[soundaz]

Hi there,
I've been using my PC and phone to play music with my Audio Technica M50x headphones.
I have no dedicated audio card so i believe it's my asus sabertooth mark 1 motherboard that's giving me audio.
(Realtek HD audio as far as i know)

What i have noticed is that my phone (samsung galaxy s6) sounds a lot better. Both with my audiotechincas and with my beyron dynamic byron in-ears.

I have previously been told theres no need for a DAC for my M50xs as i wouldn't notice the difference. But would adding a sound-card into my PC rig be of benefit?
Both my phone and PC have no equalizers enabled. But the audio on my PC sounds really bad. There's just no punch or oomph to it.
I'm pretty hard up on cash so i wouldn't want to drop a significant amount on a soundcard.

Would it benefit my PC/audio experience to get a dedicated sound card?
Thankyou,
S

 

[PurpleAngel]

Hi there,
I've been using my PC and phone to play music with my Audio Technica M50x headphones.
I have no dedicated audio card so i believe it's my Asus Sabertooth mark 1 motherboard that's giving me audio.
(Realtek HD audio as far as i know)
What i have noticed is that my phone (samsung galaxy s6) sounds a lot better. Both with my audiotechincas and with my beyron dynamic byron in-ears.
I have previously been told theres no need for a DAC for my M50xs as i wouldn't notice the difference. But would adding a sound-card into my PC rig be of benefit?
Both my phone and PC have no equalizers enabled. But the audio on my PC sounds really bad. There's just no punch or oomph to it.
I'm pretty hard up on cash so i wouldn't want to drop a significant amount on a soundcard.
Would it benefit my PC/audio experience to get a dedicated sound card?
Thankyou,S

It seems the DAC function built into your phone is better then the DAC function built into the motherboard.

Your motherboard comes with the Realtek ALC1150 audio processor, which is usually decent, for on-board audio.
The Reaktek ALC1150 comes with a built in DAC function, higher priced motherboards will come with a separate add-on DAC chip.
You might try installing the latest Realtek software, just to make sure there is no software issue.
https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/SABERTOOTH_Z97_MARK_1/HelpDesk_Download/
After installing the updates, double check all the setting in the Realtek control panel.
If you stil have issues, a FiiO K1 is a $40 USB DAC, that would hopefully improve audio quality.
If you have a need for headphone surround sound, for FPS gaming, then a used Sound Blaster Z sound card ($60-$70) should do the job.