[Chingyul]

Hi,

Just wondering whether to get a dedicated sound card.

I think I'm set on which one to get if i do, just not sure if it'll make an improvement.
Currently, I'm using the on-board audio on my ASUS M2N32 SLI Wireless Edition board which uses the ADI High Definition (Azalia) Soundmax codec.

Would it be worth it to upgrade to a dedicated sound card? Quality improvement?
The Chaintech isn't High Definition but the on-board is. Is that just hype? Would the quality of the Chaintech AV-710 still be better?

THanks
Dan

 

[Seaside]

I am kind of reluctant to say this... but...

When you take a good look at the spec of what they called "high definition", you will know there's nothing really "high" about it. They call this "high" because it has higher spec to compare with previous on-board codecs. Old codecs simply can't do 24bit/96khz, and this HD thing can do that. That's about it. Most descent sound cards in these days will at least match or exceed this HD spec. Please do not fooled by the word designed for marketting.

In fact, sound quality of on-board codec has been improved a lot. HD codec will perform better than most other on-board codecs, and is finally quite listenable now... unlike other old onboard codecs such as realtek650.

I think dedicated sound card is better than onboard, incluing HD thingy, but I can not tell/confirm you this would be a worthy upgrade or not, since its up to you.

So... my suggetion is... If when you find, 1. your onboard can serve your purpose, 2. you can live with that, then I would say... why spend? Otherwise, you always can purchase a sound card and compare yourself.

 

[penpinzzz]

chaintech is great