Sound card alternative to onboard audio

[Fuad]

Hello,

I want your advice on getting a dedicated sound card, my rig is (asus x99, win 10 64bit) and I mainly use headphones (Senheiser & phillips) for all around audio listening and some gaming,
My onboard audio is -alc1150- which is very mushy and produces loud but bad quality base that caused me some ears discomfort that's why I need an alternative.
The choices I have are:
- Creative sound blaster z (66 euro)
- Asus strix soar (90 euro)
Please advice which one to choose in terms of audio quality and driver performance and known issues (if any like interference).
Thanks in advance for your time and help.

 

[Mr Kagouris]

In my experience Creative produces the best sound cards on the market.

However I'd recommend one of Creative's external DACs instead.

 

[badboyrog2]

the alc1150 is simply the best audio chipset actually...so you should have a driver conflict or driver not up to date
do you get the latest bios?
windows fully updated?

 

[Fuad]

In my experience Creative produces the best sound cards on the market.

However I'd recommend one of Creative's external DACs instead.

Thanks for your reply, what is the advantage of Creative external DAC, will I have audio delay or so? and what do you recommend?

 

[Fuad]

the alc1150 is simply the best audio chipset actually...so you should have a driver conflict or driver not up to date
do you get the latest bios?
windows fully updated?

Thanks for your reply, I don't have any driver issues, everything is up to date, it is simply the audio quality is disturbing in some areas and I want a better and cleaner solution.

 

[badboyrog2]

wich model of motherboard you have from asus?
there is 4 differents one

 

[Fuad]

wich model of motherboard you have from asus?
there is 4 differents one

Asus x99 pro 3.1 usb

 

[Mr Kagouris]

In my experience Creative produces the best sound cards on the market.

However I'd recommend one of Creative's external DACs instead.

Thanks for your reply, what is the advantage of Creative external DAC, will I have audio delay or so? and what do you recommend?

External DACs are for the most part superior because they don't have to deal with size restrictions or EMI (translates to better audio quality). By having it on your desk it's also more convenient because you have direct non-software volume control, and many external DACs have 6.35mm jack outputs.

But I have to agree that alc1150 is the best you can get integrated on a motherboard, so it's really strange you're not satisfied with the quality.

 

[badboyrog2]

``Asus x99 pro 3.1``
well since i know you own this model ...a lot of issues with this one , ram issues/cpu overheating/full of error code without support in the manual ...etc...

ok then creative z is for you
http://us.creative.com/p/sound-blaster/sound-blaster-z

 

[Fuad]

In my experience Creative produces the best sound cards on the market.

However I'd recommend one of Creative's external DACs instead.

Thanks for your reply, what is the advantage of Creative external DAC, will I have audio delay or so? and what do you recommend?

External DACs are for the most part superior because they don't have to deal with size restrictions or EMI (translates to better audio quality). By having it on your desk it's also more convenient because you have direct non-software volume control, and many external DACs have 6.35mm jack outputs.

Now I understand, I thought you were referring to creative usb sound card or so, the one's you are talking about are really nice but way out of my budget, it is something I may go for in the future but not now.
If you have any recommendation please let me know

 

[Fuad]

``Asus x99 pro 3.1``
well since i know you own this model ...a lot of issues with this one , ram issues/cpu overheating/full of error code without support in the manual ...etc...

ok then creative z is for you
http://us.creative.com/p/sound-blaster/sound-blaster-z

yes, you are right, with the last 2 bios updates things got allot better, but is is not something I expected from asus.
Thanks for your help