[gameaholic]

I am thinking about getting the maximus vi formula Motherboard but have not found any in depth reviews specific toward the sound.  Does anyone have any experience with this board?  The Asus ROG line has several boards with different SNR ratings and this is the highest.  How important is this spec?  

 

[PurpleAngel]

Maximus VI Formula comes with a CS 4398 DAC chip
and the same headphone amplifier as a Sound Blaster ZxR and Essence STX/ST
It uses the Realtek chip-set audio processor.
 
It the best on-board audio hardware I've ever seen.
I'm guessing the board is too new, to have many reviews, if any, on the web.

 

[NamelessPFG]

I wouldn't bother buying a motherboard solely for its integrated audio.
 
That said, it does appear that they're at least doing better with it than they used to.
 
My main concern is the lack of anything like CMSS-3D Headphone, Dolby Headphone, THX TSP/SBX Pro Surround, etc. in the driver set. Without that, all you'll be getting out of your headphones in most cases is plain stereo. (I suppose there's still that Sonic Radar software to take into consideration, though...)