Would aftermarket soundcard make a diffrerence

Discussion in 'Soundcards, Speakers HiFI & File formats' started by nateluthje, Feb 28, 2017.

  1. Agent-A01

    Agent-A01 Ancient Guru

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    Using low Ohm headphones so not sure if the question is related to external speakers but i have 'audiophile' AC1150 realtek and it sounds like garbage compared to the phoebus sound card.

    Realtek sounds muddy and dull in comparison.
     
  2. RealNC

    RealNC Ancient Guru

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    Don't know about sound quality*, but the Dolby Headphone feature of my Xonar (it converts 5.1/7.1 surround to binaural audio for stereo headphones) is something I cannot live without anymore.

    * There IS a difference in sound quality which can be proven (scientifically), but I don't know if it's actually audible.
     
  3. IAmGhostDog

    IAmGhostDog Guest

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    Amen brother.
    When I built my rig, I gave the onboard a go. Games/music and such.
    Then I installed my HT| Omega Claro
    Night and day.
     
  4. GenClaymore

    GenClaymore Ancient Guru

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    Why do people feel the need to tell others what they hear or don't hear just because they can't. People ear's are different and besides that, people that notice tend to have good gear to be able to. You shouldn't tell people what they can or can't hear because you cant. Then go tell them that it's placebo that's an slap in their face. You don't have their ears slapped on the side of your head.

    If they didn't hear the difference then they wouldn't had kept the gear in the first place, usually it takes a while before you do. I had people tell me that they didn't think they would notice, til they went to go back to their onboard audio and notice right off the back, that it's different then what they was used to after they been using the sound card for a while. Then there are people that do notice it right off the back who are some times the people who have experiences with different audio sources who are used to changes in the audio.

    Your gear play an important role, if you have sub par speakers and headphones and you go plug them into an good source, of course you might not notice it, same in reverse. If you pair dollar store headphones with an sound blaster Z of course you wont notice it and send the card back, same if you pair an good pair of headphones with an standard on-board audio. That's why having an good source along with the gear matters, so you can actual hear the difference. Yea there are people who still can't and there nothing wrong with those people, they just can't notice it and nothing will change that for them.

    Personally I don't care what Nwaguy post in his blog, because I know what I hear and don't hear and I def don't need some guy with an blog and an person linking me to them in threads, trying to tell me that I don't hear this or that, or that my op-amp rolling is an waste of time because he Nwaguy says so, when my experience say other wise. As I purposing using them in circuits they not design for in the first place,to get that change in sound signature that I'm looking for. I always write down notes during my weeks or listening and then compare notes, so I know I actually hearing the differences.

    Now I have used my motherboard many times and recently to test something and it always been lifeless and dead sounding. I always had to use an sound card or something to get improved audio, because I do not like the way my onboard audio sound. Now there nothing wrong with liking it, but you shouldn't tell people that its good enough for them, when in fact it isn't. As not every one have the same taste in sound. The said person will always have to decide for their self, others cant decide for them.

    Also not all onboard audio chips are bad in audio quality granted most are, still there are some exceptions to them, such as the core 3D that are on some gigabyte motherboards,The C-media and wolfson dac combo that on certain msi motherboards. Plus that asus motherboard that comes with an external dac/amp that's separated from the motherboard audio, that goes into the front panel bay that uses saber and the TI6120A2 hp amp ic, which gets it power from the 4 pin psu plug and then connects by usb. The main issues with these is their cost and you would be better off just getting an sound card or go external with the cost of these motherboards.

    I know it's an long post but I felt I needed to do a lot of typing.
     
    Last edited: Mar 3, 2017

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