EVGA Sounds Out its Nu Audio Card

[Guest]

EVGA teams up with British audio manufacturer to bring new life back into the sound card setups of old.

EVGA Sounds Out its Nu Audio Card : Read more

 

[ubercake]

Sound cards like this are a hard sell these days considering even my mainstream Z370 board has excellent on-board sound with an on-board headphone amp.

 

[rabbit4me1]

Let's see one could save the money for a sound card to get a better video card if you're a true gamer that's really not a decision then. it's nice to see independent sound cards coming back in the market though in case one dies on a motherboard I do give that to them. Sorry sadly I'm betting on the house I just hope it's not a failed product

 

[jaexyr]

The software looks extremely basic, from what I can tell

 

[spdragoo]

Sound cards like this are a hard sell these days considering even my mainstream Z370 board has excellent on-board sound with an on-board headphone amp.

I'd go even further & say that sound cards in general are a hard sell these days, even for gamers. Heck, I know my system is far from top-line, but its motherboard (Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 version 4.1) supports not only my 2 speakers but 5.1 & even 7.1 surround sound (including Dolby Home Theater & S/PDIF Out). Considering that when I'm listening to music or other audio it's either a) coming out of my TV or PC speakers, b) coming out of the speakers in my car, or c) from headphones plugged into a 3.5mm jack, I don't really need anything fancier than what my motherboard has built in...

And this is a fancy sound card. Yes, I know pretty much any digital device has a DAC of some sort in it, but this particular DAC (the AK4493) is at least inching towards high-end (if not on the high end). And that AK5572, per AKM's
website, is apparently for when you want to delve deeply into mixing, sampling, & recording your own audio streams at a very high fidelity rate, something that most gamers (even most streamers) aren't going to be concerned about. Heck, I would guess that most Twitchers & other streamers are happy just as long as what they record over their headsets is at least halfway understood by their audience; they're not concerned about getting the sound so crisp, clear & natural-sounding that you'd swear you were sitting right next to them.

This is going to be a high-end niche device, & I don't know how much they're going to be able to compete. It's not like they have a name in computer audio, let alone audio systems (I mean, heck, if it was Creative Labs or SoundBlaster, I'd be impressed for at least the nostalgia value...).

 

[mlee 2500]

All I really want is for NVIDIA to come out with a driver which allows for an Audio-only HDMI output (perhaps with a no-overhead dummy video signal which doesn't register as part of your desktop).

 

[soccerdude84]

why in the world would they make it require a separate power cable

 

[jimmysmitty]

Sound cards like this are a hard sell these days considering even my mainstream Z370 board has excellent on-board sound with an on-board headphone amp.

I have yet to see an onboard that matches most sound cards though. I agree onboard is vastly better, even my Z87 board has really good audio, but it still is not as good as my SB Z.

Still the market is hard to sell but Creative seems to be doing well. They keep coming out with new stuff, like their insane sound bar, so I assume they still sell well.

 

[dimar]

Too bad there's no surround 5.1 / 7.1. I have lots of SACD and high res FLAC in surround.

 

[ubercake]

Sound cards like this are a hard sell these days considering even my mainstream Z370 board has excellent on-board sound with an on-board headphone amp.

I have yet to see an onboard that matches most sound cards though. I agree onboard is vastly better, even my Z87 board has really good audio, but it still is not as good as my SB Z.

Still the market is hard to sell but Creative seems to be doing well. They keep coming out with new stuff, like their insane sound bar, so I assume they still sell well.

I was in the same boat thinking nothing compared to an add-on card. When I built my system with the Asus Prime Z370-A, that all changed.

Just like with on-board sound, there are a lot of lousy add-on cards out there. Most of the bad add-on cards are under $100. I'm thinking any add-on cards that would compare with or surpass the performance of on-board sound these days cost more than the entire motherboard itself. That's what makes it a very hard sell.

Additionally, if you're going full audiophile quality, you could very well spend over $500 on an add-on card, that much more on headphones and again that much on a speaker system.

 

[alextheblue]

I'm thinking any add-on cards that would compare with or surpass the performance of on-board sound these days cost more than the entire motherboard itself. That's what makes it a very hard sell.

Maybe, except I tend to keep my discrete audio cards over the course of a couple of builds. Heck if Creative's Z series drivers were still getting updated I'd consider using my Zx again. As it stands I'll either have to get a deluxe mainboard with really premium audio or pick up an AE-5. I wish they'd just release a non-RGB no-frills edition for a little cheaper. Anyway unless this card comes out and undercuts them, the only card I'd really consider right now is an AE-5. As you said, the true audiophile stuff is insane... dollar per dollar the AE-5 is best on the market right now.

But again, if I buy a premium-audio mainboard and keep it for at least one overhaul, that's a good option too.

 

[jimmysmitty]

Sound cards like this are a hard sell these days considering even my mainstream Z370 board has excellent on-board sound with an on-board headphone amp.

I have yet to see an onboard that matches most sound cards though. I agree onboard is vastly better, even my Z87 board has really good audio, but it still is not as good as my SB Z.

Still the market is hard to sell but Creative seems to be doing well. They keep coming out with new stuff, like their insane sound bar, so I assume they still sell well.

I was in the same boat thinking nothing compared to an add-on card. When I built my system with the Asus Prime Z370-A, that all changed.

Just like with on-board sound, there are a lot of lousy add-on cards out there. Most of the bad add-on cards are under $100. I'm thinking any add-on cards that would compare with or surpass the performance of on-board sound these days cost more than the entire motherboard itself. That's what makes it a very hard sell.

Additionally, if you're going full audiophile quality, you could very well spend over $500 on an add-on card, that much more on headphones and again that much on a speaker system.

To be fair my sound cards last me quite a while. I had a SB-X for a long time, until my boards stopped carrying PCI slots. Now I have a SB-Z which will last for a while as well.

 

[photonboy]

POWER (from Wikipedia):
"×1 cards are limited to 0.5 A at +12 V (6 W) and 10 W combined."

I assume the article was JOKING (didn't seem so) about the SATA cable for LED's but LED's that small consume very, very (very) little power so NO... obviously the Average or Peak power this card consumes approaches or exceeds the above rating.

(The other 4W comes from the 3.3V rail. There's 12V and 3.3V on the PCIe bus... anyway)

 

[alextheblue]

POWER (from Wikipedia):
"×1 cards are limited to 0.5 A at +12 V (6 W) and 10 W combined."

I assume the article was JOKING (didn't seem so) about the SATA cable for LED's but LED's that small consume very, very (very) little power so NO... obviously the Average or Peak power this card consumes approaches or exceeds the above rating.

(The other 4W comes from the 3.3V rail. There's 12V and 3.3V on the PCIe bus... anyway)

This is just speculation, but the card might not even utilize the 3.3V rail. If their total peak power draw exceeds the combined limit anyway, use of the 3.3V rail is pointless from a design standpoint since SATA cables would supply the required 12 volts (as well as 5V and 3.3V). Or for all we know, vice-versa it could be working entirely off 3.3V... but I doubt it.

 

[photonboy]

POWER (from Wikipedia):
"×1 cards are limited to 0.5 A at +12 V (6 W) and 10 W combined."

I assume the article was JOKING (didn't seem so) about the SATA cable for LED's but LED's that small consume very, very (very) little power so NO... obviously the Average or Peak power this card consumes approaches or exceeds the above rating.

(The other 4W comes from the 3.3V rail. There's 12V and 3.3V on the PCIe bus... anyway)

This is just speculation, but the card might not even utilize the 3.3V rail. If their total peak power draw exceeds the combined limit anyway, use of the 3.3V rail is pointless from a design standpoint since SATA cables would supply the required 12 volts (as well as 5V and 3.3V). Or for all we know, vice-versa it could be working entirely off 3.3V... but I doubt it.

Correct.
I should not have implied it must exceed 10W. It may or may not use the 3.3V bus. I just found it odd that they seemed SERIOUS in stating the extra 12V via SATA was for LED's since small LED's consume very little power. Maybe I have no sense of humor?

The only thing I disagree on is if there are chips using 3.3V they would just use the PCIe bus for that. There's no point in converting from a 12V source if they already have that capability.

 

[alextheblue]

The only thing I disagree on is if there are chips using 3.3V they would just use the PCIe bus for that. There's no point in converting from a 12V source if they already have that capability.

I'm not sure you're following what I was saying about the 3.3V setup, although in truth I was mostly joking. Let's say they're using an entirely 3.3V design for arguments sake. The PCIe bus supplies some 3.3V power, and the SATA power cable ALSO supplies some 3.3V power. Look at the SATA power pinout, there's 3.3, 5, and 12V. IIRC the three 3.3V pins can supply somewhere over 12 watts in aggregate. So technically they could build a 3.3V-only design, as silly as that would be.