Stick with Realteck HD On-board Sound? Or Go for Better 5.1 External Sound card?

[malice19]

Hi All,

I've been meaning to look into this for some time now...

I have a Shuttle SD39P2
but by being small and powerful it lacks on space inside.... i.e.> No space for a Good PCI sound card. (As Fat 8800GTS hogging all the space )

So have to use the on-board "8-channel HD audio via ICH7R and Realtek ALC888 codec"

I love sound quality and previously had a creative X-FI PCI sound card, but now have to look at external sound cards.

So here is the Questions,:

1. What do you think of the Realtek HD on-board sound performance?
2. Do you think the Realteck HD on-board sound is up to same standards as PCI/External sound cards?
3. What External 5.1 sound card would you recommend?

So what external sound card are there, that are as good as an X-FI PCI sound card?
Would be very Grateful for any recommendations Please!

Cheers All

[malice19]

Have found this... by creative.


Sound Blaster Surround 5.1
Remixes music to 5.1 and has lots of good connection options.....But seems a bit cheep, compared to an X-FI card?

* Playback: 24-bit Digital-to-Analog conversion in 16 or 24 bit with sampling rates of up to 48kHz in 5.1 mode and up to 96kHz in stereo mode.
* Recording: 24-bit Analog-to-Digital conversion in 16 or 24 bit with sampling rates up to 96kHz.
* SPDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Interface) out with up to 24-bit at 96 kHz quality.
* Inputs: Line In & Microphone In
* Analog Outputs: Front Left/Right, Rear Left/Right & Center/Subwoofer
* Digital Outputs: Optical Out & Coaxial Out
* Front Panel Controls: CMSS On/Off, Microphone Volume, Master Volume/Mute

Any good?

Cheers....

[staffsMike]

I'm quite happy with my onboard sound and can't tell the difference between that and my mates creative auidigy something or other.

Nice looking shuttle btw

What I would say if you truely don't like it or can fault it then look for something else.

[alsenior]

realtek chips are actually quite good both hardware wise and and driverwise. i would just stick with that.

[Agent]

Got to agree, was very surprised by the Realtek HD offerings. Very good for the money / mobo sound.

[malice19]

I'm quite happy with my onboard sound and can't tell the difference between that and my mates creative auidigy something or other.

Nice looking shuttle btw

What I would say if you truely don't like it or can fault it then look for something else.

realtek chips are actually quite good both hardware wise and and driverwise. i would just stick with that.

Got to agree, was very surprised by the Realtek HD offerings. Very good for the money / mobo sound.

I do Agree also that it is very good sound, but one one the big reasons i forgot to mention is that i need a sound card that will remix mps music into 5.1 as the Realtek can not do this....

Can only listen to mps in stereo....

[staffsMike]

I have no experience with usb sound cards but I trust creative. I seem to remember seeing that one years ago though so i'd make sure if it has been replaced now.

[malice19]

Also i am stuck, What is the difference?

Creative Sound Blaster Live! 24-bit External


Amazon.co.uk: Creative Sound Blaster Live! 24-bit External: Electronics & Photo


Sound Blaster Surround 5.1

Amazon.co.uk: Sound Blaster Surround 5.1: Electronics & Photo

[staffsMike]

the live one is only available second hand? (which suggests it is an old product) and has a bit of black on the bottom

[malice19]

Could i connect my MP3 player to it to get it remixed to 5.1?

Also i take it there is no way to get the Realtek to remix MP3's to 5.1?

Cheers

[999tigger]

888 is a pretty good codec. Sound really benefits from decent speakers and cables.

[staffsMike]

That doesn't seem to be one of the features I think you would need the PC to do it. Maybe it would convert them off the player rather than your hard drive though.

[Agent]

I do Agree also that it is very good sound, but one one the big reasons i forgot to mention is that i need a sound card that will remix mps music into 5.1 as the Realtek can not do this....

Can only listen to mps in stereo....

Are you sure? Does it have 5.1 output? If so you should just be able to tell it to mirror the front two with the back two. Its a fairly basic feature on all cards in the last god knows how many years

[aidanjt]

If you use TOSLINK/spdif connection to an external 5.1 speaker system with it's own dsp there's no concernable difference worth speaking of, if you still use analog there'll be a little difference, but nothing massive, especially while using Vista.

[Agent]

TOSLINK/spdif kills 5.1 ability though on anything other than non pre-encoded 5.1 streams unless you have a DD/DTS card and an amp that supports it
At least with analogue you can normally just mirror it to the other speakers.

Major pain in the ass, given that I can only think of two cards with that ability - both being internal of course

[kalniel]

Hi All,

I've been meaning to look into this for some time now...

I have a Shuttle SD39P2
but by being small and powerful it lacks on space inside.... i.e.> No space for a Good PCI sound card. (As Fat 8800GTS hogging all the space )

So have to use the on-board "8-channel HD audio via ICH7R and Realtek ALC888 codec"

I love sound quality and previously had a creative X-FI PCI sound card, but now have to look at external sound cards.

So here is the Questions,:

1. What do you think of the Realtek HD on-board sound performance?
2. Do you think the Realteck HD on-board sound is up to same standards as PCI/External sound cards?
3. What External 5.1 sound card would you recommend?

So what external sound card are there, that are as good as an X-FI PCI sound card?
Would be very Grateful for any recommendations Please!

Cheers All

I have an Audigy 2ZS which I love. When putting together the system for my gf we tried out the realtek HD that came with her motherboard - we were both blown away. You would be very hard pressed to notice the difference, and dare I say it, in somethings like movie playback, it was actually better than the Audigy. I'd still take the audigy for gaming, but only just.