X-fi Xtremegamer Vs. Mobo Sound (realtek

[slngsht]

I didn't think I would ever move back to onboard either. But when I did as a last resort because I do prefer vista over xp, I was blown away at how much better the onboard realtek really is compared to what it used to be. I'm looking at the Asus Maximus Formula II p45 motherboard to replace this hunk of junk board I have right now, but it has SupremeFX which has the x-fi chip as the onboard sound solution, which is making me hesitant to dive in and get it. That's how much I want to avoid the x-fi at this point.

[xly15]

my friend had an old audigy sound card. It sounded way better then his onboard realtek audio.

 

 

BTW slngsht if you are getting rid of your soundcard I will take it.

[rud3bwoy]

when i first got vista i did have issues with my sound card now everything works good on my xfi xtreme music,i can sure as heck tell a difference from on board aka realtek to xfi xtreme music great invesetment,that card has been in my system since it came out

[Waco]

Unless you have very good ears there is no real difference other than the feature set. I would challenge anyone who thinks it's a "night and day" difference to actually sit down and do a blind comparison.

[Blaise]

when i first got vista i did have issues with my sound card now everything works good on my xfi xtreme music,i can sure as heck tell a difference from on board aka realtek to xfi xtreme music great invesetment,that card has been in my system since it came out

Another X-Fi XtremeMusic Vista user - I agree, the last set of driver (non-WHQL) were released in July for Vista and fixed all issues I had. I've also installed ALchemy to restore EX (well, remap) under Vista and it works a charm.

[Queenz]

To me there is no big difference. I received my PCI-E SoundBlaster X-FI Fatal1ty Titanium today. Compared it to another board with onboard sound and it sounds the freaking same to me. The only difference between onboard and add on sound cards is the features, not the sound .

 

If your looking for better features, get a sound card, if not stick with onboard. Onboard will save you space as compared to sound cards that can take up quite amount of space depending on the size of the PCB.

[iKillSteal]

Unless you have very good ears there is no real difference other than the feature set. I would challenge anyone who thinks it's a "night and day" difference to actually sit down and do a blind comparison.

As a matter of fact I've got exceptional hearing.

 

Almost all of my music is ripped to FLAC with some Vinyls being left as 24/96 WAV rips. Let me tell you, there is a HUGE difference between the song The Passives(By The Faint) on my X-FI compared to onboard. Onboard chip produces a lot of static during the opening of the track where there is tons of high frequency sound. My X-FI(again, audio creation + bit-matched playback + windows kernel bypass) handles it like a champ. No static, no distortion just a clear reproduction of the sound. There is even an audible(to both me and my friend) between my XtremeMusic and his newer one. His produces sound that's quite a bit more colored whereas mine has a more flat reproduction which I personally favor.

 

Feature set is one difference, I'll agree, but the sound that is reproduced is also one thing to look at. The source might be the same but ultimately the output certainly isn't. Of course something else that factors directly into what you hear are your headphones and/or speakers. They ultimately generate the pressure waves that strike your ear drums which stimulate the hairs in your ear blah blah blah I could go on for days. To me and my ears, there is a night and day difference between dedicated and onboard. As with all things on the internet, good sir, YMMV.

 

To me there is no big difference. I received my PCI-E SoundBlaster X-FI Fatal1ty Titanium today. Compared it to another board with onboard sound and it sounds the freaking same to me. The only difference between onboard and add on sound cards is the features, not the sound .

 

If your looking for better features, get a sound card, if not stick with onboard. Onboard will save you space as compared to sound cards that can take up quite amount of space depending on the size of the PCB.

Like I typed above, the source(the file) might be the same but the sound that is reproduced isn't. Depends on how you've got your software, and hardware, setup.

[Compxpert]

No difference for me as my receiver would fix any issues with sound quality. I use optical S/PDIF.

[iKillSteal]

You and your digital audio signals.

[T3mpest]

If you really want to see the diffrence play a game the X-fi enabled ( BF 2142, DS II, etc) the diffrence is definatly there. also notice lower CPU load with the X-fi.

[pkilway]

Ok, this past weekend I took the x-Fi XtremeGamer out of my system to test my on-board sound. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the MSI on-board sound solution. I couldn't tell the difference. Now I must admit that I'm not a true audiophile nut case like some, but for what I do the on-board exceeds my expectations.

 

So anyone want a used X-Fi XtremeGamer?