Motherboards with good onboard sound

[rob4001]

What motherboards have good onboard sounds chips? I believe some of the Z97 have the realtek ALC1150. Dedicated soundcards are not as popular as they once were and not an option for mITX builders so which onboard sound chips are good for gaming?

[pastymuncher]

My Asus Maximus Hero VI (Z87) has supposedly good onboard sound in the form of a ROG SupremeFX 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC but like many other people on the ROG forum I have had problems in getting the rear speakers to work. I eventually gave up and went back to my Creative Soundblaster Z soundcard. No way I am ever going back to onboard again. I can see where you are coming from with regards to M-itx boards though. In those boards I guess you want the best sound chip available and hope that no problems arise.

Boards with ALC 1150 chipset

MSI Z97I Gaming AC
Gigabyte Z97N-Gaming 5
ASRock Z97E-ITX/AC



Board with ROG SupremeFX Impact II 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC

Asus Maximus VII Impact

It's not a exhaustive list and not neccessarily the cheapest places to buy from. It's just to give a idea of what's available.

[shaithis]

All modern motherboards I owned or installed in the last few years have had solid sound on them. Unless you have some specific requirement, I wouldn't be too worried.

[MrJim]

...and not an option for mITX builders so which onboard sound chips are good for gaming?

There are plenty of high quality USB audio adapters on the market...

[krazy_olie]

My Asus Maximus Hero VI (Z87) has supposedly good onboard sound in the form of a ROG SupremeFX 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC but like many other people on the ROG forum I have had problems in getting the rear speakers to work. I eventually gave up and went back to my Creative Soundblaster Z soundcard. No way I am ever going back to onboard again. I can see where you are coming from with regards to M-itx boards though. In those boards I guess you want the best sound chip available and hope that no problems arise.

Boards with ALC 1150 chipset

MSI Z97I Gaming AC
Gigabyte Z97N-Gaming 5
ASRock Z97E-ITX/AC



Board with ROG SupremeFX Impact II 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC

Asus Maximus VII Impact

It's not a exhaustive list and not neccessarily the cheapest places to buy from. It's just to give a idea of what's available.

I've been impressed enough with the sound from the Impact VII that I'm not going to bother replacing my fiio e17 amp/dac that died. I can't do an AB but I think it might even sound better than the fiio.

The standard motherboards should be respectable these day, though.

Lots of good USB stuff which is easy to chop and change, though potentially more clutter. Depends on whether you need decent headphone amplification or just a line out. Generally the USB ones don't have extra features like virtual surround but it looks like Creative are starting to add that functionality back in. e.g. http://uk.creative.com/p/sound-blaster/sound-blaster-e5

[Bambooz]

Mentioning which platform you want would be helpful

Skinflint has a soundchip filter.. might be useful to you..?
http://skinflint.co.uk/?cat=mbp4_115...=4400_6~4400_7

Other sockets:
http://skinflint.co.uk/?o=9

Just use the checkbox on the left to make it show up in the item list (or just click on the specific sound chip models, sockets or whatever to only show these specific ones)

[Mama Sumae]

The following Asus Z97 motherboards use ALC 1150:

Z97-DELUXE (NFC & WLC)
Z97-DELUXE
Z97-PRO (Wi-Fi ac)
Z97-PRO
SABERTOOTH Z97 MARK 1
SABERTOOTH Z97 MARK 2
Z97-WS


Comparison table for all Asus z97 models: http://www.asus.com/us/site/motherbo...97/comparison/

[Murph02]

---

All modern motherboards I owned or installed in the last few years have had solid sound on them. Unless you have some specific requirement, I wouldn't be too worried.

I dont think i have seen anything other than the z8/97 in mini itx boards with the 1150. I cant recall h97 boards with it.