ALC662 vs ALC889
Apr 7, 2014 at 7:31 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 7
my name is mike

my name is mike

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My old mITX board has Realtek ACL662 chipset and it sounds pretty crappy with basic headphones. I'm building a new PC and would like to know if ALC889 (this is the best onboard audio chip available right?) is much better than my old one or if I should buy Xonar DGX to go with the new motherboard? I will use the onboard audio with headphones (will buy something under 150€) and "small" active 2.0 speakers (some speakers that have amp built in so I don't need anything between the speakers and PC). I play FPS games mostly and CSGO the most which will need to use stereo or headphone setting to get the most accurate sound). For other games and other stuff I will have HDMI going from the PC to my AVR which is connected to TV and surround speaker set. So the PC onboard audio is only used when I sit in front of the PC.
 
The sound card decides if I have to go with mITX or mATX motherboard and case. So I will have to choose if I get the sound card or not before I can choose what motherboard or case I'm going to buy.
 
Apr 7, 2014 at 8:05 PM Post #2 of 7
Apr 8, 2014 at 6:28 AM Post #3 of 7
I've read mixed comments about the 899 and some say Xonar DGX is a lot better than it, but others say there is no difference.
 
Motherboards with ALC1150 seems to cost about 40€ more than motherboards with 829, 889 and 887. Is it worth to pay the extra for ALC1150? Basicly I could get the Xonar DGX and motherboard with the older realteks for the same price as motherboard with the ALC1150. But if there's no difference in sound quality I would rather pay the extra and get 1150 so I could go with mITX case.
 
Like I said the PC audio will be used for 2.0 and headphones only.
 
Apr 8, 2014 at 8:18 AM Post #4 of 7
There is always going to be debate and differences of opinion. All I can say is what I would do in your position.
 
Get the new ALC1150.
 
Motherboard tech improves at light speed. Several mobo manufacturers now offer not only very HD on-board chips they also 'audiophile'  grade support components and shielding etc. Makes sense. They have huge capacity, Falling sales of traditional desktops. Good potential market for them. Note that when CustomPC reviewed an audiophile ASUS board they thought it was excellent but did comment that it wasn't much better, if at all, than the regular generic version of the board.
 
PCs are getting smaller, use much less power, People don't overclock so much 'cos there is no need. So PCs are much less potentially noisy than they used to be.
 
This is probably going to be the last board you buy with a socket. So if you need to economise somewhere get a good board and a cheaper chip. You can easy upgrade that for less money if you need to.
 
You might end up with a USB interface in the future. Sooner or later most people seem to think it would be a good idea.
 
Apr 9, 2014 at 1:32 PM Post #5 of 7
My laptop has ALC269 and Samsung SoundAlive software and it sounds great. My desktop has ALC662 and it sounds pretty bad. ALC662 sounds super thin with no bass at all. Can I make the 662 sound better with some software?
 
Edit: I found the Realtek HD Audio settings but no matter how I try to set them I can't get good sound from the 662 while the 269 sounds great on my laptop. Can there really be that much difference between the hardware of the two that no software can make the 662 sound as good? 889 and 1150 must sound pretty good me thinks as they are even better!
 
This is with headphones by the way. I had never tried using my laptop with headphones before :D
 
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