[Jaide]

Hello,

I was wondering if the quality between an on-board sound and a dedicated sound card has a vast gap. I'm considering getting a dedicated one, but I want to know if it's a good idea first.

Thanks!

 

[wotef]

Possibly marginal. Which card? Which onboard? What speakers/chain?

 

[Jaide]

I'm not sure about the onboard one. My motherboard is an MSI Night Elf and the website says it's Audio Boost 3, but I can't find the actual chip model. As for the dedicated card, I was planning to get an Aus Xonar DSX since it's relatively affordable.

I mostly use headsets and plan to buy a HyperX Could II, I heard that it's a great headset at the price point, or at least get one of these headsets. Does the sound card only matter if you're on speaker?

I'm not really sure what's wrong with my onboard, but it sounds nothing like my stereo when I plug headphones in them.

 

[wotef]

Boost 3 is Realtek ALC1150 - that's the top one. Xonar will be small upgrade at most; not justifying the cost. Headphone output quality between the onboard and Xonar is determined by the headphone output circuit. Hyper X headset seems USB, so will be driving itself. Onboard/soundcard is bypassed altogether.

 

[Justin0505]

I have an "Asus Essence STX II Hi-Fi" PCI sound card for a few years and have been happy with it. I got it because I wasnt ready to take the jump to more expensive external components at the time. Still, at over $200 it's not "cheap" https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132072.

It's got several gain modes to handle anything form IEM's all the way up to 600ohm planars. However, if you want to play quiet songs LOUD on very hard to dive cans, it does run out of steam before reaching hearing-damage levels of volume.... but for the vast majority of headphones its going to be more than powerful enough (it would drive my HD650's loud enough I could use them as speakers).

I've also never heard a hiss or any detectable noise.

You also get some sound tuning features like EQ, and 3 levels dolby simulated surround for headphones (more fun / useful than I expected), but I suppose all those things could be achieved with different add-on software if you where using external components.

The other issue is how much you want a good mic input. My MB's line in was noisy and under-powered for my modmic4.

If you want a comparably priced external all-in-one, A newer interface option(DAC, amp, mic in (ADC)) is the Mayflower ARC. Which you can find a thread on it here: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/mayflower-arc.854021/page-3

If you dont need the mic input (or are happy with onboard sound / a usb mic adapter dongle), and want to keep cost low, you could look into the Schiit Fulla 2.

 

[Jaide]

Onboard/soundcard is bypassed altogether.

I wasn't aware that having a USB output would bypass the onboard and the sound card. Thank you very much for the information and it seems like it's not really a huge boost in between what my current on-board is vs the dedicated sound card. Thank you for the input.

The other issue is how much you want a good mic input. My MB's line in was noisy and under-powered for my modmic4.

Hi, yes this is an issue that I have though I was never certain if it was my on-board or my mic, since currently I'm using a budge A4tech. Not really the best mic nor sound quality.

Thanks for all the input.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Hello,
I was wondering if the quality between an on-board sound and a dedicated sound card has a vast gap. I'm considering getting a dedicated one, but I want to know if it's a good idea first.
Thanks!

Your motherboard comes with the Realtek ALC1150 on-board audio processor, which is decent for on-board audio (the Realtek ALC1200 seems to be Realtek's newest chip).

 

[PurpleAngel]

I'm not sure about the onboard one. My motherboard is an MSI Night Elf and the website says it's Audio Boost 3, but I can't find the actual chip model. As for the dedicated card, I was planning to get an Aus Xonar DSX since it's relatively affordable.
I mostly use headsets and plan to buy a HyperX Could II, I heard that it's a great headset at the price point, or at least get one of these headsets. Does the sound card only matter if you're on speaker?
I'm not really sure what's wrong with my onboard, but it sounds nothing like my stereo when I plug headphones in them.

I'm not sure the Xonar DGX would really be a noticeable improvement, over the ALC1150.
I would try and talk you into getting the Kingston HyperX Cloud I, not the Cloud II, As I doubt the USB adapter that comes with the Cloud II would be any better then plugging the headphones directly into the motherboard.

A Creative Labs Sound Blaster Z sound card, would be a more worthwhile choice, over the DGX.

 

[Justin0505]

A Creative Labs Sound Blaster Z sound card, would be a more worthwhile choice, over the DGX.

I've had nothing but terrible experience with creative products. 4 different sound cards over the years from pretty low-level to flagship they all sounded good when they where working, but they where plagued by issues: abysmal drivers, horrible stability, terrible support, the last card I had from them would randomly crash my computer and when doing so it would emit a horrible ear-damaging hi-pitched static scream at 100% volume until I manually shut-off the computer.

Asus all the way. Mine has been flawless for 4 years.

 

[fufula]

The difference between, say, ALC887 and Essence ST is pretty drastic, especially after you upgrade it with some nice opamps.

I've had nothing but terrible experience with creative products. 4 different sound cards over the years from pretty low-level to flagship they all sounded good when they where working, but they where plagued by issues: abysmal drivers, horrible stability, terrible support, the last card I had from them would randomly crash my computer and when doing so it would emit a horrible ear-damaging hi-pitched static scream at 100% volume until I manually shut-off the computer.

Asus all the way. Mine has been flawless for 4 years.

I've never had any problems with any Creative Labs hardware. ASUS, on the other hand, has been pretty terrible. But don't take my word for it, check out this thread. With the amount of hardware/software combinations possible there's bound to be some driver issues with pretty much every piece of computer equipment, but I've never encountered anything as severe as with ASUS Xonar Essence ST.

 

[Justin0505]

The difference between, say, ALC887 and Essence ST is pretty drastic, especially after you upgrade it with some nice opamps.




I've never had any problems with any Creative Labs hardware. ASUS, on the other hand, has been pretty terrible. But don't take my word for it, check out this thread. With the amount of hardware/software combinations possible there's bound to be some driver issues with pretty much every piece of computer equipment, but I've never encountered anything as severe as with ASUS Xonar Essence ST.

That's funny, the issue described in the post you linked was exactly what I experience with my last(ever) Creative card. It was something more than software/drives though because not long after the card failed completely and became undetectable by the computer.

I agree with your general point though: in a system as complex as a PC, with billions of possible unique configurations there's potential for conflicts with everything.

I think that bottom line for me is that you will always see the greatest long-term value from just doing things "right" the fist time (something I've learned by NOT doing things that way many times). An external dac/ amp / adc will usually be the most reliable, best sounding, and longest lasting solution.

I think that if you have "decent" on-board audio its worth sticking with that until you can invest in a decent external DAC/AMP at least on the ~$100 level of an ODAC/AMP combo Schiit Fulla2.

For mic in (ADC), I think you can improve that for $10 with a simple USB dongle like this one: https://antlionaudio.com/collections/accessories/products/antlion-audio-usb-adapter