My impression on sound cards and that shit

[Bananasplit_00]

Ok so i know theres a lot of things about if you should or shouldent get a soundcard/DAC well i had a sound card literally on my floor and went throung the pain of installing something without any real suport in win10 and user base that died about 5 years ago and now i have it working, mostly, some things like the mic in dosent work but thats probably just the card that broken. The things i have noticed this far with it is that there is more detail in the music on lower volume and it sounds well just difirent like kinda "more", like a new pair of headphones. Im no audiophile in the slightest regard but seeing as i now have a sound card i would say it was worth it for me but if i had to pay any more then $20-$25 i wouldent have done it, there would simply be no reason to do so because my motherboard has really good on-board audio and it wouldent have been worth it, it really is for those who have extra money or are just audiophiles. I have 2 pair of headphones one 3.5mm and one .25" i can only use the .25" pair with my soundcard and its extention so i cant evaluate a before and after on that but i can on my headset. So heres what i can notice, it has more of a bass kick, a slightly difirent sound and more detail, thats it. nothing more then that. thats why i dont think its really worth it, i only really play CS:GO and for that the on board sound was enough. Music is nicer but not that much.

 

thanks for reading and i would love to hear your though on soundcards/DACs vs onboard

[Cvdasfg]

Ok so i know theres a lot of things about if you should or shouldent get a soundcard/DAC well i had a sound card literally on my floor and went throung the pain of installing something without any real suport in win10 and user base that died about 5 years ago and now i have it working, mostly, some things like the mic in dosent work but thats probably just the card that broken. The things i have noticed this far with it is that there is more detail in the music on lower volume and it sounds well just difirent like kinda "more", like a new pair of headphones. Im no audiophile in the slightest regard but seeing as i now have a sound card i would say it was worth it for me but if i had to pay any more then $20-$25 i wouldent have done it, there would simply be no reason to do so because my motherboard has really good on-board audio and it wouldent have been worth it, it really is for those who have extra money or are just audiophiles. I have 2 pair of headphones one 3.5mm and one .25" i can only use the .25" pair with my soundcard and its extention so i cant evaluate a before and after on that but i can on my headset. So heres what i can notice, it has more of a bass kick, a slightly difirent sound and more detail, thats it. nothing more then that. thats why i dont think its really worth it, i only really play CS:GO and for that the on board sound was enough. Music is nicer but not that much.

 

thanks for reading and i would love to hear your though on soundcards/DACs vs onboard

What motherboard do you have?

[Bananasplit_00]

What motherboard do you have?

ASRock anniversary z97

[Guest Kloaked]

You may be confusing "detail" for more pronounced frequencies, such as boosted highs or lows.

 

What headphones/headset are you using?

[Bananasplit_00]

You may be confusing "detail" for more pronounced frequencies, such as boosted highs or lows.

 

What headphones/headset are you using?

headphones are these: http://www.amazon.com/EHS013RE-Professional-Headset-English-packing-pc/dp/B00HDDFTDU/ref=pd_sim_sbs_63_1?ie=UTF8&dpID=51DA-tTyoCL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=0H979AK96XSH10GDAH72

there really good for the price, good mic and good sound

[Goat1]

Those headphones aren't going to do justice to any decent.. Let alone really good sound card.. Invest in a quality headset..

[SSL]

It's very rare for gear to obscure details. Chances are if you did a volume-matched comparison there would be no difference.

 

What music were you testing with? Which details were revealed at lower levels?

[duncanbullet]

what sound card are you using and what type of files are you listening to music on?

[Bananasplit_00]

It's very rare for gear to obscure details. Chances are if you did a volume-matched comparison there would be no difference.

 

What music were you testing with? Which details were revealed at lower levels?

spotify and exactly the same volume, same system volume, volume in spotify and on headphones

what sound card are you using and what type of files are you listening to music on?

the soundcard is a Creative SoundBlaster Audigy ZS Platinum Ex and just spotify

Those headphones aren't going to do justice to any decent.. Let alone really good sound card.. Invest in a quality headset..

i have no money for that and my .25" headphes were my dads, it was aparently the top end to get in the mid 60's lol

[SSL]

spotify and exactly the same volume, same system volume, volume in spotify and on headphones

the soundcard is a Creative SoundBlaster Audigy ZS Platinum Ex and just spotify

i have no money for that and my .25" headphes were my dads, it was aparently the top end to get in the mid 60's lol

 

Yeah, but what music.

[jasonvp]

i would love to hear

I see what you did there...

 

your though on soundcards/DACs vs onboard 

I'm going to be a 'snob' and say that I'll always prefer discrete over onboard.  Even really good and expensive motherboards generally have less capable DACs compared to something like a Sound Blaster ZxR or some such.  The cleanliness and clarity of the amplified sound goes a long way in A)hearing things, specially directionally, and B)enjoying what I'm hearing.

 

Will onboard work?  Most times: yes.  For most people, it'll be perfectly fine unless the DAC is really bad.  When you start looking at the expensive cans that aren't even remotely comparable to the "rank and file" gaming cans, you need a properly amplified setup to push through their impedance.  Otherwise, everything will sound muddy and murky.

 

It also helps if you have a finely tuned ear.  Some people do, others don't.  It's simple genetics, unfortunately.  I'm in my 40s and can still hear ~20KHz tones.  That's a bit on the outside of the norm for men my age; hearing typically deteriorates as we age (as does everything else... dammit!) and the higher frequencies are what go first.  For whatever reason, Mother Nature decided to "bless" (or curse) me with hyper-sharp hearing.  Because of that, I prefer and enjoy very good sound.

[Bananasplit_00]

Yeah, but what music.

are you fine with a spotify playlist link or do you want me to list every song? the main bands are Area11 and then a bunch of my local files that are mainly japanese rock

[SSL]

are you fine with a spotify playlist link or do you want me to list every song? the main bands are Area11 and then a bunch of my local files that are mainly japanese rock

 

A link is sufficient.

[Bananasplit_00]

A link is sufficient.

https://open.spotify.com/user/bananasplit_00/playlist/6vdHLqtAlOv2C6ObtFvMSV

 

there you go, hope that works

 

*edit*

heres a list of all my local files in case they dont show up there:

Dont let me down by Mariya Nishiuchi

The rock city boy by Jamil

Tenohira by HERO

STRIKE BACK by BACK-ON

the one punch man intro(because its awesome)

Ashita o Orase by Kavka Shishido

[Donk Quixote]

I used to think soundcards and external dacs don't matter, but I've changed my mind.  There is a slight but noticeable decline in quality when comparing my cheapo ECS ITX onboard sound to everything else I have (MPOWER Z87 onboard, HTC M8, Galaxy, Galaxy S4, Earforce DSS, laptop onboard).  There is also a slight but noticeable increase in sound quality with my Harman Kardon BDS 280 reciever vs everything else I have.  I don't know how to describe exactly how it's better, I don't know if its because of a better dac, or maybe the amp is coloring the sound a bit.  It makes me curious if the Aune X1S, O2+ODAC, or Micca Origen would any different or better.

 

I still say money is probably better spent on speakers and headphones, but I can no longer say that a soundcard or external dac won't make a difference since I hear a clear difference.

[SSL]

I used to think soundcards and external dacs don't matter, but I've changed my mind.  There is a slight but noticeable decline in quality when comparing my cheapo ECS ITX onboard sound to everything else I have (MPOWER Z87 onboard, HTC M8, Galaxy, Galaxy S4, Earforce DSS, laptop onboard).  There is also a slight but noticeable increase in sound quality with my Harman Kardon BDS 280 reciever vs everything else I have.  I don't know how to describe exactly how it's better, I don't know if its because of a better dac, or maybe the amp is coloring the sound a bit.  It makes me curious if the Aune X1S, O2+ODAC, or Micca Origen would any different or better.

 

I still say money is probably better spent on speakers and headphones, but I can no longer say that a soundcard or external dac won't make a difference since I hear a clear difference.

 

Amazing thing, psychological suggestion.

 

I thought my Schiit sounded better after I first got it. It definitely has a difference in low bass response vs anything else I've heard; but any other improvements are minor if they exist at all. I spent several hours while listening to music last weekend doing a comparison with the Fiio E10 and onboard.