GA-Z77x-UD5H On board audio VS Asus xonar dgx

Jordie · January 7, 2013

Hey guys and gals, this is my first post on the forums and i thought i'd post something worth while asking.

I have a Steelseries 7H as recomended by Linus and i couldn't be happier with it, however, i was wondering to myself if getting a low/mid range sound card such as the Asus xonar DGX ( http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-xonar-dgx-51-channel-pci-express-sound-card-dolby-with-headphone-sockek ) Would be worth buying compared to the UD5H on board solution.

Does anybody have experience with this board in regards to its sound quality? I notice a lack in bass with the 7H in music and i believe that a sound card with amp solves this, but other than that the audio seems perfect. Iv'e heard that adding a sound card also improves the quality of voice coms such as Skype and Team Speak which i use frequently.

Any input would be great, the card itself is really cheap so if nobody knows i'd be happy to test this myself in the week and report back.

LTC · January 7, 2013

Any newer soundcard would be better than onboard sound. The soundcard will improve sound both ways, in and out. Don't know if it will increase bass though, you might have to control some equalizer settings for that.

Tsron · January 7, 2013

I picked up a cheap Xonar DG to replace my GA-Z77X-D3H onboard. The sound in games and music was improved significatly and justified the small cost, but it may have been more down to the headphone-amp that gave some extra juice to my high-impedance headphones.

If nothing else, the Xonar Audio Center has a few handy controls to play with so get the kinda of sound you are after.

If you go ahead with your purchase, I would be interested to here about your experiences with it.

Jordie · January 7, 2013

I picked up a cheap Xonar DG to replace my GA-Z77X-D3H onboard. The sound in games and music was improved significatly and justified the small cost, but it may have been more down to the headphone-amp that gave some extra juice to my high-impedance headphones.
If nothing else, the Xonar Audio Center has a few handy controls to play with so get the kinda of sound you are after.

If you go ahead with your purchase, I would be interested to here about your experiences with it.

The onboard audio on the UD3 is much lower quality than the UD5