardware problems? Or did you generally prefer the sound quality over the SBLive? And also, what's your speaker setup/receiver etc. I love hearing about other peeps audio rigs for their 'puters. Don't worry, I'm not tryin' to pull an audiophile snob routine, just trying to find out about yo' gear.

I tried hooking my p4p800 up to my buddy's logitech 680s, and still prefered the SBLive over the onboard, but a lot of that is due to the "hollow" sound of the relatively small drivers producing a small wavelength will little midbass (although the woofer is admirable). Computer speaker systems have come a long way, but are still sub-par compared to even a decent home setup, eh?

 

[Kaama]

That is interesting to know. I will be hooking it up to an Arcam amp/Mission speakers or Sennheiser headphones so sound quality will be pretty important to me. Board has been dispatched and is on its way to me, oooh


Edit - Slammy, I take it you have all that SCSI stuff going through a SCSI card plugged into your PCI bus ?

 

[Roots]

I just built a new system, and I already knew that I wanted a SB Live! over on-board sound (motherboard is a SiS 655 Max). I've been using the SB Live! for over 3 years now and it hasn't given me a single problem. I don't need to spend a crazy amount to get some Audigy 2 sound card or whatever, but I do play games and listen to music (a lot). I think the SB Live! is the perfect sound card for a non-audiophile gamer like myself. Just my opinion.

I don't trust on-board sound worth a damn. Like Sunner said, on-board sound is made cheap to reduce costs, and it shows. I would gladly pay a 1.5% CPU price for quality sound.

 

[Slammy1]

I'd still be running the 5.1 if I didn't have the hardware conflict. I have an Adaptec 2940UW Pro SCSI card. I did have the I/O 2 card and used the 1/8" miniplug to RCA converters for my connection to the external decoder inputs of my Yamaha 5.1 receiver (ran a Toslink for music). Now I use the S/P DIF for music and movies (movies are better, music is worse) and the converters for gaming (SBLive 5.1 is better due to poor bass response on the on-board). Eventually I will upgrade, but I've put some cash in my system and I find the on-board sound decent (if not superior).

 

[cjsketchy]

I used the onboard sound on my p4p800 for a few days, but I broke down and bought an audigy 2 and it absolutely blows the onboard out of the water. Using my MDR-V6 headphones. The onboard sound will do if you aren't using some decent speakers or cans, but if you have the soundcard already, I'd say use it.

 

[Dug]

If you are listening to music- get an M-Audio Revolution
Games- Audigy2
SPDIF out- Onboard works just as well as any other.

 

[Kaama]

ah well, looks like sound quality is gonna be the deal breaker for me, I wont write off the onboard sound yet tho, i'll at least give it a try.

All this talk is makin me wanna get an Audigy 2 tho :/