[SOLVED] PC Sound - is on board enough?

James Blonde

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I've got 2 questions, but I'll ask them as separate posts.

Question 1.... Is on board sound still enough? What would I honestly be gaining by adding a sound card? I listen to music as well as game, currently plugging into a surround amp. That'll be detailed in the other post

In days gone by, I always used to add a good sound card to my system, but with my last system I just used the on board realtek 7.1, and more lately audio out via the graphics card HDMI into my amp. Sound cards were just no longer a thing. But I get the impression perhaps they're having a bit of a come back??
 
Solution
There's quite a difference in onboard audio quality on different MBs. Some of newest ones are quite good but all of that is for nought if your audio device (Speakers, headphones etc.) are not of highest quality. It's not only up to CODEC chip but good MBs also have active/passive filters and RF shields. Onboard sound has come quite a way since last couple of years.
Not every DAC can do decent job, just best ones preferably with optical connections.
D

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A good usb dac and amp combo are what I use. Schiit Audio Magni amp and Modi Multibit DAC

Never in my life have I heard such wonderful audio and if you have a good pair of headphones you will hear plenty of difference but it’s true you have to have decent hearing

I detest onboard sound and I like the USB to do it so that way your motherboard isn’t touching the sound. I hate hearing all the electronica chatter and bleep blorp up going on
 
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There's quite a difference in onboard audio quality on different MBs. Some of newest ones are quite good but all of that is for nought if your audio device (Speakers, headphones etc.) are not of highest quality. It's not only up to CODEC chip but good MBs also have active/passive filters and RF shields. Onboard sound has come quite a way since last couple of years.
Not every DAC can do decent job, just best ones preferably with optical connections.
 
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Solution

James Blonde

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Yeh think I need to look at my setup again. I'd never say I'm an audiophile but I cannot handle "default" quality so there is always some attempt to make it better.

As per my other thread, at the moment it's HDMI out of the graphics card to a Sony 5.1 1080p amp driving 2 bookshelf speakers and 3 surround speakers, with a mouse wiggler to stop the screensaver kicking in and killing the audio. It works, it's much much better than default, but adding a second system and 1440p monitors screws it up. Yeh I can work around it easily enough, but just feels a bit over engineered and taking up space.

Motherboards are an Msi Z77 Mpower on the old system and a Gigabyte Aorus Elite on the new system.

And this is partly why I'm wondering whether sound cards are the (or an) answer. The other question was more about what people output to.
 
Yeh think I need to look at my setup again. I'd never say I'm an audiophile but I cannot handle "default" quality so there is always some attempt to make it better.

As per my other thread, at the moment it's HDMI out of the graphics card to a Sony 5.1 1080p amp driving 2 bookshelf speakers and 3 surround speakers, with a mouse wiggler to stop the screensaver kicking in and killing the audio. It works, it's much much better than default, but adding a second system and 1440p monitors screws it up. Yeh I can work around it easily enough, but just feels a bit over engineered and taking up space.

Motherboards are an Msi Z77 Mpower on the old system and a Gigabyte Aorus Elite on the new system.

And this is partly why I'm wondering whether sound cards are the (or an) answer. The other question was more about what people output to.
Honestly then you might want to invest in a decent sound card or external solution. Plus why not just have the screen saver set to never?

Or just invest in headphones ;)
 
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James Blonde

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I leave my systems on all the time, so the mouse wiggler is easier to turn on and off than the screensaver /time out (I also use it to keep my work Citrix session open) . And half the problem (at least in the short term) is I've invested in too much! 😂 But yep, definitely interested to hear about alternative options