audio chip questions

[floe]

Looking for a mohterboard for my pc and I'm taking audio chip into consideration, but I'm not sure in what way it makes a difference.

 

Does a better audio chip improve audio using any headphones or does it just allow you to use more difficult to power headphones? I recently got a Beyerdynamic TYGR 300R, a part of the reason being that I don't have to buy an amp for it. If I use this, will a better audio chip give me better sound quality? Specifically I'm looking at Realtec ALC897 vs Realtec ALC1220-VB. 

 

Would paying extra for the better one (ALC 1220-VB, right?) be worth it? Or does it not make too much difference?

 

All help is appreciated

[The Flying Sloth]

Don't worry about it. 
If you care enough about audio quality that it would make a difference, you would buy an external DAC (audio chip) anyway.

[Heats with Nvidia]

8 minutes ago, The Flying Sloth said:

Don't worry about it. 
If you care enough about audio quality that it would make a difference, you would buy an external DAC (audio chip) anyway.

I wouldnt say that. There are many mainboards around that have really good DACs and decent amps behind them.

For example, i actually like the one i currently have. The problem really is, how much the manufacturer actually cared about the audio section. I had quite a few biards where you could hear digital noise, because the audio section wasnt shielded enough and traces with analog signals on the board were too close to traces with digital signals and so there was a lot of crosstalk, but with other boards, they were just fine.

 

I really wished the audio section would also be tested in reviews, if it would, it maybe wouldnt be more of an afterthought on some boards. The modern audio codecs on these bards are quite capable when they are in the right environment.

[Alex Atkin UK]

8 minutes ago, Heats with Nvidia said:

I wouldnt say that. There are many mainboards around that have really good DACs and decent amps behind them.

For example, i actually like the one i currently have. The problem really is, how much the manufacturer actually cared about the audio section. I had quite a few biards where you could hear digital noise, because the audio section wasnt shielded enough and traces with analog signals on the board were too close to traces with digital signals and so there was a lot of crosstalk, but with other boards, they were just fine.

 

I really wished the audio section would also be tested in reviews, if it would, it maybe wouldnt be more of an afterthought on some boards. The modern audio codecs on these bards are quite capable when they are in the right environment.

I thought that too, until I got a relatively cheap external DAC and realise how much wider the sound stage and how much clearer the highs were.

[Heats with Nvidia]

1 minute ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

I thought that too, until I got a relatively cheap external DAC and realise how much wider the sound stage and how much clearer the highs were.

I sometimes work on studio equipment, so i can sometimes compare. And yes, for example the audio out of my laptop is not more than OK, but the one on my mainboard is actually decent. Not as good as professional audio equipment, but not much worse. To the point where everything that really bothers me is that it cant drive my 600Ohms AKG 240 Sextett loud enough, if i want to, but if i would want to invest the money for an amp+DAC combi, i would be better off, to just by better headphones for that money.

[Heats with Nvidia]

Maybe this should have been an Edit...

 

I regularly use and Audient ID22 with DT770 and although the DT770 arent my absolute favorites, i know them quite well.

And i love the Audient, but like i said, I think for the same money, better headphones would make the bigger difference, at least when the audio codec on the board is well implemented, what they not always are.

[ProbablyNotFidel]

Those Realteks are fine, generally. The headphones you have shouldn't be too difficult to drive and should really sound just fine out of any decent onboard audio.

 

I think if you're feeling like dabbling into better audio, just get a good motherboard with the features you want, regardless the onboard audio. Save up for external DAC and headphone amp. I think you'll be happier waiting a little bit more than just relying on onboard audio.

[weez]

I wouldn't worry about the audio on the motherboard. It will either be good or it won't. And there's a lot of good sub $100 headphone amp/dacs that will perform way better than any motherboard. Like the FX-Audio DAC-X6 

[ShearMe]

The specs provided for motherboard audio are a joke. There's no way to actually understand what you're buying unless some audiophile happens to take measurements and post them online in a non-obscure forum. Best practice is to ignore motherboard "audio features" and focus on all the other important factors. You might get lucky and whatever you buy sounds good and covers your needs... if it doesn't, just get another solution.

[H713]

I wouldn't worry about it. The reality is, you aren't going to find a "good" audio chip on a motherboard unless you're buying a pretty expensive motherboard. It's a rather expensive way to get a "passable" audio output. 

[CTR640]

On 2/16/2022 at 10:32 PM, floe said:

Would paying extra for the better one (ALC 1220-VB, right?) be worth it?

No, definitely not worth it. You'd be better off with an external dac/amp if you plan on paying extra. If yes, what's your budget?

[floe]

8 hours ago, CTR640 said:

No, definitely not worth it. You'd be better off with an external dac/amp if you plan on paying extra. If yes, what's your budget?

No I wasn't planning on, which is also part of the reason I got the headphones that I got. Good to know I can leave audio chip out of consideration for motherboard, and I guess if I'm not happy I'll look for a dac/amp. Thanks!