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What do you think about the Realtek ALC892 Audio Codec?
Jan 1, 2013 at 7:21 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 16
Dexter M

Dexter M

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My mobo currently has this, the specifications are located here:
http://www.realtek.com.tw/products/productsView.aspx?Langid=1&PFid=28&Level=5&Conn=4&ProdID=284
 
I don't know what any of those things mean, so I'm not sure if it's a good "sound card" or not. 
 
Going to have M50's soon and was wondering if I could benefit from a premium sound card/USB DAC.
 
Jan 1, 2013 at 12:07 PM Post #2 of 16
Quote:
dexter m said:
My mobo currently has this, the specifications are located here:
http://www.realtek.com.tw/products/productsView.aspx?Langid=1&PFid=28&Level=5&Conn=4&ProdID=284
I don't know what any of those things mean, so I'm not sure if it's a good "sound card" or not. 
Going to have M50's soon and was wondering if I could benefit from a premium sound card/USB DAC.
Click to expand...

Chances are the Asus Xonar DG sound card ($25) will sound better then your on-board audio.
 
Jan 1, 2013 at 4:03 PM Post #4 of 16
Quote:
purpleangel said:
Chances are the Asus Xonar DG sound card ($25) will sound better then your on-board audio.
Click to expand...


Yea i agree, A friend of mine has a realtek onboard audio, when he used the DG that I sent him. He fell on the floor in shock, now he tells me that it awesome.
 
 
Quote:
dexter m said:
How does that work though? Will it always make a difference? How do I know when I need one, what do I look for in a sound card etc.
Click to expand...

The onboard audio devices tend to use cheap components when they implant them to the motherboards, there are only rare cases where they use good components, but the motherboard in up costing a arm and a leg.  Main thing I look for is the features that you want or that you will use. Then do compare between others, then find out the sound signature of the sound card to see is it the sound signature you want. If you was gonna use optical out, then just the features is what you be looking at on the sound card if your onboard don't have optical out or the features you want. I just notice that you mention the ATH-M50,  Those headphones would benefit from being plugged into a good source like the Xonar DG, the DG does have features that useful for gaming like Dolby headphone, as long you config DH correctly and use DH1 or DH2 modes.
 
Jan 1, 2013 at 4:24 PM Post #5 of 16
Quote:
genclaymore said:
Yea i agree, A friend of mine has a realtek onboard audio, when he used the DG that I sent him. He fell on the floor in shock, now he tells me that it awesome.
 
 
The onboard audio devices tend to use cheap components when they implant them to the motherboards, there are only rare cases where they use good components, but the motherboard in up costing a arm and a leg.  Main thing I look for is the features that you want or that you will use. Then do compare between others, then find out the sound signature of the sound card to see is it the sound signature you want. If you was gonna use optical out, then just the features is what you be looking at on the sound card if your onboard don't have optical out or the features you want. I just notice that you mention the ATH-M50,  Those headphones would benefit from being plugged into a good source like the Xonar DG, the DG does have features that useful for gaming like Dolby headphone, as long you config DH correctly and use DH1 or DH2 modes.
Click to expand...

Okay, so then the sound card on my mobo probably uses cheap parts which means even if it for example has 24,000 hz and my headphones are 20,000 hz it doesn't matter. I see, well if I'm unsatisfactory with my M50's I'll buy that $25 xonar dg. Thanks.
 
Jan 1, 2013 at 6:10 PM Post #8 of 16
Quote:
dexter m said:
How does that work though? Will it always make a difference? How do I know when I need one, what do I look for in a sound card etc.
Click to expand...

Motherboard makers are going to use the cheapest audio hardware they can get away with (need to keep costs down, anything to save a few cents).
So whatever DAC feature is built into the audio processor, was chosen for cost, not quality.
If Asus (and other sound card makers) does not make their sound cards sound better then on-board audio, their customer would just keep returning the sound cards.
So chances are any modern sound card will sound better (sometimes way better) then a motherboard's built in audio.
 
Jan 1, 2013 at 6:13 PM Post #9 of 16
Quote:
dexter m said:
Okay, so then the sound card on my mobo probably uses cheap parts which means even if it for example has 24,000 hz and my headphones are 20,000 hz it doesn't matter. I see, well if I'm unsatisfactory with my M50's I'll buy that $25 xonar dg. Thanks.
Click to expand...

I think at above 20,000hz, your above the hearing of the average person anyway.
 
Jan 1, 2013 at 8:15 PM Post #10 of 16
Quote:
purpleangel said:
Motherboard makers are going to use the cheapest audio hardware they can get away with (need to keep costs down, anything to save a few cents).
So whatever DAC feature is built into the audio processor, was chosen for cost, not quality.
If Asus (and other sound card makers) does not make their sound cards sound better then on-board audio, their customer would just keep returning the sound cards.
So chances are any modern sound card will sound better (sometimes way better) then a motherboard's built in audio.
Click to expand...

Oh okay I see then. Thanks.
 
Jun 30, 2013 at 5:00 PM Post #11 of 16
Did you try the Xonar DG?
 
Mar 15, 2015 at 8:37 AM Post #14 of 16
I too have the same Audio Codec on my Asrock 970 Extreme4, volume maxed out but not to my satisfaction which kinda suxs cause I wanted to go further and it might be bottlenecking my headphones (Superlux HD681 EVO) might just upgrade for  Xonar DG to make the most out of it.
 
Mar 15, 2015 at 9:02 AM Post #15 of 16
http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Product/Product_Detail.aspx?DetailID=1559&CategoryID=1&DetailName=Feature&MenuID=172&LanID=0

You can always go for this motherboard if you are looking for better than Realtek.
 
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