Sound card into 5.1 surround sound.

[darkjoshman123]

Does running a dedicated sound card into a surround sound amp improve sound quality compared to using onboard? Speakers are not powered so I'm under the impression that you wont be able to power them from your pc and must have a separate power input (5.1 surround sound for me).

 

[justcallmetom13]

PLEASE DO NOT BUY A SOUNDCARD, IT IS A TOTAL WASTE OF MONEY.
BUY A DAC AND AMP, I SWEAR TO GOD.

 

[darkjoshman123]

So a DAC will improve the quality better then a dedicated sound card will?

 

[justcallmetom13]

Yes.
"Improvements" in audio do to internal sound cards are usually do to the placebo effect. That's not the same for EXternal soundcards though, thats key, keep that in mind.

What external DACs do is they convert the binary file that you want to view into an analog signal. A motherboard has this, but it is typically very bad.

The DAC makes your audio sound better by getting the DAC away from the computer noise, and also using an overall higher quality DAC which converts the audio more efficiently and cleanly. An AMP is optional since it just amplifies the signal.

They are kind of expensive though, but you get what your paid for unlike a sound card.

If you want to get what a sound card does, just download EQing software and make your own audio profile (more bass, mids, highs, etc.)

 

[darkjoshman123]

Thanks for your reply. So using a DAC into my amp will yield higher audio quality then my onboard will... Now my question is, I have a fairly old amp (pre 2005) and I was wondering should I be looking at a DAC or should I be looking at buying a newer amp?

Also, what EQ software would you recommend?

Cheers, josh.

 

[justcallmetom13]

Can you make a thread please ?

I would really like to get medals for audio.

Send me the link to it after!