Onboard sound or should I spring for a high end sound card?

[johnstac]

Okay, so first some background. Just finishing a $3500 gaming/graphics rig. I won't go into all of the components but I will mention the motherboard because Asus states their onboard sound is as good as any other high quality sound card. It is the Maximus Hero VII and personally I have never listened to their onboard audio but generally speaking, I thought all onboard audio sucks.

Now as for my listening requirements, I have two major ones. First and foremost is gaming and I always use headphones for that. Now I read something today that I never knew and frankly I'm skeptical of it's truth. The quote was, "A sound card doesn't do anything for USB headsets." In the past I've used HT Omega as well as other higher end cards along with headsets around $300. I couldn't believe that the sound card made no difference. Does this mean that if you plug in through USB, it automatically uses the onboard audio? That can't be true. Anyway, some clarification would be appreciated. As far as my gaming goes, I play shooter and MMO types.

The second purpose of audio for me is that I do occasionally play music through a set of M-Audio BX8 D2 amplified monitors (http://www.m-audio.com/products/view/bx8-d2) so because the monitors are amplified I don't believe that I have to have a sound card to drive them but sound quality is important to me in my music. Has anyone used the onboard Asus audio on this motherboard or similar? Can anyone attest to it's quality and can it compete with a $200-300 sound card? Appreciate any and all input. Peace.

 

[Winly]

Well if you are using an USB headset you wont take advantage of the Audio Card since you are not connecting the headset to the card.
An Audio Card will make a big jump from on-board audio. You will definitely notice the difference.

 

[johnstac]

So let me ask a couple more questions. Clarifying that regardless of the sound card I buy, if I plug it into any of the USB 2.0 or 3.0 ports in the front of the computer, it makes no contact with the sound card. I thought that perhaps having the sound card plugged in would make use of the sound through the system bus. I have no idea what I'm talking about. I was just making assumptions.

Okay, assuming I am wrong then, does anyone use a sound card to get the very best gaming and music? Do you then have to plug in the headphones to the back of the computer at the sound card? Just seems so antiquated in this day and age. I have seen sound cards where that include a separate piece that is mounted under the DVD drive. Would that then take advantage of the sound card quality?

Looking for suggestions on the best sound card available for gaming and music. Anyone?

 

[Winly]

Hello, for you to use the sound card you need to use its ports, if you connect your headset to a USB port it won't take advantage of it. Not most of cards are able to connect to the front of the computer case via a cable that is plugged to the sound card. So you can plug a microphone or headphones using the 3.5 input. And yes, It does make a difference when having a sound card than only having onboard audio. Just because you have a dedicate hardware to process the sounds. I have a spare sound card if you need it. If interested let me know.

 

[johnstac]

Winly I appreciate your offer but I am looking towards the high end type equipment. I am just trying to get educated and updated before I proceed. Figure I will spend less than $500 maybe, perhaps $1k. What I am reading is that I may need a separate piece of equipment called a DAC. About 75% of my music is lossless taken directly from CD's or purchased from companies that sell higher bitrate music. Regardless, I think I still need a DAC if I am correct. Not sure if even a higher end sound card can handle processing the music alone as well as amplifying it.

I think my main source of confusion right now lies with that type of equipment I need exactly. When I state that I want to listen to music at it's highest quality but also be able to game on my PC with headphones, I'm not sure if there is one or two pieces of equipment that will do both. I think what I am reading is that one must either focus on just music or the focus on just gaming but one won't do both. Can anyone comment?

 

[Winly]

Know you are being more expecific. High end audio and you are looking for quality. I was there too. I used to have a sound blaster Xfi titanium HD, but something was missing, after a few weeks researching and meeting a few friends with studios I made my decision. Now I have an audio system that I'm please with and it has potential!
From a sound card I went to a Focusrite scarlet 2i2, Yamaha HS8 with sub and XRL cables. The difference is big, before I used to have a Logitech Z5500 and I thought that was great! NO! The sound was covered and muddy as hell! My new system give me the response and quality I was looking for. I took that sound card "sound blaster" and I put it away and sold the Logitech as well! Never doing back.