Do I need a Sound card?

[Gavsta220986]

I have an asus maximus viii impact motherboard and it has on board audio. It supports dolby digital an dhas a SPDF port on the back of te motherboard. With this technology do I really need a sound card?

 

[Rocky Bennett]

No, with that motherboard I think that you are good to go. If you have any specific questions about the sound, I can help, but I would say that you are good to go.

 

[captaincharisma]

if it the specs say it has a sound chip then you do not need one unless you find the sound is not very good

 

[Ok Go]

you have 2 things to consider.
first, do you need any features that your onboard soundcard doesnt have? such as midi maybe? or native asio support? or lower latency to sample guitars on it?
and then, do you feel the audio quality lacking? since audio quality doesnt depends on the soundcard, but the prefference of the listener.

if the answer to any of those two questions is "yes" then you do need a new card.

 

[Shaun o]

It really comes down to how picky you are about how pure and clean, crisp of punchy you like your sound or music.
And if you have a good Amp and speaker setup to complement a add in Pci-e based graphics card, some of them costing you for the audio card alone in excess of $200 or more.

For most of us the sound chips that are provided on new motherboards are sufficient and up to the task of producing good audio output Gavsta.

If you do any kind of Daw work, creating your own track or recorded work , songs.
Then it is another case as to why you may opt for a single Pci-e based sound card.

For many people there is no need to bother with any add in audio card, though back in the old days of motherboards the sound produced by add in cards was far more superior in the quality of audio output the y could produce, because Company`s who made motherboards opted for cheaper lower quality sound chips to be soldered to the motherboards to keep cost of the overall product down in price.

 

[Gavsta220986]

Well. I would like the cleanest crispest sound available a sI watch hs movies. One advantage to the software of the graphics card software is that it gives me the option to decrease or increase the surround sound

 

[Shaun o]

Then creative, or Asus Xonar sound cards are a good place to start, where they have high quality op amp chips that can be changed depending on your audio tastes.

Up to M Audio sound cards for the PC, but they can be in the $500 range for a single Pci-e audio card.

 

[Ok Go]

Well. I would like the cleanest crispest sound available a sI watch hs movies. One advantage to the software of the graphics card software is that it gives me the option to decrease or increase the surround sound

well the biggest factor for that imo doesnt come from the soundcard, but your speakers and amps. a high quality soundcards will sound crappy on a crappy speakers. but crappy soundcard would still sound good if the amps and speakers is good.

 

[Gavsta220986]

I do have a sound card which is a creative sound blaster z. My speakers are logitech x-540 5.1 speakers. Is this a good set up. Im going to upgrade to logitech z-5500 speakers. I wa sjust thinking weather to sell it or not

 

[captaincharisma]

I do have a sound card which is a creative sound blaster z. My speakers are logitech x-540 5.1 speakers. Is this a good set up. Im going to upgrade to logitech z-5500 speakers. I wa sjust thinking weather to sell it or not

I would use that over the on board sound then. the soundblaster Z would still be better then any onboard sound