Sound Cards worth it anymore?

**Zelmon** · 05-10-12, 12:26 PM

I just got an XPS 8300 (great deal, couldnt pass up

) and wanted to add my old SoundBlaster XFI Xtreme Gamer card. Right now Im just using my onboard audio chip (Realtek Audio I think). Is it gonna be worth it to add the card and reconfigure everything?

**Zheta** · 05-10-12, 12:42 PM

I was using a X-Fi Platinum (PCI) for a long time because I like having the front panel and other options:

Overall I liked the sound and the options(ALchemy for old games and such) a bit better than the onboard card aswell, but I got tired of the drivers flaking out and the card not being recognized or the settings being reset by having to reinstall the drivers every few days.

I don't think the new Recon3D cards have that problem because they have better modern driver support. I have been thinking about getting one of those.

Creative Sound Blaster Recon3D Fatal1ty Champion PCIe Sound Card | Creative Labs Online Store

I guess I occasionally liked playing around with the built in midi and dynamic mic support, but... I am the type of person that is very sensitive to sound and different devices, and I spend hours fiddling with the settings on stereo equipment so as to not make it offend my senses and to come through as rich and natural as possible. I'm also very sensitive to low frequencies so I liked the bass limiting options better on the sound blaster as well. it's probably only worth it if you are wanting to do clear, sensitive recording or you have ears like mine where you pick up on really subtle differences in sound.

If you can get your old card to work hassle free, kudos for sure. These things always boil down to $ of course and having headphones/speakers/mic to match.

**Zheta** · 05-10-12, 12:47 PM

For midi I picked up one of these and it seems to work well enough for learning purposes: Amazon.com: USB MIDI Cable Converter PC to Music Keyboard: Electronics

**Zelmon** · 05-10-12, 12:59 PM

Lol, great info Zheta, I was just wondering if it will increase game play FPS and whatnot.

**Zheta** · 05-10-12, 01:17 PM

Not really... there were a few games like Battlefield 2 that used the "X-RAM" on some of the X-Fi cards to boost performance, but today those games run fine without it.

I know these guys seem to do objective reviews and they seem to like the newer cards, but only for gaming and only for the "scout mode" option.

HARDOCP - Testing-Games - Sound Blaster Recon3D Fatal1ty Sound Card Review

I don't think you'd see any FPS gains whatsoever.

**Zelmon** · 05-10-12, 01:32 PM

Thanks. I remember back in the day when a card did make a big difference....

**rush2049** · 05-10-12, 04:15 PM

If you are into sound fidelity and dynamic range (helps in some games if your ears can hear it) then yes sound cards help. If you are an obsessive person like me and wants the best of the best withing reason than like I found out recently, no a sound card isn't good enough you need external dedicated hardware for sound....

**WickedSoN** · 05-14-12, 03:02 PM

Back when the Pentium 60mhz with 8gb's of RAM was the bomb. Thats when I think I got my first soundblaster card (SB16 I think) ... I remember those days too! :P

**Rumble** · 05-14-12, 03:21 PM

I added a Creative Labs X-fi Recon3D to my system. Noticed a significant increase in sound quality. Worth it in my mind.

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**SapiensErus** · 05-14-12, 04:05 PM

I am using the Asus Maximus IV Gene-z/GEN3. It has a an integrated Realtek Audio solution running with a software layer from creative giving you a nice UI to adjust audio properties. I have used my original X-Fi Fatl1ty with I/O panel as well as a Fatal1ty Platinum in the same build just to listen. The difference is NOT detectable to my ear; usually it is (all my other builds have noticeably lower quality on the integrated solution than when using a discrete solution). Looking up the response ranges and SNR etc. it is comparable to my X-Fi's. I think some more expensive mobos have better audio cards than others.

But generally, my experience is that an external solution sounds better.

As far as performance, I will echo that on older systems a discrete solution saved CPU cycles and RAM. but anymore there is so much processing power and memory available it does not matter nearly as much.

I am thinking of getting a 690 and a Xonar and seeing if it sounds better than my Creative (or realtek onboard ...). I have had all kinds of problems with Creative's driver support over the years.