[KewlMunky]

Hey All,
 
My current motherboard is the ASRock Fatal1ty Pro Z87, which has the Sound Blaster SoundCore 3D Quad Core sound and voice processor. I noticed many of Sound Blaster's dedicated cards have a similar described chip, such as the Sound Blaster Z. I'm curious as to how much of a difference, if any, there is between my on board chip and those found in their dedicated cards.
 
I'm quite happy with the audio performance of my on board chip thus far, but am curious if anyone would know if any of Sound Blaster's dedicated cards are objectively a better technology than what is on my motherboard.
 
Thanks.

 

[Ari33]

The audio section of your motherboard is essentially a SB Recon3D. It shares the basics with the Z but has a different DAC among other lower grade components
I had the Z briefly, I wasn't very impressed with it and found it bizzare that my old audigy 2zs sounded better for music. Id expect the SBZ not to much of an upgrade, at least certainly not in terms of value for money considering you already have a half decent onboard audio saction built in.
I now own a Xonar St with opa627 upgrades and it has blown me away in terms of Sq, it does lack a little in gaming audio features but it is an astounding card for music and easily my best audio buy ever.

 

[KewlMunky]

I've been trying to decide between a desktop DAC or a better sound card. I tried my friend's Modi 2 Uber on his computer versus his on board realtek (not sure which chip it is, but I think it's lower quality than the one in mine) and I honestly didn't hear much of a difference. 
 
Maybe I'll take a look at the Xonar card you mentioned.
 
Thanks for your input.
 
 
EDIT: I'm thinking of ordering this one and trying it out
 
http://www.amazon.com/PCI-Express-XONAR-ESSENCE-STX-90-YAA0C0-0UAN00Z/dp/B001OV789U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425157247&sr=8-1&keywords=xonar+st

 

[weez82]

Save you money. The integrated on the motherboard is good and you wont notice any difference going with a new card. And if you did its most likely placebo effect doing its thing

 

[Ari33]

I've been trying to decide between a desktop DAC or a better sound card. I tried my friend's Modi 2 Uber on his computer versus his on board realtek (not sure which chip it is, but I think it's lower quality than the one in mine) and I honestly didn't hear much of a difference. 

Maybe I'll take a look at the Xonar card you mentioned.

Thanks for your input.


EDIT: I'm thinking of ordering this one and trying it out

http://www.amazon.com/PCI-Express-XONAR-ESSENCE-STX-90-YAA0C0-0UAN00Z/dp/B001OV789U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425157247&sr=8-1&keywords=xonar+st

If its mainly for listening to music I think you will be very impressed with the STX, its the pcie version of the ST (pci) and sounds very similar although it does use a different clock. the drivers are iffy and some have problems with them, I use the unified drivers with no issues, wasapi event with jriver and run some spatial and studio dsp effects with a nearfield stereo setup and it is audio bliss for me.

I'd love to let you hear it to help you make your decision but I guess you will have distance buyers rights which makes it much less of a risk for you.

Let me know how you get on with it..

 

[PurpleAngel]

  I've been trying to decide between a desktop DAC or a better sound card. I tried my friend's Modi 2 Uber on his computer versus his on board Realtek (not sure which chip it is, but I think it's lower quality than the one in mine) and I honestly didn't hear much of a difference. 
Maybe I'll take a look at the Xonar card you mentioned.
Thanks for your input.
EDIT: I'm thinking of ordering this one and trying it out
http://www.amazon.com/PCI-Express-XONAR-ESSENCE-STX-90-YAA0C0-0UAN00Z/dp/B001OV789U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425157247&sr=8-1&keywords=xonar+st

 
The Creative Labs Recon3D and Z (& Zx, ZxR) series all use the same SoundCore3D audio processor, like the one mounted on your motherboard.
The SoundCore3D comes with a built in DAC features, so your motherboard and the Recon3D use that DAC feature.
(the Recon3D's where never though of as having award winning audio quality)
The Z series come with a added DAC chip (or chips), which provides better audio quality, over just using the SoundCore3D's DAC features.
So a Sound Blaster Z ($60-$80) should offer at least a little better audio quality, over the on-board audio.
 
An Asus Xonar Essence STX should provide better audio quality, over your current motherboard's on-board audio.
The Essence STX has a better DAC chip, then the Z and Zx, and roughly equal to the ZxR.
Maybe try to find a used STX on eBay.

 

[s5300]

Sorry for having nothing constructive to throw in the thread - but I do want to say something.
 
Asrock tried to make the 'purity sound' **** seem so great.
I absolutely hate the sound from this mobo. My 6 year old M something mobo from asrock with VIA Audio drivers sounded 3x better. This realtek stuff is awful.
 
Never seen anybody post about this boards sound before anywhere really on the net.. so just had to get that rage out.

 

[KewlMunky]

  Sorry for having nothing constructive to throw in the thread - but I do want to say something.
 
Asrock tried to make the 'purity sound' **** seem so great.
I absolutely hate the sound from this mobo. My 6 year old M something mobo from asrock with VIA Audio drivers sounded 3x better. This realtek stuff is awful.
 
Never seen anybody post about this boards sound before anywhere really on the net.. so just had to get that rage out.

I had a Biostar motherboard with Realtek in it many years back, and the software for it was atrocious. It sucked at detecting plugged in devices, so I always had to manually adjust it for when I plugged in a headphone, 2.1 setup, or surround sound setup. It was just such a pain to do anything with. I have resented Realtek ever since.