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Thread: Audigy vs. Onboard

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    Audigy vs. Onboard

    Hello fellow Hexites. In the PC i'm using at the mo' (A64 3200, 1gib ddr etc: old ) I have an Audigy. Just an Audigy Gamer, not Audigy 2,3,ZS,X-Fi, whatever. Now my question is: How does this compare to say, the onboard sound of an Asus P5K-E?

    Now you may say go check out the specs, but to be honest with you, as adept with other conventions I may or may not be: I'm definitely inept with most sound card conventions. And to be honest I bet a lot of it is just marketting anyway.

    So if anyone has had experience with both - which is best? . Oh and I am using Headphones or 2.1, depending on what i'm doing.

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    Re: Audigy vs. Onboard

    Descrete sound cards have hardware mixers and DSPs, onboard cards rarely do. You'll probably only notice a difference with high quality headphones or extremely powerful surround sound setups though.
    Quote Originally Posted by Agent View Post
    ...every time Creative bring out a new card range their advertising makes it sound like they have discovered a way to insert a thousand Chuck Norris super dwarfs in your ears...

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    Re: Audigy vs. Onboard

    I've put some comment here: http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.php?t=116084

    In general, I suggest that you try it out for yourself if it can be helped. Nothing beat trying side by side comparison for sound. I can't comment about the original Audigy, since it is one card I've never tried it (I was quite put off by the Live! it succeeded - but I remember that the reviews were generally positive stating that it was what the Live! should've been). The Audigy 2 is considerably better than modern onboard Realtek sound card I've heard when tested with demanding headphones (e.g. Beyerdynamic DT880). But I've never tried of any card based on the ADI chip found on the Asus P5K-E.

    If I was to make a not-so-educated guess (given I've not heard either), modern onboard sound card will probably edge the original Audigy by a notch.
    Last edited by TooNice; 01-09-2007 at 02:02 PM.

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    Re: Audigy vs. Onboard

    The other benefit is that the Audigy will use less CPU time than onboard. Which may result in a few more frames in games.

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    Re: Audigy vs. Onboard

    Thanks for the replies guys, I think i'll just do what TooNice said and try them both out myself when I get the PC parts. Probably best to get a feel for what I prefer personally myself .

    edit: And what Thorsson said, methinks it'll end up being Audigy . We'll see!
    Last edited by Nemz0r; 01-09-2007 at 02:22 PM.

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    Re: Audigy vs. Onboard

    Quote Originally Posted by Nemz0r View Post
    Thanks for the replies guys, I think i'll just do what TooNice said and try them both out myself when I get the PC parts. Probably best to get a feel for what I prefer personally myself .
    That's what's best, everyone's perception of sound is different, it's hard to universally recommend what's 'best' when it comes to audio.
    Quote Originally Posted by Agent View Post
    ...every time Creative bring out a new card range their advertising makes it sound like they have discovered a way to insert a thousand Chuck Norris super dwarfs in your ears...

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    Re: Audigy vs. Onboard

    Oh and another thing, the creative's software I like. Especially those presets such as chipmunk etc. lots of laughs to be had with those on Vent . Though i'm not sure if the software works on Vista, hmm... must dig up my creative CD if I can find it .

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    Re: Audigy vs. Onboard

    Fairly sure they won't work on Vista, but there are some hacked applications around (I think on the Creative forums), but I've never tested them and have no desire to.

    Difference between modern onboard and modern discreet solutions? Non-existent in my experience. Unless you count the 'Crystallizer' as being a positive feature. Personally I just think it's awful. As for gaming, it's the same. EAX is an over-rated 'feature' in my opinion. Any Realtek HD solution is just as good 99% of the time in my experience.

    If you want decent sound you're better off with an Auzentech X-Meridian (as I still don't think we'll see the Prelude in 2007) and some very decent speakers. Your sub-£100 2 channel speakers just won't make a difference. Even worse for sub-£100 5.1 channels.

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    Re: Audigy vs. Onboard

    I am not a big fan of the 'Crystalizer' either, whether it is for lossy or lossless audio. But until I find better, I'll continue to watch my movies with AKG K701 with CMSS enabled. I've yet to find more immersive surround for movies so far.

    For music playback, Realtek HD do not come close to even the Audigy 2 with mid-upper end headphones, and the X-Fi finally fixed the resampling issues found in the Audigy 2. The Elite Pro costs more than what most people would find reasonable, but it combines the DAC found in upper end card, with the CMSS goodness (and EAX5 - much as I hate Creative for killing off Aureal/A3D, I definitely prefer gaming with than without EAX - it's gone a long way since it's original implementation). Quite honestly, going from an Elite Pro back to the Realtek due to an RMA was not an easy wait even on better multimedia speakers. I am a bit curious about the DAC used in the Prelude though - the ability to change opamp is definitely a plus.

    If games/movie playback is not an issue, my choice would be a modded EMU0404.
    Last edited by TooNice; 01-09-2007 at 04:55 PM.

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