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Do you use an onboard or aftermarket soundcard?


sdy284

Soundcards...  

97 members have voted

  1. 1. Do you use onboard sound or have an aftermarket soundcard?

    • Onboard
      34
    • Aftermarket
      59
    • I use a laptop & use onboard sound
      4
    • I use a laptop & use aftermarket sound (usb soundcards)
      0


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Also, as I've said before, I think a good portion of the anti-onboard bandwagon couldn't tell the difference in a blind sound test.

 

With reasonable speakers and a keen interest of your music, I'd say I'm 100% certain I would notice a difference in most cases. When I took my X-Fi out to take to hardnrg, I re-enabled on-board sound. I put some music on a few days later when I got home and thought I had watery/waxy ears from the shower it was THAT bad. My music all sounded 'muddy' and dull.

 

But then that's just me :) You'd need to know a lot of music inside-out to really notice it I would think. But in games, nah - the difference is not going to be easy to tell (excluding EAX), as games don't tend to come with the highest quality sound samples in the first place.

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But then that's just me :) You'd need to know a lot of music inside-out to really notice it I would think. But in games, nah - the difference is not going to be easy to tell (excluding EAX), as games don't tend to come with the highest quality sound samples in the first place.

 

I think it's near the start of The Times today, there's an article about compression and volume levelling in the music industry... and as you said, it's got a lot to do with the source material. A 128kbps Mp3 will sound equally crap though my PC with onboard, though my soundcard, though my HiFi and Mp3 player... but you can easily tell the difference with an uncompressed piece of music.

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Ah, how I love to stir the sound card pot :)

 

To elaborate, I think there's two camps of dedicated sound card advocates.

 

The Real: I honestly do believe there are people that really do get a value out of a good sound card. These people listen to a lot of music at their PC, and they have an ear for good audio. They also have a really nice set of speakers plugged into their card. This is the case where $80 on an X-Fi (or equivilent) is actually relatively small compared to the overall investment in sound equipment, and it makes sense for them to buy a dedicated card for their uses.

 

The Not-So-Real: I think this is the more dominant group that for one reason or another honestly believes there is a difference, but really couldn't identify it in a blind sound test. In some cases it's people who just don't care about the money, so they buy the best regardless. In other cases, it's people who might just be bandwagon-ers. In yet other cases, it's people who are under the placebo effect that markie so keenly pointed out. After all, when you're in nearly $100 on a sound card, you have a vested interest in hearing the difference :)

 

For me, it just comes down to not listening to music much at my PC. In my car, I'm a music-nazi. I have lots of money into my musical experience there because I'm always playing music when I drive. But at my PC, I just don't listen to that much music. And as Silverfox said, I think you'll be hard-pressed to really see the difference in most games. So for me, a decent onboard is more than enough.

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Verran (as usual) makes a compelling point!

 

I was convinced after ordering my X-Fi that I would hear no difference at all, but I was really surprised. I'm looking forward to hearing a hotrodded X-Fi as well, as hardnrg said that the difference was one that was noticed if you listened to a lot of music. I think a real test would be better made on proper audiophile equipment and not PC-Based speakers, regardless of how good they are.

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When you have a Core 2 Duo (or quad), you can :lol:

It's still wasting cycles and it doesn't sound as good. That's good enough reason for me.

 

Besides, I paid like $30 for my Audigy 2 and it sounds immensely better in games (EAX mofo!). With music not so much because I turn off ALL processing when I listen to music. I can't stand the added crap that most cards add in by default. If I had to do a blind test I might be able to pick it out, but only on material I really know well and with my studio monitors.

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It's still wasting cycles and it doesn't sound as good. That's good enough reason for me.

 

Besides, I paid like $30 for my Audigy 2 and it sounds immensely better in games (EAX mofo!). With music not so much because I turn off ALL processing when I listen to music. I can't stand the added crap that most cards add in by default. If I had to do a blind test I might be able to pick it out, but only on material I really know well and with my studio monitors.

The o board HD audio on my 680i and p5wdh sound better than the onboard AC97 on my SLI-DR and my sound blaster audigy. :closedeyes:

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where's the option for desktop with USB? I still use the soundblaster extigy. why? it has worked flawlessly for many years, it sounds fine, runs my speakers fine, gives me centeral control and a desktop interface for all my volume controls, and also has inputs coming from two other systems that may or may not be at my desk (total of 3 systems sharing my nice sound system in my office)

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