About on-board sounds

[TuncBilen]

Hello dear fellas;

I recently built a pc. I chose a MSI Z97-G43 as my motherboard. Before that I was using a MSI motherboard from 2010. The main problem I have is the sound. I feel a distinctive loss in the quality and control. The software they provide for sound control is terrible. I'm a musician and I get irritated from bad sound quality. I tried everything but the driver (or the sound chip I don't know) is useless. My old software had sliders for seperate speakers. This one doesn't have that option. They give me +/- for decibel increase or decrease. Somehow it doesn't serve the purpose.

My question is " Is there another software I can use for this motherboards sound control? " or " Should I buy another sound card?"

I really don't know about internal sound cards and their advantages over onboard versions.

Thank you for everything,
Have a good day,
Tunc

 

[TuncBilen]

Anyone fellas?

 

[CountMike]

Apart from using some SW for music playback that has more sound controls only getting a good discrete sound card is what can give you satisfactory sound.

 

[TuncBilen]

Apart from using some SW for music playback that has more sound controls only getting a good discrete sound card is what can give you satisfactory sound.

Thanks for the answer. My old MSI P7P55D LE was so much better with the same speaker setup. I just can't believe a newer motherboard would have worse sound quality.

If a sound card would fix my needs, which one do you recommend? I'm an avid video gamer and a music listener. Considering these I would love to hear your suggestions.

Thank you,
Tunc

 

[CountMike]

Do you have latest Realtek drivers ? They have equalizer in sound control panel when installed on MSI boards.
Otherwise:
http://www.soundblaster.com/products/sound-blaster-z.aspx very popular although a bit on expensive side. I don't have it personally but had a chance to set it up and hear it at friend's computer and Harmon Cardan speakers. very high quality sound.

 

[TuncBilen]

It has EQ settings. But I just couldn't set it as I wanted. Something always feels missing.

I'm not a headphone user. I will use this sound card with my Logitech X 530 5.1 sound system. I'm added your suggestion to my cart list. But I would love to hear more suggestions.

I can't really have a good surround sound fidelity with this onboard sound chip.

 

[CountMike]

You could also consider an external DAC like: http://uk.creative.com/p/sound-blaster/sound-blaster-x-fi-surround-5-1-pro it doesn't use internal CODEC chip from MB and is connected thru digital sound output from MB.

 

[TuncBilen]

Hmm I actually liked Sound Blaster Z. But nowhere in my country has it in stock. Is there an ASUS equivalent of that card or something ?

I'm a little confused about these sound cards. Everyone have some opinion . Some say one is good for gaming and other for music/video. It's all over the place. My main purpose is gaming and music. If that really matters...

Thanks for all the help,
Tunc

 

[CountMike]

Well, there is a nice linup of Asus Xonar cards: https://www.asus.com/Sound-Cards/Xonar_DX/ but I didn't have experience with this new ones.

 

[TuncBilen]

I'm sorry I'm bothering with same questions but I'm wondering a thing.

I'm looking for a price/performance champion. I have Logitech x-530 speakers. Not some high-end stuff. I'm hoping to get a quality jump with the lowest cost. Unfortunately there is nowhere I can test these cards. People say bad things about asus cards and its driver support. Some say those for creative cards. I'm really confused what to buy.

Just point me to a card, that you would buy for yourself.

Thanks,

 

[CountMike]

Those are not bad speakers at all. Can't really tell which one I would by but one thing I know for sure is that cheap sound cards are not any better than built in ones, some are even worse ! Some, like with chips made by CMI for instance. For emergency use only.
Creative is pretty sloppy when it comes to updating drivers, Asus is maybe better in that field.
Here are some comparisons: http://sound-cards-review.toptenreviews.com/
PS.
Just remembered that somebody recommend this for sound regulation: http://www.fxsound.com/

 

[TuncBilen]

Thanks a lot friend. I bought Soundblaster Z from amazon-us. It cost me a lot much with shipping and import fees but hope it will worth it