What's a good sound card for <$150? Are they even still worth it?

[Avalon]

Got a gaming rig running Windows 7 64bit, and was looking for a good sound card for my 5.1 setup. Although, I must admit I've been curious if standalone sound cards are even worth it nowadays? I'll be upgrading to Ivy Bridge soon, coming from an old Core2 platform, so I don't know how much onboard has improved since then, but I know that my current onboard is not adequate in fidelity.

Any thoughts/advice would be appreciated, thanks!

 

[fralexandr]

the ASUS Xonar is much better at music than creative's X-fi (which isn't saying THAT much, but if you game then the Xonar is also great for that)
M-Audio makes some nice audiophile sound cards as well
the HT Claro is okay, but it lacks >15KHz, this may not matter though depending on age and other factors, as many adult humans supposedly can't hear well past 14KHz

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearing_range
in the wikipedia chart hearing appears to start declining (although still clearly audible) at the ~10KHz range
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/275350-28-auzentech-prelude-asus-xonar-essence-omega-claro

depending on what your speakers are, at > $100 though it might just be better to save up for some home theater speakers and a DAC + amp, or receiver

 

[Avalon]

I keep hearing some good things about the Asus Xonar DX for gaming...I see it can be had for $60 AR at some places...might consider that and save the rest of the money towards an SSD.

 

[fralexandr]

sounds like a good idea to me, hooray for SSDs, they're great

 

[Blain]

looking for a good sound card for my 5.1 setup.

* What brand and model is your 5.1?
* How old is that 5.1?
* Is gaming the main function of the speakers?

 

[billyb0b]

Auzentech

 

[BrightCandle]

I had a Creative X-fi and I recently got a Xonar (D2X). They are relatively expensive items for a PC to have added, but there is a notable difference in sound quality if you have the speakers/headphones to show that off.

Where I notice the difference most compared to onboard is in virtual surround sound when gaming with headphones. The dolby headphone implementation on the Xonar is better than the CMSS mode on creative and massively better than the surround sound effect on my onboard Realtek (which is the top chip they do). It just fools my ears better, making me a better gamer. Its a lot of cost for a small increase and many people are happy with low end headphones where I am not.

 

[Avalon]

* What brand and model is your 5.1?
* How old is that 5.1?
* Is gaming the main function of the speakers?

It was an entry mid range Logitech set, don't remember the model (Ze5300 maybe?), about 5 years old. Primarily for games, but I do watch movies and listen to music. My current sound card is I think an Audigy 4 Pro, which while it was a huge improvement over onboard, it'd dying. The mic port no longer works and lately I've been getting errors in games where the sound freezes in a loop.

 

[mfenn]

Those speakers aren't worth dropping a ton of money on a sound card. You'll be hitting the fidelity limits of the speakers long before you touch what a $150 sound card is capable of. A $20 AR Xonar DG is perfect for you.

 

[Avalon]

Those speakers aren't worth dropping a ton of money on a sound card. You'll be hitting the fidelity limits of the speakers long before you touch what a $150 sound card is capable of. A $20 AR Xonar DG is perfect for you.

A $20 Xonar DG is equal to or better than my Audigy 4 Pro?
btw I've got a very nice pair of Steel Series headphones that I sometimes use, which I bet would benefit more than the speakers.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Do you use the fancy equalization or other sound-altering features of the Audigy?

If not, for unprocessed 5.1 sound I would start with the onboard audio and see if it works well for you.

 

[andg]

Does the sound card even make a difference if you use optical out to an external DAC?

 

[mnewsham]

A $20 Xonar DG is equal to or better than my Audigy 4 Pro?
btw I've got a very nice pair of Steel Series headphones that I sometimes use, which I bet would benefit more than the speakers.

If you are using real headphones, such as $150+ Sennheiser, AKG, Grado, etc. then I would say go for a better card, but honestly modern onboard sound, or a $20 add on card is really the only thing that you need.

 

[fffblackmage]

Does the sound card even make a difference if you use optical out to an external DAC?

I'm not too familiar with optical out, but my guess is that it's a digital signal. If that's the case, a sound card with do absolutely nothing, because it's the external DAC doing all the real work.

 

[andg]

I'm not too familiar with optical out, but my guess is that it's a digital signal. If that's the case, a sound card with do absolutely nothing, because it's the external DAC doing all the real work.

In that case I think the best result anyone could get would be by using an external DAC

 

[mfenn]

In that case I think the best result anyone could get would be by using an external DAC

:thumbsup::thumbsup: Bingo.

 

[mfenn]

A $20 Xonar DG is equal to or better than my Audigy 4 Pro?
btw I've got a very nice pair of Steel Series headphones that I sometimes use, which I bet would benefit more than the speakers.

Really the only thing that you care about for headphones are the opamps and any hardware HRTF implementation. The Dolby Headphone implementation in the DG is easily as good as anything that Creative has ever made and the opamps aren't bad either.

However, you should realize that Creative tunes its opamps to produce a certain acoustically inaccurate (i.e. wrong) sound. If you're used to the Creative sound, you might not like the Xonar initially because your brain has been wired to associate Creative's tweaks with "good" sound.

 

[Yuriman]

I'm extremely pleased with my Auzentech X-Fi Forte, but as others have said, you'll not likely use a $150 card anywhere near its potential.

The Auzentech uses a Creative chipset but has better DACs (and other hardware) than you find on Creative cards.

Also, while it does sound excellent, Creative cards are not known for their perfect reproduction, but for their post-processing. It sounds excellent to my ear, but purists shudder at the mention of Creative.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

I've thought for a few years now that onboard is more than enough for me. I had an audigy2 that had been going from machine to machine for a while, and I just dont see it making a difference anymore so now I just use the built in

 

[Danimal1209]

Not trying to hijack the thread but had a quick easy question.

If I am using $20 earbuds, I would see no increase in quality with a sound card, correct?

 

[mnewsham]

Not trying to hijack the thread but had a quick easy question.

If I am using $20 earbuds, I would see no increase in quality with a sound card, correct?

No, no you would not.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

Not trying to hijack the thread but had a quick easy question.

If I am using $20 earbuds, I would see no increase in quality with a sound card, correct?

Not to sound snarky or anything, but with any earbuds especially $20 ones, you could be listening through a tin can and not hear any difference