Audio-card advice

[HereticCommando]

Hello Guys,

I'm about to upgrade my PC and I intend to buy Ryzen 3600, however I would need to change the MoBo as well.

So I need a optical line-out connection for my Logitec z906 and I also want to have good sound experience with my Audio Technica m50x.

Having the above in mind I'm in a dilemma -

Should I go with

MSI B450 Gaming Pro Carbon AC, which has the Realtek ALC1220 codec - 152 EU
or
AsRock B450m Pro4 + SoundBlaster Z - 150 EU
I'm not going to overclock my system

 

Kind Regards

[Thomas_nerd]

I would recommend the ASrock option

[HereticCommando]

1 minute ago, Thomas_nerd said:

I would recommend the ASrock option

Why?

 

[mariushm]

Neither.

 

You also have MSI x570-A Pro at 167 euro:

 

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/MSI-X570-PRO-Motherboard-Type-C/dp/B07TDST84Q/

Amazon DE: https://www.amazon.de/MSI-X570-PRO-DDR4-Motherboard/dp/B07TDST84Q/

 

The VRM isn't great, but can handle a Ryzen 3600 just fine.

 

You have Creative Audigy RX 7.1 for around 50 euro :

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Creative-Sound-Blaster-Audigy-Performance/dp/B00EO6X7PG/

Amazon DE: https://www.amazon.de/Creative-Sound-Blaster-Audigy-Performance/dp/B00EO6X7PG/

 

Combine it with a MSI board with B450 chipset (because these have better VRM cooling, and have bios flashback)

 

ex

B450-A Pro [Max] : https://www.amazon.co.uk/MSI-B450-PRO-MAX-Motherboard/dp/B07W837QSF/

B450 Gaming Plus [Max] : https://www.amazon.co.uk/MSI-B450-GAMING-PLUS-MAX/dp/B07V9L4RT6/

B450M Gaming Plus

B450 Tomahawk

[prince10bee]

SoundBlaster is always better than Realtek in my opinion.

[HereticCommando]

1 hour ago, mariushm said:

 

You have Creative Audigy RX 7.1 for around 50 euro :

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Creative-Sound-Blaster-Audigy-Performance/dp/B00EO6X7PG/

Amazon DE: https://www.amazon.de/Creative-Sound-Blaster-Audigy-Performance/dp/B00EO6X7PG/

 

Can you provide a short overview of the differences between SoundBlaster Z and Audigy RX.

Sorry for the lazy question but I'm really in the dark when it comes to audio cards

[mariushm]

1 minute ago, HereticCommando said:

 

Can you provide a short overview of the differences between SoundBlaster Z and Audigy RX.

Sorry for the lazy question but I'm really in the dark when it comes to audio cards

Honestly no idea and I don't feel like googling that Z model and do the work for you ... I just looked at Newegg for sound cards from reputable brands with optical out and this RX model seemed more than good enough.

This card has both optical out AND headphones amplifier capable of handling 600 ohm impedance headphones, and it seemed well built.

There was a cheaper Asus Xonar card at around 40$ but it used the ALC1220 common in motherboards and looked cheap with plain plastic stereo jacks with different colors and all that. Other Asus cards also seemed weird to me (ex they use older PCI sound card chips, so they have an extra pci-e to pci controller / converter on the sound card, another potential point of failure or of various glitches and quirks that would annoy you.

 

[mariushm]

One more thing... look up eBay as well.

Found a seller there which listed one of these, and went to their online store where they have a better price: https://microdream.co.uk/creative-sound-blaster-x-fi-xtreme-fidelity-7-1-pci-express-sound-card-sb0880.html#product_tabs_additional_tabbed

 

This seems to be Sound Blaster X Fi Titanium and I think there's still drivers for Windows 10 for these.

[rice guru]

IMO your any MOBOI you would buy with optical out should be good enough and really spending extra on a audio card is almost not worth it especially for that headphone