CMI8738

Discussion in 'Soundcards, Speakers HiFI & File formats' started by testcy, Jun 10, 2019.

  1. testcy

    testcy Guest

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  2. Tacoboy

    Tacoboy Guest

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    I'm guessing one of those low cost sound cards (CMI8738) would be roughly equal to a motherboard's on-board audio in the $100-$150 range.
    If you list a budget and what audio devices (headphones, speakers, etc) you plan on using, I might be able to steer you to the best bang for the buck.
     
  3. testcy

    testcy Guest

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    I am planning to use both speakers and headphones, but I am looking for an inexpensive card, so I don't have great expectations. From a little research I did, the CMI8738 seems ancient and I think a card based on the latest Realtek S1220A would be much better. For example something like the Asus Xonar SE?

    https://www.asus.com/Sound-Cards/Xonar-SE/specifications/

    Unless there are better options?
     
  4. Tacoboy

    Tacoboy Guest

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    Yea, the CMI8738 audio processor is getting old, but I still think the Asus Xonar DG or DGX is a decent sound card.
    What make and model headphones and speakers do you have or are planning to buy.
    Are the headphones use for FPS gaming or movies or music?
    Check out sound cards using the CM8828 audio processor, it's native PCI-E.
    I've never knew Asus had a sound card with the ALC1220 audio processor, which is very commonly used for on-board audio.
     

  5. testcy

    testcy Guest

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    I am mainly interested in movies and music. I will probably get new speakers and headphones soon, but I have not yet decided yet. I have not seen a card with CM8828, but Asus Xonar DGX uses CMI8786.

    https://www.asus.com/Sound-Cards/Xonar_DGX/

    Not sure how the two compare?
     
  6. Tacoboy

    Tacoboy Guest

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    Oops, CMI8786, your right.
     
  7. AntiSnipe

    AntiSnipe Master Guru

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    I know this thread is getting a bit old but, for other folks who might land here from a google search...

    The 8738 chips, were excellent in their day, but we're talking 2006 or so? Just about any onboard Realtek chip will be as good or better and have much newer/better drivers.
    The 8768 chips were even better, but also ancient at this point. Are there even Windows 10 drivers at all? I have several of them, but they are all PCI and can not even be used any more.

    All that said, if I found one with PCIe and a driver that works in Windows 10, I would have no problem at all using it to this day...but realistically, you might as well just use the onboard Realtek unless it happens to be one of the occassional "badly implemented" ones some motherboards have that cause pops/clicks and the like.

    These C-Media chips were all I would/will use to avoid anything with the Creative name on it. I f@#$ing hate Creative. Will not use, ever again!

    I have a Xonar SE card now and here are my thoughts on that. The actual sound is very good for the price (analog or optical output) but it has some quirks.
    1. Optical output cuts off the first 1-2 seconds of EVERY audio stream it plays. Short Windows sounds, for example only play the trailing end of the sound or are not even heard at all. So a "kabliiiiiiiing" sound is just "iing", and "biiing" is not even heard at all. Here is a workaround: http://veg.by/en/projects/soundkeeper
    2. Analog output has short dropouts/hiccups/stutters every few minutes or so. Very annoying. This was fairly bad on Win10 1809, and is less severe/gone on 1903. No idea why but the onboard realtek and my usb headset never do this on the exact same build. My Windows install is 'lean and clean' so it's not caused by virus scanners or anything like that spiking the CPU.
    3. As usual with Asus, the latest drivers are old and almost never updated. They show 2018, but I am pretty sure they are based on ancient c-media drivers from 2015. They work fine though. Windows 10 will load a limited but working generic driver for it, so it is 'plug and play' but Windows Update Catalog has no drivers for it at all.
    It uses a C-Media USB2.0 6620A Sound Processor (intended for usb headsets?) paired with a Realtek S1220A DAC. USB...on a PCIe card? Odd. So the card also has an ASMedia usb controller on it. Just weird.

    I also have a Xonar DG. Was a very good card (but not really better than my onboard Realtek ALC892) until I moved to a MB with no PCI slots, so the PCIe DGX and the SE were my only two options when I was shopping. The SE is newer, has better specs, but the DGX (DG on a PCIe board) is no slouch.

    If I did not need the optical output (my motherboard has no digital outputs at all) I would just stick with the onboard audio these days. I run mine to a decent quality receiver/amp and very nice home built speakers and the difference between onboard ALC892 and even the Xonar SE (forget the older ones) is tiny.
     
    Last edited: Oct 12, 2020

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