Will the new Asus Maximus VI Impact be a upgrade?

[Markus]

Hey guys, I currently own a Creative X-Fi Titanium HD and I'm using Sennheiser PC 360 headphones and Corsair SP2500 speakers.

I was wondering if purchasing the new Maximus VI Impact would be a upgrade in sound quality. I want a small factor computer, so would it be worth sacrificing the PCIe slot or should I buy the Maximus VI Gene and continue to use my Titanium HD?

 

If the Titanium HD is just a small gap over the on-board sound quality on the Impact, I'd still see that as a upgrade.

[ShearMe]

Based on pure measurements, it probably isn't an upgrade.

Based on human hearing, they're probably practically the same.

[Markus]

I'm not a audiophile, but I like to know that I have good sound when I'm gaming, listening to music or wathcing movies.

[ShearMe]

Audio reproduction has basically reached it's peak. There's a huge difference between the way certain speakers/headphones sound, but as far as the source there's nearly no innovation to be made. As long as the DAC and amplifier circuits are made well, they'll sound good. I have the Asus Maximus Gene V, and the sound is better than the Xonar DG I used to own (with impedance compatible headphones, of course).

 

I'd be willing to bet you wont hear a difference between the old soundcard and this new mobo if you ended up building that PC.

[XzzDSA]

I'm not too sure about the Creative X-Fi Titanium HD card.

But it's proberly a downgrade tbh. Although onboard sound is getting better and better with new generations, there just isn't enough space for good quality components.

So in terms of sound quality it's plausible that it's a downgrade, but if you are not an audiophile, you proberly won't care as much. The onboard sound has been getting quite good the last couple of gens.

[ShearMe]

there just isn't enough space for good quality components.

 

O rly? How much space do these components need?

[XzzDSA]

O rly? How much space do these components need?

It has to do with interference. Hence the reason that motherboard manufactures try to seperate the audio part on the motherboard from the rest of the board. (Less interference and better sound.)

[t0wer]

you can always go external if you want the small form factor.

[Guest GRRigger]

Audio reproduction has basically reached it's peak. There's a huge difference between the way certain speakers/headphones sound, but as far as the source there's nearly no innovation to be made. As long as the DAC and amplifier circuits are made well, they'll sound good. I have the Asus Maximus Gene V, and the sound is better than the Xonar DG I used to own (with impedance compatible headphones, of course).

 

I'd be willing to bet you wont hear a difference between the old soundcard and this new mobo if you ended up building that PC.

You do realize that source you are refering to, has to be processed from one form in another ( digital / analog ). And yes, it does make huge difference. You just cant compare realtek processor to xfi titanium. But you can compare xonar d2 to sb titanium. 

 

It has to do with interference. Hence the reason that motherboard manufactures try to seperate the audio part on the motherboard from the rest of the board. (Less interference and better sound.)

x.fi has shield, so emi interferance is taken care of. 

[XzzDSA]

 

x.fi has shield, so emi interferance is taken care of. at least most of them ( fatality ones )

 

I'm talking about the onboard sound. Although taking a look at the impact board now, it looks to have a pretty beefy soundcard. To fully decide which one is better though, you would proberly have to try it out in person. You can't blindly trust review anyways.

[t0wer]

You do realize that source you are refering to, has to be processed from one form in another ( digital / analog ). And yes, it does make huge difference. You just cant compare realtek processor to xfi titanium. But you can compare xonar d2 to sb titanium. 

 

as someone who has, integrated sound, usb dac/amp, and standalone dac.

the biggest difference IMO is noise floor, and it's not as big as you'd expect.

[ShearMe]

You do realize that source you are refering to, has to be processed from one form in another ( digital / analog ). And yes, it does make huge difference. You just cant compare realtek processor to xfi titanium. But you can compare xonar d2 to sb titanium. 

 

You do realize that "source" I am referring to is the collection of components that do the "processing" from one form to another (digital to analog converter or DAC)? And no, it does not make a huge difference when the circuits are properly designed.

 

Comparing my $700 DAC and tube amp stack to my recently acquired $50 FiiO E10, the only difference I perceive is that well-known "warmth" of tubes. Some have argued that my hearing is shot and that I don't know what I'm talking about, but if that were true, would I even hear the tube amp's distortion?

[h264]

You do realize that source you are refering to, has to be processed from one form in another ( digital / analog ). And yes, it does make huge difference. You just cant compare realtek processor to xfi titanium. But you can compare xonar d2 to sb titanium.

 

You do realize that "source" I am referring to is the collection of components that do the "processing" from one form to another (digital to analog converter or DAC)? And no, it does not make a huge difference when the circuits are properly designed.

 

Well, I'd say it's hard to poorly design a DAC these days.  Maybe there's a few onboard chips left with less than ideal drivers and poor laptop audio chips.

 

I'd think it's better to have well designed boards with cheap components rather than expensive components on a terribly designed board.  It's all about the implementation of the components together. 

 

However, make no mistake, There's no audible difference between the cheapest 16/44.1 DAC (say a Behringer UCA202) and say a 24/192 DAC (Essence STX) DAC (not the amp, that's a different story).  Why? Because both are well above the level your ears can hear the difference, and well above the level you can even MEASURE that difference easily.

 

see:

 

http://www.xiph.org/video/vid2.shtml

[Markus]

If the audio solution of the Impact can compare to any mid/high-end sound card, I don't really care, not that much to loose.

[LAwLz]

About audio quality between different AMPs and DACs, it's also worth noting that people are very, very biased about this and are often affected by placebo. They think one thing will sound better than the other, because people have told them it does, and then they fool themselves subconsciously into thinking it really does sound better.

About a year ago I did a FLAC vs MP3 test, but I told people that the MP3 file was actually FLAC and vice versa. So people thought that the MP3 file was losslessly, and they thought the actual lossless file was quite heavily compressed, and would you know, a lot of people said that the MP3 file (which they thought was FLAC) sounded better, when it should have sounded worse. They expected the file they thought was FLAC to sound better, so they subconsciously tricked themselves into thinking it did sound better. I got a feeling it's the same thing with a lot of people who say sound cards are amazing and onboard is crap.

[Markus]

About audio quality between different AMPs and DACs, it's also worth noting that people are very, very biased about this and are often affected by placebo. They think one thing will sound better than the other, because people have told them it does, and then they fool themselves subconsciously into thinking it really does sound better.

About a year ago I did a FLAC vs MP3 test, but I told people that the MP3 file was actually FLAC and vice versa. So people thought that the MP3 file was losslessly, and they thought the actual lossless file was quite heavily compressed, and would you know, a lot of people said that the MP3 file (which they thought was FLAC) sounded better, when it should have sounded worse. They expected the file they thought was FLAC to sound better, so they subconsciously tricked themselves into thinking it did sound better. I got a feeling it's the same thing with a lot of people who say sound cards are amazing and onboard is crap.

 

Sound cards are actually amazing, when I got my Titanium HD, I had used onboard crap for over 2 years, and I had just bought my SP2500. When I used my speakers with the onboard sound solution the sound was "trapped", like I knew my speakers could deliver something better than that. After a few weeks I got my sound card, I installed the card and the drivers and wanted to test it out, HUGE difference, sound was clearer and overall better. I don't want to go back to trapped sound from my speakers, you know? I'm really interrested in a response from someone who actually has a Maximus VI Impact, so that I can base my purchase of fact, not theory.

[ShearMe]

Sound cards are actually amazing, when I got my Titanium HD, I had used onboard crap for over 2 years, and I had just bought my SP2500. When I used my speakers with the onboard sound solution the sound was "trapped", like I knew my speakers could deliver something better than that. After a few weeks I got my sound card, I installed the card and the drivers and wanted to test it out, HUGE difference, sound was clearer and overall better. I don't want to go back to trapped sound from my speakers, you know? I'm really interrested in a response from someone who actually has a Maximus VI Impact, so that I can base my purchase of fact, not theory.

 

Older on board audio was indeed pretty crappy. Newer on board audio has made great strides to implement their audio chip set correctly.

[Markus]

Older on board audio was indeed pretty crappy. Newer on board audio has made great strides to implement their audio chip set correctly.

 

Well, I'm just waiting for people to post what they think about the sound quality of the Impact, it it's the same as the SupremeFX on previous generations of the RoG boards, where it's just a Realtek chip with a cover and some software, I'll just get the Gene and use my current sound card...

[ShearMe]

I have the Gene V - sound is better than my Xonar DG.

[Nit3Rid3R]

I have never used any Creative sound card, so don't quote me on this.

 

I think it would be more of a downgrade, because a dedicated sound card is always better than an onboard sound card. 

[mr moose]

You do realize that source you are refering to, has to be processed from one form in another ( digital / analog ). And yes, it does make huge difference. You just cant compare realtek processor to xfi titanium. But you can compare xonar d2 to sb titanium. 

 

x.fi has shield, so emi interferance is taken care of. 

 

You can compare a realtek to a titanium, because the problem is implementation.  The only real difference is noise floor. A poor implementation of any chip be it a realtek, C-media, National semiconductor, cirrus logic or a proprietary creative labs chip will have interference and noise.

 

These chips are by far the least important part of the signal chain.  Analogue coupling of devices is more important and the MOST important are the speakers/headphones, they are the weakest link on the reproduction side of things. A titanium with $5 headphones will suck and a realtek with $300 headphones will sound awesome. 

[ShearMe]

I have never used any Creative sound card, so don't quote me on this.

 

I think it would be more of a downgrade, because a dedicated sound card is always better than an onboard sound card. 

 

I'm quoting you on this, because that simply isn't true. :P

[Nit3Rid3R]

I'm quoting you on this, because that simply isn't true. :P

Like I said, never used Creative sound cards before. 

 

But with it looking like this  I would expect it to perform better than some onboard solution. 

My conclusion: No facts, no proof, judging on how it looks like. #yoloswag. 

[mr moose]

Like I said, never used Creative sound cards before. 

 

But with it looking like this  I would expect it to perform better than some onboard solution. 

My conclusion: No facts, no proof, judging on how it looks like. #yoloswag. 

 

 

This sound bus card will sound better because it looks better and as you can see has some pretty decent specs:

It is also designed for small enclosures like the OP wanted :D

[Markus]

But....but I want mini-ITX  :(

Do you think the Gigabyte G1.Sniper M5 has better onboard sound than the Maximus VI Gene?

I think the Gigabyte board uses an old Creative chip.