Soundblaster Z vs Realtek ALC1150

[Peskysilver]

In my old build i had a biostar tz77b, pretty entry level mobo. I threw a soundblaster Z in to minimize that stupid interference that you literally hear. It drove me nuts... Anyway the soundblaster Z was running a Edifier s550 5.1 speaker system and V-moda m100's for headphones. Virtual surround worked well also to emulate the 5.1 in songs. My question is the following, My new mobo the ASUS sabertooth x99 has the Realtek ALC1150 audio chipset in it. If I scrap the sound card and plug my speakers and headphones into the board would it be an upgrade, downgrade or would it be roughly the same? How would the Virtual surround sound compare and how well would it power the headphones, etc

 

[hang-the-9]

It would be about the same, especially for a high end motherboard, but the soundblaster is likely to be a bit cleaner. If it was my system and I already had the extra sound card, I would use it. If it was use the onboard or buy a sound card, I'd keep the onboard.

 

[Peskysilver]

It would be about the same, especially for a high end motherboard, but the soundblaster is likely to be a bit cleaner. If it was my system and I already had the extra sound card, I would use it. If it was use the onboard or buy a sound card, I'd keep the onboard.

Thanks for the second opinion, Since I have it looks like it'd be best to use it. Thanks for the reassurance 😛