Sound cards are.........Irrelevant?

[Nickgerard25]

I did some research on sound cards, and to my newly gained knowledge, I dont need a sound card for gaming?  my motherbored is all I need?

[XTankSlayerX]

Yep.

 

Pretty much.

[TheKDub]

Nope you don't need a sound card for gaming, modern motherboards have pretty decent integrated sound cards, so no point to get a sound card really. (I'd say its only needed for an older pc or one that doesnt have the audio outputs needed.)

[Vek1313]

Also definitely don't need one if you have a headset or headphones you are going to use.

[Nickgerard25]

Im so shocked because someone recommended I get the 

ASUS PCI-Express x1 Sound Card XONAR ESSENCE STX/90-YAA0C0-0UAN00Z

 

But why would I spend $185 on something I dont need?  Im glad I looked at the forums here first.  

[Nickgerard25]

@kbmb13,  I have the logitech wireless g930 and I LOVE THEM!!! 

[HannahLewis]

yea a sound card for gaming is a waste of money, glad you didn't bought it!

[GoldSrc]

Yup, pretty irrelevant for gaming in this day and age.

Plus, the average human ear can only hear up to 18KHz, not all humans can hear from 20Hz to 20KHz,

so yeah, your motherboard on-board audio is enough for almost everything.

[Arty]

i bought one just for the optical out, for my surround system 

[Sousuke]

Some use cases like the one above needing an extra output are the only real reason for buying them these days. Unless you're doing professional audio then their "Sound Cards" are a hell of a lot more expensive :lol:

[Nickgerard25]

@Sousuke, When are we gonna get another season of Full metal panic?  Theres been rumor for quit some time

[Sousuke]

@Sousuke, When are we gonna get another season of Full metal panic?  Theres been rumor for quit some time

I've heard of the new Mangas however nothing on new anime ... I hope it comes out as I'd like to see what happens now as I feel that the Second Raid left off on a bit of an unfinished note so would love to see what they do now as I am not a massive reader of manga but a long time watcher of anime.

[othertomperson]

Unless you need features like the ability to encode to Dolby Digital or DTS in real-time to a receiver via optical, most onboard cards can't do that. An esoteric use, maybe, but they're not irrelevant.

[Brandon Cassie]

Used to be of benefit a couple years ago when I helped my parents with sound production, newer integrated sound processors have improved dramatically, so yeah....more or less useless unless seeking out of box compatibility with things like hackintosh etc

[MblaZe7run]

Yeah, pretty irrelevant. I've been wanting one because I like to adapt everything I can to 1/4", and I have a few plugs that I have to adapt down to 3.5mm, which is inconvenient, but there's really no reason to. Specialty uses are the only time I would really recommend one.

[Kathonic]

Unless you need features like the ability to encode to Dolby Digital or DTS in real-time to a receiver via optical, most onboard cards can't do that. An esoteric use, maybe, but they're not irrelevant.

I agree there, but also there aren't many cards on the market I know of that support HDMI Dolby 7.1 output used in high-end home theaters.

[Trik'Stari]

I don't see the point in them with modern motherboards.

[JaeDee884]

Unless you need the extra ports no need for them most of the time.

i use a sound card because i like being able to press a physical button to change between speakers and headphones and having a spinny volume wheel is handy. using a Xonar U7 i've also got a 5.1 tv surround sound hooked straight into the computer while using a optical, but i only use it for movies or games, music i use a 2.1 or my headphones which when plugged into the Mobo, well it doesn't run them loud enough, and by loud enough i mean i talk quietly and my voice overpowers them

[GoodBytes]

Dedicated sound card are not relevant these days because people are fine with shitty sound experience. Sorry guys, but it is true.

With a good pair of headphones or headset (costly), or speakers, mixed with a dedicated sound card, you will enjoy static and interference free experience, not to mention a rich lively sound, with amazing med range, and balanced. Which the great majority of motherboard onboard solution fails to deliver any of the above points.

To me, it is like an true 8-bit (per channel) IPS monitor. Why do I get it? Because I love rich, fairly color accurate with great reproduction to enhance my gaming experience and my general computer usage. To me there is no point in playing games at high settings, let alone any higher, if your colors are over saturated, or washed out. Might as well play them at medium-low settings. I am not a hardcore FPS player, for whom they probably don't care about sound quality, all they care about is basic voice chat with a good mic and hear the game. But if you play games for the art and experience instead, and not competitively, then to, it is all part of the experience.

However, HOWEVER. Doesn't mean that it is a dedicated sound card that you'll get amazing sound necessarily. They are dedicated sound card which wont' give you much over an onboard sound solution, and those are overpriced as the whole thing is probably 5$ at best to manufacture has little to no R&D, and then you have good ones.

BUT, dedicated sound card is not the only solution. You can get better sound for your money, potentially, by going with an external amp/dac device. The only up side from a dedicated sound card is that it doesn't take room on your desk.

[othertomperson]

I agree there, but also there aren't many cards on the market I know of that support HDMI Dolby 7.1 output used in high-end home theaters.

 

Well none do because Optical itself only supports up to Dolby 5.1. For most people HDMI is the way forward, but in the PC space if you want your 4K or you want 1440p 144 hz, that usually means circumventing your receiver's video input and only using it for sound decoding and amplifying, which makes non-HDMI essential.

 

 

Dedicated sound card are not relevant these days because people are fine with shitty sound experience. Sorry guys, but it is true.

With a good pair of headphones or headset (costly), or speakers, mixed with a dedicated sound card, you will enjoy static and interference free experience, not to mention a rich lively sound, with amazing med range, and balanced. Which the great majority of motherboard onboard solution fails to deliver any of the above points.

To me, it is like an true 8-bit (per channel) IPS monitor. Why do I get it? Because I love rich, fairly color accurate with great reproduction to enhance my gaming experience and my general computer usage. To me there is no point in playing games at high settings, let alone any higher, if your colors are over saturated, or washed out. Might as well play them at medium-low settings. I am not a hardcore FPS player, for whom they probably don't care about sound quality, all they care about is basic voice chat with a good mic and hear the game. But if you play games for the art and experience instead, and not competitively, then to, it is all part of the experience.

However, HOWEVER. Doesn't mean that it is a dedicated sound card that you'll get amazing sound necessarily. They are dedicated sound card which wont' give you much over an onboard sound solution, and those are overpriced as the whole thing is probably 5$ at best to manufacture has little to no R&D, and then you have good ones.

BUT, dedicated sound card is not the only solution. You can get better sound for your money, potentially, by going with an external amp/dac device. The only up side from a dedicated sound card is that it doesn't take room on your desk.

 

 

In terms of actual sound quality a sound card will get you no benefit. Firstly it's in exactly the same environment as the motherboard with almost as little screening, so it's not going to be particularly noiseless, and on a decent motherboard (the kind everyone on this forum yells at people for suggesting) the onboard sound is pretty much the exact same as you'd be getting on an external in terms of dac and actual sound quality.

 

There is benefit in getting a proper external dac because you can properly screen it from external electrical noise and the dac itself tends to be much better.

[Bussinateur]

Get a DAC

[kirBi]

Dedicated sound card are not relevant these days because people are fine with shitty sound experience. Sorry guys, but it is true.

With a good pair of headphones or headset (costly), or speakers, mixed with a dedicated sound card, you will enjoy static and interference free experience, not to mention a rich lively sound, with amazing med range, and balanced. Which the great majority of motherboard onboard solution fails to deliver any of the above points.

To me, it is like an true 8-bit (per channel) IPS monitor. Why do I get it? Because I love rich, fairly color accurate with great reproduction to enhance my gaming experience and my general computer usage. To me there is no point in playing games at high settings, let alone any higher, if your colors are over saturated, or washed out. Might as well play them at medium-low settings. I am not a hardcore FPS player, for whom they probably don't care about sound quality, all they care about is basic voice chat with a good mic and hear the game. But if you play games for the art and experience instead, and not competitively, then to, it is all part of the experience.

However, HOWEVER. Doesn't mean that it is a dedicated sound card that you'll get amazing sound necessarily. They are dedicated sound card which wont' give you much over an onboard sound solution, and those are overpriced as the whole thing is probably 5$ at best to manufacture has little to no R&D, and then you have good ones.

BUT, dedicated sound card is not the only solution. You can get better sound for your money, potentially, by going with an external amp/dac device. The only up side from a dedicated sound card is that it doesn't take room on your desk.

 

You are pretty much confirming that the sound card is irrelevant. You either go with external solution or be satisfied with onboard solution. There is no place for dedicated sound card these days.

[SSL]

le sigh.

[GoodBytes]

In terms of actual sound quality a sound card will get you no benefit. Firstly it's in exactly the same environment as the motherboard with almost as little screening, so it's not going to be particularly noiseless, and on a decent motherboard (the kind everyone on this forum yells at people for suggesting) the onboard sound is pretty much the exact same as you'd be getting on an external in terms of dac and actual sound quality.

 

There is benefit in getting a proper external dac because you can properly screen it from external electrical noise and the dac itself tends to be much better.

Complete wrong. Dedicated sound card can clean the power it receives stabilizing it, and shield components from interference. To get a more extreme protection some sound card have a EMI shield and takes power directly from the PSU. The distance is sufficiently far to not cause a problem. This is a very known fact.

Also a dedicated sound card feature an SPU or Sound Processing Unit, while onboard solution takes the work it needs to do, simplify it in some way, and send for teh CPU to process, takes it passes it though an super el-cheapo DAC. Not to mention that all components are super cheap in managing the sound.

 

You are pretty much confirming that the sound card is irrelevant. You either go with external solution or be satisfied with onboard solution. There is no place for dedicated sound card these days.

Sure there is. Dedicated sound card is a simple, easy and integrated to the system solution which will deliver a significantly improved experience (assuming good speakers or headphones, not mention source used, of course).

[Zulkkis]

You might want to buy something like Soundblaster Z if you want a digital out or even ZXR if you want to run analog directly from your computer to 5 speakers, and get a usually better surround sound solution to a game's headphone settings in the form of SBX studio. The soundcard drivers usually give you more some nice processing things that you can't otherwise get. That said it's not a holy grail of positional audio, it's just emulating what 5.1 setup would give you and positional audio on Windows is a sad story of regression.

 

That said cheapo (might not be quite as good) alternatives exists, some USB headphones have Dolby Headphone though it's usually the "you're in a movie studio that echoes" -variant of it, Razer Surround is free and uses a bit of your CPU to do the processing.

 

In terms of soundquality for listening or gameplay, nothing, really. The DACs were figured out a long time ago, and these days you really have to cheap out on a motherboard to get worse audio quality than you would out of a sound card. You can't tell the difference in a true blind test. If your headphones are harder to drive, i.e you wouldn't use them with a portable music player, the amp on some cards can help.