CPU/Mobo Motherboard on board audio

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Avendo

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I have an Asrock b450m motherboard(ALC 892) but the final sound output seems to suck a lot (For reference, my Redmi phone generates a much higher volume with a better bass. I tested same on macbook and it seems to have double the volume. Tested on a Sony headphone and an earphone). I have read on reddit that other people also feel it has low volume. I was wondering if switching to another board with better audio (say ALC 1200) would help the volume issue in any way, or is it common for DIY boards to have bad audio. I am not sure if it is specifically my particular unit, or Asrock motherboards that suck, is it ALC 892, or PC motherboards have bad onboard audio
 
ALC 892 is basic Audio solution. ALC1200/1220 is very good compared to ALC892. But they are available in expensive boards

ASUS TUF Gaming B450M-PRO-II Motherboard (AMD Socket AM4/Ryzen 5000, 4000G and 3000 Series CPU/Max 128GB DDR4 4400MHz Memory)

Asus TUF Gaming B450M PRO II features with AMD B450 (AM4) micro ATX gaming motherboard with dual M.2, PCIe 3.0, AI Noise-Canceling Microphone, HDMI, DisplayPort, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A and Type-C and Aura Sync RGB lighting support....
mdcomputers.in mdcomputers.in
I have used/using Asus B350 strix(ALC 1220), b450 strix II(ALC 1220), MSI x570 tomahawk(ALC 1200), Gigabyte Z690 gaming X(ALC 1220) all are very very good compared to ALC 892.
 
rk17 said:
ALC 892 is basic Audio solution. ALC1200/1220 is very good compared to ALC892. But they are available in expensive boards

ASUS TUF Gaming B450M-PRO-II Motherboard (AMD Socket AM4/Ryzen 5000, 4000G and 3000 Series CPU/Max 128GB DDR4 4400MHz Memory)

Asus TUF Gaming B450M PRO II features with AMD B450 (AM4) micro ATX gaming motherboard with dual M.2, PCIe 3.0, AI Noise-Canceling Microphone, HDMI, DisplayPort, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A and Type-C and Aura Sync RGB lighting support....
mdcomputers.in mdcomputers.in
I have used/using Asus B350 strix(ALC 1220), b450 strix II(ALC 1220), MSI x570 tomahawk(ALC 1200), Gigabyte Z690 gaming X(ALC 1220) all are very very good compared to ALC 892.
Click to expand...
So would it be a good idea to switch from my asrock b450 to a b550 with alc 1220 for audio and a probable GPU upgrade in 6 months or so.
 
pcie sound card from a good brand is another option
external USB DAC is also an option.
but make sure you do a GOOD RESEARCH before buying a sound card or an external USB DAC
Even 10k worth b550 motherboard don't have ALC 1200/1220 and the USB issue situation of B550 mobo is still in the dark, some say it is not fully solved yet.
It is better to get used x570 mobo with warranty, nice VRM and ALC 1200/1220 if you cannot wait till next full upgrade.
[MSI X570 tomahawk wifi, Asus x570 tuf gaming plus wifi, Gigabyte X570-AORUS-ELITE-WIFI are some recommended boards]
 
Just get a cheap usb dac like the ifi zen blue that sells for 7k on discount. It will sound way way better than any motherboard audio.
 
rk17 said:
pcie sound card from a good brand is another option
external USB DAC is also an option.
but make sure you do a GOOD RESEARCH before buying a sound card or an external USB DAC
Even 10k worth b550 motherboard don't have ALC 1200/1220 and the USB issue situation of B550 mobo is still in the dark, some say it is not fully solved yet.
It is better to get used x570 mobo with warranty, nice VRM and ALC 1200/1220 if you cannot wait till next full upgrade.
[MSI X570 tomahawk wifi, Asus x570 tuf gaming plus wifi, Gigabyte X570-AORUS-ELITE-WIFI are some recommended boards]
Click to expand...
I was in talk with a person here for a b550 aorus pro v2 around 10 12k with an year of warranty so wanted to confirm if that makes sense as it has alc 1220. I'll probably go with it since researching usb dacs was hard and the ones I could find in reviews were at least 5k+, I might as well change the motherboard AMD upgrade to a b550.

Chaos said:
Just get a cheap usb dac like the ifi zen blue that sells for 7k on discount. It will sound way way better than any motherboard audio.
Click to expand...
I considered it but I do not currently own any headphone or earphones that might make such a difference from an external dac, so a better option seemed to get a Mobo with good audio and an upgrade to b550 as well that can do good enough job on my pc since I mostly use my phone or MacBook for listening to music.
 
Dont expect good quality from a Mobo , Its simply not designed for that purpose , using a external dac would help a lot , the mobo has spdif output as seen on the specs , why not utilise the spdif , that way you can get the best possible audio source , with audiophile grade Audio if hooked with a decent External Dac Amp .
 
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