Thread: Sound Cards

So, I'm a bit of an audiophile. I'm hypersensitive to sound so audio quality is very important to me. Am I right in thinking that onboard sound is based upong the CPU? If so, with how powerful modern CPUs are and with how modern CPUs are all multicore, is there a point to having a sound card anymore? Would I be better off getting one of those pairs of Logitech headsets everyone is so crazy about around here?

As for background, I'll be using it for movies, games, and especially music (for work and for pleasure).

Also, if I am to get a sound card, what are people's recomendations?

Everything I've read on Creative is that they haven't made the transition over to Windows 7 in terms of drivers completely yet. I've had two laptop sound cards by them and haven't any major issues though (on XP, Vista, or 7).

As far as Asus, I've read that a lot of people get extra digital noise generated when either nothing is playing or while playing games. I know BD used to really like them (put in them in more than a few of his BD Boxes), though.

Then, there's HT Omega, which I know nothing about, but they do have rave reviews.

I have a Soundblaster X-fi Titanium PCI-E running under Windows7 64 bit that I like quite a lot. I have had no driver issues, sound quality is great. I run mine through a NewQ preamp/DSP and it always sounds awesome on my Sennheisers or my speakers. Your mileage may vary.

Originally Posted by DJ Mr. White

Also, if I am to get a sound card, what are people's recomendations?

Everything I've read on Creative is that they haven't made the transition over to Windows 7 in terms of drivers completely yet. I've had two laptop sound cards by them and haven't any major issues though (on XP, Vista, or 7).

As far as Asus, I've read that a lot of people get extra digital noise generated when either nothing is playing or while playing games. I know BD used to really like them (put in them in more than a few of his BD Boxes), though.

Then, there's HT Omega, which I know nothing about, but they do have rave reviews.

I can speak to my ASUS Xonar DX. It is AWESOME. I found that the noise was from something so simple. In the tweak settings for the Asus Software there is a 'monitor' option for the microphone. It is defaulted to on. This caused me some issues until I finally located it and disabled it. I have had a Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer and when it comes to listening to music, it's not even close to my Asus. When in game, the Asus really defines the in game sounds. I can locate on positions where a shot came from, with relative ease and I'm not using any special headphones. Just a 30$ pair of Plantronics. From what I've read and seen, the Asus Essence has a better audio range for the Audiophile creep . Also, some of the guys from PR have noticed that I can really locate them in game. The ability of the card to define in game sounds, makes it hard to sneak up on me, and I can almost always tell where someone is coming from and where they are going too.

Originally Posted by Gumby

I have a Soundblaster X-fi Titanium PCI-E running under Windows7 64 bit that I like quite a lot. I have had no driver issues, sound quality is great. I run mine through a NewQ preamp/DSP and it always sounds awesome on my Sennheisers or my speakers. Your mileage may vary.

I tried that card before I got my Asus. Unfortunately for me, it would never properly load the audio drivers for Win7. I even went so far as to exchange the card at Best Buy, it didn't correct the problem for me. After a waste of time over a 3 day period I simply refunded the card, then had my buddy at the local PC shop order me in the Asus Xonar DX1 PCI-E. Once I told him how well the card worked, he ordered in some extras and made some nice computer sales with those cards. He had also experienced issues with the Creative Line with Win7. Unless Creative finally got their shit together, and up to this point I haven't heard any changes, they can be very fickle with Win7. Who knows, maybe they finally fixed their issues. If I remember it right, it had something to do with the Chipset on the cards and the special software they had that was not compatible with Win7.

I had an ASUS Xonar PCI-E card in my HTPC as I thought it would make a difference. I sampled hundreds of different clips, from CDs, MP3s, BluRay movies, .MKV files, and I couldn't notice a difference between the two. I pulled the Xonar out and returned it.

That being said, your results may vary, but when it comes to sound, the Creative X-Fi series of products are great. I have the affordable XtremeGamer in my gaming rig. It has a 1 GHz processor to handle all of the audio processing so your CPU doesn't have to handle. The ASUS card is similar. Your human ears will likely not notice any difference from the sound that comes from either brand of cards. Hook it up to some serious mics and audio testing equipment and you may see some variances.

Originally Posted by HeavyG

I had an ASUS Xonar PCI-E card in my HTPC as I thought it would make a difference. I sampled hundreds of different clips, from CDs, MP3s, BluRay movies, .MKV files, and I couldn't notice a difference between the two. I pulled the Xonar out and returned it.

That being said, your results may vary, but when it comes to sound, the Creative X-Fi series of products are great. I have the affordable XtremeGamer in my gaming rig. It has a 1 GHz processor to handle all of the audio processing so your CPU doesn't have to handle. The ASUS card is similar. Your human ears will likely not notice any difference from the sound that comes from either brand of cards. Hook it up to some serious mics and audio testing equipment and you may see some variances.

Once I can actually get an apartment/home, the plan is to set up a 7.1 surround system. I already have a pretty nice 5.1 system, but I just don't have the room in my office or in my dorm room for it (fucking huge subwoofer). Chances are that I'll have the PC at my office. We'll probably start shifting some of our audio editing over to it, as our old maker is getting pretty ancient. We have a nice high end mic for recording we ordered through BSW to replace the one we had that was stolen and some very nice speakers/amp it will be hooked up to for play back testing.

I'm also wondering about headsets. Would it be better to get a high end headset or to stick with my nice sennheiser headset for gaming and get a separate paid of headphones for music?

Originally Posted by Rumble

I happen to have a Xonar D2X that is sitting in a box right now. Not being used. I'd give it to you pretty cheap. If you're interested. For gaming I prefer the X-Fi i have now for the Alchemy support.

The Xonar D2X was $200 when I bought it but I would hand it over for $50 + shipping.

Tempting, but I'm not sure which brand I want to go with yet.

Originally Posted by DJ Mr. White

Once I can actually get an apartment/home, the plan is to set up a 7.1 surround system. I already have a pretty nice 5.1 system, but I just don't have the room in my office or in my dorm room for it (fucking huge subwoofer). Chances are that I'll have the PC at my office. We'll probably start shifting some of our audio editing over to it, as our old maker is getting pretty ancient. We have a nice high end mic for recording we ordered through BSW to replace the one we had that was stolen and some very nice speakers/amp it will be hooked up to for play back testing.

I'm also wondering about headsets. Would it be better to get a high end headset or to stick with my nice sennheiser headset for gaming and get a separate paid of headphones for music?

If this is the case, you would likely be running either HDMI/Optical out from your sound card and your receiver would be processing the sound. You don't need an expensive sound card for this and most on-board audio cards will do fine. I use an Optical out on my HTPC to my Yamaha 115w x 7 channel receiver. I could tell no difference between the two as it is all digital 1's and 0's being transmitted. The difference in sound would be based on the receiver that actually processes the digital signal and converts it to analog.

For my gaming PC, I purchased the Corsair 2.1 SP2500 speakers for general purpose use. They are seriously loud for PC speakers and sound fantastic for gaming and music. For me, 2.1 speakers are fine for my PC. I use my G35 headset when I need the surround effects.

Gaming Audio Series

As for getting headphones for music alone, there are a lot of options out there, and I am sure you are aware that things can get pricey, very fast. I don't know a lot about the higher end headphones. There was a recent TWICH (This week in Computer Hardware) podcast where they covered high end headphones. Patrick Norton is a real headphone geek and knows a lot about them.

The TWiT Netcast Network with Leo Laporte

It looks like he actually covered it on this Tekzilla podcast:

Drop CPU Temps, Speed Up Your Machine! Headphones from $20 to... - Tekzilla

It may help... it may not. If you do not regularly listen to these podcasts, you should! I also regularly listed to the PC Perspectives podcast. They are quite informative.