Opinion? Realtek ACL 892 / X-FI XtremeGamer

[mikeo01]

Hey all,

Just wondering who prefers what. My new board comes with a Realtek ACL 892 and I also have a X-FI XtremeGamer sitting in the system too.

Now, I can't decide. The onboard comes with an additional software layer, Sound Blaster Cinema for all the software stuff.

ACL892 with SB Cinema
Flat without the enhancements, but excels in gaming (sound positioning, background noise). But is extremely varied with sounds (e.g. loud singing in music but quiet instrumentals. Loud foreground and environmental sounds, quiet explosions in games)

SB XtremeGamer
Flat without enhancements, but more consistent with the sounds (e.g. both singing and instruments are similar levels. Same in games)


My speakers are decent and in my old system the difference was day and night. Could it be onboard has come a long way? Or something else? Both have advantages and disadvantages.

But I assumed a discrete sound card would still sound better, but I'm torn between them now.

Opinions

[Haggard]

Indeed the onboard have evolved but a discrete sound card, from my experience, always sounds a little better.