Which is best the built in audio or Sound Blaster X7

[Mat1926]

Few weeks ago I bought the Sound Blaster X7 because my Laptop's audio jack was broken, and I did not like the lag of the Bluetooth. My headphone is the Bose Quite Comfort 35.

 

Last week I built a new system, my mother board is the GigaByte X299 Aorus Gaming 9. The specs of the audio are

 

Shall I continue using the X7 or stick to my motherboard audio?

 

Thnx

[Jurrunio]

I'd continue to use the Sound Blaster. You already have one already so why not?

[Mat1926]

2 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

I'd continue to use the Sound Blaster. You already have one already so why not?

This might sounds funny, but all these numbers and acronyms in the audio specs just made me wonder whether the built in audio could be superior to the X7...

[Drew93]

From the looks of the onboard audio that the Gaming 9 has, I would probably consider using the onboard audio.  However, only your ears can tell you the truth.  Audio is about 50% subjective, so your perception could of what sounds good might be completely different than the next person.  If all your doing is listening to the audio on those Bose headphones, then it won't make much of a difference either way.  Personally, I don't use headphones unless I have too.

[Mat1926]

2 minutes ago, Drew93 said:

From the looks of the onboard audio that the Gaming 9 has, I would probably consider using the onboard audio.  However, only your ears can tell you the truth.  Audio is about 50% subjective, so your perception could of what sounds good might be completely different than the next person.  If all your doing is listening to the audio on those Bose headphones, then it won't make much of a difference either way.  Personally, I don't use headphones unless I have too.

All I do is MP3 @ 320 CBR and Flac for Music

and mostly DTS 5.1 for Movies...

[Valkyrie Lenneth]

9 minutes ago, Mat1926 said:

This might sounds funny, but all these numbers and acronyms in the audio specs just made me wonder whether the built in audio could be superior to the X7...

onboard audio it always shit compared to a dedicated soundcard, those things are all via chips and deliver pretty poor quality sound ( even with the soundblaster xifi addons for onboard ect )   and even if they deliver good sound, the volume sucks :c

[pas008]

x7 owner here too

onboard audio has came along way and made it difficult to even consider other means

I just upgraded mobo myself and find the audio performance awesome, but I'll stick with my x7 for sbx studios, and answering phone calls while gaming and listening to something on my phone/tablet and the amp for my bookshelf speakers

volume knob and the headphone/speaker switching is nice too

[Mat1926]

1 hour ago, pas008 said:

but I'll stick with my x7 for sbx studios,

I did disable that! I just did not like the sound of music when it is enabled! 

[pas008]

13 minutes ago, Mat1926 said:

I did disable that! I just did not like the sound of music when it is enabled! 

agreed on that part but for gaming I love it

[Mat1926]

1 hour ago, pas008 said:

agreed on that part but for gaming I love it

Glad to hear that...

[Drew93]

On 10/28/2017 at 8:48 PM, Valkyrie Lenneth said:

onboard audio it always shit compared to a dedicated soundcard, those things are all via chips and deliver pretty poor quality sound ( even with the soundblaster xifi addons for onboard ect )   and even if they deliver good sound, the volume sucks :c

             What are you basing this on?  Because I thought the same thing until about two days ago when I actually tested the onboard audio (Realtech ALC1220) against my MiniDSP 2x4 HD.  Clearly the MiniDSP has the superior DAC.  However, because the noise floor through USB is so much higher than the noise floor on the onboard audio, the results show the onboard actually has lower distortion throughout the entire range.  I would have to say now that the argument for an external sound card is becoming obsolete unless you have a USB port that's noise free.  As you can see from the images, the ALC on the high setting has slightly more dynamic range, while maintaining slightly less distortion.  I tested the MiniDSP on two different USB ports and you can see that there is a slight difference.  Also, and just as a side note, the front output on the PC case had the highest levels of distortion that actually exceeded 1% at some frequencies.  So don't use the front port even if it is more convenient.

[Mat1926]

1 hour ago, Drew93 said:

             What are you basing this on?  Because I thought the same thing until about two days ago when I actually tested the onboard audio (Realtech ALC1220) against my MiniDSP 2x4 HD.  Clearly the MiniDSP has the superior DAC.  However, because the noise floor through USB is so much higher than the noise floor on the onboard audio, the results show the onboard actually has lower distortion throughout the entire range.  I would have to say now that the argument for an external sound card is becoming obsolete unless you have a USB port that's noise free.  As you can see from the images, the ALC on the high setting has slightly more dynamic range, while maintaining slightly less distortion.  I tested the MiniDSP on two different USB ports and you can see that there is a slight difference.  Also, and just as a side note, the front output on the PC case had the highest levels of distortion that actually exceeded 1% at some frequencies.  So don't use the front port even if it is more convenient.

Drew93! How did you generate such graph?! I want to test my setup...

 

Thnx

[Drew93]

2 hours ago, Mat1926 said:

Drew93! How did you generate such graph?! I want to test my setup...

 

Thnx

I used the free software REW, and connected the line-out (3.5mm) to the line-in (also 3.5mm) on the sound card.  

 

[Mat1926]

2 minutes ago, Drew93 said:

I used the free software REW, and connected the line-out (3.5mm) to the line-in (also 3.5mm) on the sound card.  

 

Can I have a link please for this app?!

 

Is it this one https://www.roomeqwizard.com/    ?

[Majestic]

X7 has the TPA6120A2, your onboard has the OPA1622. The OPA1622 has actually half the output impedance (7ohm vs. 13 ohm open-loop), which is better.

The 6120A2 seems to have more output current. But that 1622 you're still talking 140mA. 

 

To be perfectly frank, i'd doubt you'll be able to tell them apart in a blind test. And the onboard is actually better suited for lower impedance cans (as low as 7*8=>54ohms, compared to 13*8=>104ohm). 

[Mat1926]

3 hours ago, Majestic said:

X7 has the TPA6120A2, your onboard has the OPA1622. The OPA1622 has actually half the output impedance (7ohm vs. 13 ohm open-loop), which is better.

The 6120A2 seems to have more output current. But that 1622 you're still talking 140mA. 

 

To be perfectly frank, i'd doubt you'll be able to tell them apart in a blind test. And the onboard is actually better suited for lower impedance cans (as low as 7*8=>54ohms, compared to 13*8=>104ohm). 

Okay, I don't use speakers, I use my Bose QC 35 headphones, and Bose don't disclose any impedance information about its products...Your opinion?!

[Majestic]

17 minutes ago, Mat1926 said:

Okay, I don't use speakers, I use my Bose QC 35 headphones, and Bose don't disclose any impedance information about its products...Your opinion?!

They're mobile cans, they can't be that hard to drive as a result.

[Mat1926]

2 minutes ago, Majestic said:

They're mobile cans, they can't be that hard to drive as a result.

Okay, Thnx...

[Drew93]

8 hours ago, Mat1926 said:

Can I have a link please for this app?!

 

Is it this one https://www.roomeqwizard.com/    ?

Yep, that's the one.

[Valkyrie Lenneth]

On 11/1/2017 at 1:19 PM, Drew93 said:

             What are you basing this on?  Because I thought the same thing until about two days ago when I actually tested the onboard audio (Realtech ALC1220) against my MiniDSP 2x4 HD.  Clearly the MiniDSP has the superior DAC.  However, because the noise floor through USB is so much higher than the noise floor on the onboard audio, the results show the onboard actually has lower distortion throughout the entire range.  I would have to say now that the argument for an external sound card is becoming obsolete unless you have a USB port that's noise free.  As you can see from the images, the ALC on the high setting has slightly more dynamic range, while maintaining slightly less distortion.  I tested the MiniDSP on two different USB ports and you can see that there is a slight difference.  Also, and just as a side note, the front output on the PC case had the highest levels of distortion that actually exceeded 1% at some frequencies.  So don't use the front port even if it is more convenient.

ur testing onboard vs usb, usb is BOLLOCKS for audio...

 

onboard will always be superior to usb but an dedicated soundcard will be 100x superior to an onboard

 

the sound quality just cant be compared , get an soundblaster z, soundblaster recon3d champion or smt ul see wht is the difference as soon u even set it up lol

 

[Drew93]

2 hours ago, Valkyrie Lenneth said:

ur testing onboard vs usb, usb is BOLLOCKS for audio...

 

onboard will always be superior to usb but an dedicated soundcard will be 100x superior to an onboard

 

the sound quality just cant be compared , get an soundblaster z, soundblaster recon3d champion or smt ul see wht is the difference as soon u even set it up lol

 

You clearly have no idea what the miniDSP 2x4 HD is.  The problem is the dirty USB output.  I'm actually having a bunch of other problems with this motherboard, as well.  I'm waiting for my Asus board to arrive next week, so I'll post an update then.  The reason an external USB connected DSP or soundcard is desired over the onboard solutions is because of all the electrical interference within a computer.  That's why you see soundcards touting EMI shielding over their audio processors.  However, the difference can be minor in some cases.  Show me a loopback measurement with your setup using a pcie connected soundcard to back up your statement.    I will agree with you on one thing though, the sound blaster sound cards have an excellent 5.1 surround algorithm.

[Drew93]

5 minutes ago, Drew93 said:

You clearly have no idea what the miniDSP 2x4 HD is.  The problem is the dirty USB output.  I'm actually having a bunch of other problems with this motherboard, as well.  I'm waiting for my Asus board to arrive next week, so I'll post an update then.  The reason an external USB connected DSP or soundcard is desired over the onboard solutions is because of all the electrical interference within a computer.  That's why you see soundcards touting EMI shielding over their audio processors.  However, the difference can be minor in some cases.  Show me a loopback measurement with your setup using a pcie connected soundcard to back up your statement.    I will agree with you on one thing though, the sound blaster sound cards have an excellent 5.1 surround algorithm.

     Also, the difference between the two was the noise floor.  0.008% on the USB port, while the onboard only had 0.002% noise floor.  The distortion was actually twice as high on the onboard audio, but because of the noise through the USB it appears higher.  However, to put it into perspective: Onboard was 0.002% on the 2nd through 9th harmonics, while the miniDSP was 0.001% throughout the same range.

 

[Valkyrie Lenneth]

9 hours ago, Drew93 said:

You clearly have no idea what the miniDSP 2x4 HD is.  The problem is the dirty USB output.  I'm actually having a bunch of other problems with this motherboard, as well.  I'm waiting for my Asus board to arrive next week, so I'll post an update then.  The reason an external USB connected DSP or soundcard is desired over the onboard solutions is because of all the electrical interference within a computer.  That's why you see soundcards touting EMI shielding over their audio processors.  However, the difference can be minor in some cases.  Show me a loopback measurement with your setup using a pcie connected soundcard to back up your statement.    I will agree with you on one thing though, the sound blaster sound cards have an excellent 5.1 surround algorithm.

dude, just get one, its night and day in sound quality. everyone knows that... pff man dont go saying stuff if u havent even had one ;v , and yeah all good soundcards are shielded

 

also sound quality isnt all about signal processing its about equalizing and settings in many cases too, with default settings they wont do as much as when u put on the crystallizer / equalizers ect 10/10 difference night and day vs onboard soundcards,  i can boost to 20db without distortion wherea onboard can only boost 4-6db ect