[Amish]

I've owned this mobo for a couple of weeks now and I have not tried the onboard audio yet. I have it disabled and been using my Creative X-Fi USB external sound card. I also own a Creative X-Fi XtremeMusic but I don't use it due to needing a flexijack for digital out. I also own a M-Audio Delta 44 w/ break out box which is a decent card but offers no digital out; just analog. The X-Fi USB external card has all the outs that I require so I have been using it but let me tell you it sucks. At anything over 50% volume the sibilation is just way too much.

I run Toslink out to my Harmon Kardon 3490 receiver and use it's built in DAC (AKM, AK-4384 DAC which offers a 24 bit 192Khz. It has a Cirrus Logic CS 48560 DSP) to output to my speakers, sub and cans.

So this brought me to a search for a new sound card. Now I'm willing to buy a new card and willing to spend $200-$300 for it but then I noticed my new mobo box and saw the below info:   

 
 
 
 
 

Lossless 24-bit/192KHz HD Audio

Onboard PC audio gets better! MSI is the first to implement the most high-end HD Audio codecs available. Don’t be fooled by other inferior audio solutions onboard (sometimes you can’t even find the driver!) Only MSI offers the Loss-less 24-bit/192KHz HD Audio function with an incredible 109 SNR dB value to provide the most clear & vivid HD audio quality and support 7.1 channels surround sound playback with a 2-channel independent stereo output (multiple streaming) through the front panel 3.5 inch phone jack. 

 

 

THX TruStudio PRO

THX is a trade mark of a high-end audio/visual reproduction standard for movies, home theaters, computer speakers and other audio devices. THX Certified Audio products are designed to let users experience movies & videos as live show. The true sound effect can make high definition video more powerful.

Features
- A high-fidelity sound reproduction standard
- Accurately reproduce the fullest audio experience of movie, music and game soundtracks
 

I can't test it out till I get home tonight but I'm wondering if anyone here has experience with this board and if so what do you personally think of tis onboard audio? If anyone is interested I will post my findings after some testing.

 

[Amish]

Well I can see that there is no interest in this but maybe someone will find what I have to say worth reading.
 
I setup my onboard and windows 7 detected it at 24 bit 192000 Hz. So far so good I thought. I then tossed on some cans and started testing.
 
Two things stand out:
 
1. Sibilation is virtually gone.
2. SQ has increased.
 
I listened to my lossless music collection...several songs using both my onboard and external sound card (I would alternate between each card and could hear a big big difference.
 
The most important result is that the hiss is almost completely gone while using headphones. With the external card the hiss was so very loud that I had to keep the PC volume at 50% and it was still present. With my onboard I can max the PC volume to 100% and I can just barley hear the hiss when music is not playing but its nearly non-existant. Almost perfect.
 
I then tested the TosLink Vs Coaxial and then things became ...warmer. What an improvement.
 
I have always been a diehard dedicated sound card guy and always against onboard sound but this new realtek 24 bit 192000 Hz lossless chip is damn impressive.
 
Now is it good enough? For now. If I see a card out there that i know will further blow my mind then I'll buy it but for now I'm quite happy.

 

[Snag1e]

Hmmm.. Interesting. I'm glad you're liking it =]

 

[kalston]

USB controllers are extremely dodgy on newer motherboards (Sandy Bridge ones and also i7 ones I've heard), I'm not sure why but it causes a lot of issues for gamers and their USB mice for example.
Maybe your external soundcard sounds bad for the same reason?

 

[Amish]

Maybe but the mic attached to the external sound card worked flawlessly. In fact the external sound card worked good I just didn't like the amount of hiss I would get from the setup. And it lacked the SQ I wanted.