Are sound cards going?

[Ubudan]

My last build was the first where I haven't had a sound card. Reason being mine was not compatible with Windows eight last time I checked. As it turns out I am happy with the on board sound that comes with my mobo. Are sound cards still worth the investment?

[Agent]

Going? They went a while back for most people

[kalniel]

As it turns out I am happy with the on board sound that comes with my mobo.

If you're happy without, then no.

Personally, I prefer the step up compared to what I've got onboard, but maybe one day that won't be the case.

[Taniniver]

Worth the investment for what purpose?

I used to have an X-Fi in my PC but had to remove it (insufficient space due to large 3rd party GPU cooler). When playing some games, notably Guild Wars 2, I actually got less sounds played when there was a lot going on at once - it's like the on-board sound couldn't cope with as many different sound effects happening at the same time as the X-Fi did. Some things that I would previously have heard simply gave no sound at all. There was a difference in the quality of the sound too, though I'm not enough of an audiophile to be able to accurately judge that to be honest.

I've since bought one of these:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/creat...sound-card-usb

Which has restored the full sound experience to my gaming.

So, if it's worth the investment or not depends on what you will be using the PC for I guess.

[pastymuncher]

I had a X-Fi Xtreme Gamer which got replaced by a Soundblaster Z. That was a cracking card. I have got rid of that now though because the onboard sound on my Maximus VI Hero is very good. I would say if i miss anything it would be the crystaliser on the Creative cards.

[Stuen4y]

I think they've gone considering the quality of the codec chip in a dedicated sound card is not that different to a the chip in an integrated solution. With all the other extras - quality caps, amps, etc., I think the days of mid range dedicated sound cards are over as they will perform similarly if not even worse than the onboard solutions from the past two generations of socket 1150 motherboards.

[EggenMcBerg]

I have an Asus Xonar DG in my current build but I'm not going to transfer it to my new rig next week. I'm following a less is more ethos where the new rig's concerned and from what I've been reading about the onboard on my new mobo I don't think I'll need the added card. Less power being drawn too, although admittedly that's not the main concern.

[shaithis]

I have a box full of soundcards. Creative Labs, Asus Xonars and some no-name ones.

All pulled from systems I've upgraded with newer motherboards.

As far as I am concerned, the soundcard is dead......there will be the occasional person who may hear a difference but most ears and the majority of PC headsets are not going to differentiate any difference between on-board and a £100 sound card.

[EggenMcBerg]

As far as I am concerned, the soundcard is dead......there will be the occasional person who may hear a difference but most ears and the majority of PC headsets are not going to differentiate any difference between on-board and a £100 sound card.

I don't even have the PC connected up to an amp and speakers just now - it's all headphones this end - so you're bang-on the money there. If truth be told I can't hear that much difference (if any) between the sound the Xonar puts out and the onboard sound I used to use (Asus P5K-C). Another blooming white elephant to add to the herd I've accumulated over the years

[dacads]

Depends what speakers you're using as well, with a £30 pair of Logitech speakers I doubt you're going to hear much or any difference at all Personally I've always gone with high end motherboards so the audio chips have been good enough to put off buying a sound card.

[mikeo01]

I had an XtremeGamer and to be frank the audio quality was very different. More clear, less "tinny" and also more audio depth. That was vs the Realtek ACL892.

However, that vs the ACL892 with "Sound Blaster Cinema" on top and I found it to be superb. It is pretty impressive what a simple software layer on top of an existing codec can do


That is why I always try and opt for the MSI gaming boards, ACL892 or 1150 with Sound Blaster Cinema software. Gets the best out of the codec.

[Biscuit]

Only reason i have one is because i use surround on an amp over SPDIF and you dont get surround sound in games without DTS Connect or Dolby Live. Most amps have a HDMI connection now though and i reckon you can get the same effect with this and a modern GPU? Please correct me if I'm wrong?

[kalniel]

Only reason i have one is because i use surround on an amp over SPDIF and you dont get surround sound in games without DTS Connect or Dolby Live. Most amps have a HDMI connection now though and i reckon you can get the same effect with this and a modern GPU? Please correct me if I'm wrong?

Yes modern GPU would work, as would most motherboards now as they've started paying for the compression codecs to allow surround over SPDIF.

[Biscuit]

Yes modern GPU would work, as would most motherboards now as they've started paying for the compression codecs to allow surround over SPDIF.

Might ditch mine once ive got a new amp and just use the GPU.
WRG to motherboards, I have seen it on some of the higher end models for sure but nothing more mid range.

[watercooled]

Something I noticed with the Realtek ALC892 on-board on an Asus motherboard is the mic is *really* noisy i.e. static. My Xonar DS and the VIA on-board on another PC are far better in that regard. I also noticed a lot of electronic noise over VoIP from a friend with a Gigabyte mobo with a Realtek ALC887, along with a strange issue where sounds e.g. music playing on his PC would cause his mic volume to completely drop out.

So I think there's definitely still room to improve there.

Something which is IMO a serious but under-reported concern is the awful quality front-panel connections we get even on expensive 'high-end' cases which I've posted about in the past. One of the most noticeable effects is the mic input picking up whatever is on the headphone output, producing very audible feedback over calls for example.

[Biscuit]

Read post correctly in future... ignore