Some info regarding sound card + Suggestions

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harshit143

Forerunner
Coming straight away to the topic, i want to know do having a dedicated sound card really make a good difference from the one onboard? I have compared two onboard cards(one of my old PC and one of my new rig) and yes, there was a good difference.I am a n00b in this thing.

How much percentage wise difference can be noticed as well as what will be the increase in output?To be more precise, like will have higher mids,high and lows + SQ will increase.

Lastly, please suggest me a sound card. As i am a complete n00b in this, i have heard of only two brands creative and asus. So, a performance wise guide is required if there is any starting from most basic to most performing. eg 7600GT< 8600GT < 9600GT < 8800GT < 9800GT we used to have in graphic cards, if this type of series is also there in Sound cards.
 
Before suggesting anything can you please let us know what speakers/headphones you are planning to use with the new sound card.
 
Onboard to a dedicated sound card the differences are very noticeable and worth the price too . I am not too aware of the creative lineup , probably the famed card in that lineup is the Creative X-FI titanium HD and is very hard to find in any shop and its performance is somewhere in and around the Asus Xonar DX. In asus the lineup is pretty obvious Asus Xonar STX/ST > Asus Xonar D2X (its a 5.1 card whereas st needs another board to make it 5.1) > Xonar DX > Xonar DG. Another somewhat well known brand is the Auzentech . You can check out reviews for few products of that brand as well.
 
If you are planning to use a lot of headhones i.e. headphones >> speakers ..Then I suggest getting the ASUS xonar DG , it has an inbuit headphone amp, gets the job done at a much cheaper price(~1.5k), you ll notice a world of difference compared to your onboard(althought you might have to tweak the xonar settings/equalizer to get the full effect)
 
I checked the onboard Sound card of my mobo. Its some 7.1 channel 109 SNR card on my motherboard....

If i upgade to Asus Xonar DX , will there be huge differences? I saw that some SNR is important (i am a newbie in this). Asus Xonar is 116db SNR.

I will use my Altec Octane 7 (sometimes i connect another 2.0 pair with the exisiting 2.1 and change settings from Realtek) with it as well as Sennheiser HD408...what do you guys suggest/reccomond ...

And,after changing the card, will i be able to use the another 2.0 setup with the exisiting 2.1 by plugging in it another port and changing the settings from realtek so that all 2.1 as well as 2.0 work simultaneously?
 
I don't feel you will see huge SQ difference in your current speakers/ HP's with Asus Xonar DX compared to onboard.

At the most, go for Xonar DG with your current setup if you want.

You can either use 2.0 or 2.1 at a time if plugged to different sound cards.
 
vivacious_tg said:
You can either use 2.0 or 2.1 at a time if plugged to different sound cards.
Click to expand...

No, the thing i want to do is that, there are say 4 ports where an 3.5mm jack can be plugges. Currently i plug the green jack as well as the other green jack i plug in the blue jack and then configure the blue jack from realtek to line out as well. Will i be able to do this thing in Asus card. The main thing i want to know is that will the driver panel of Asus will allow me to do the thing which realtek panel is allowing??
 
If I understood your query correctly, you are saying you have a flexibility to configure 3.5 mm jack of onboard sound card how it should behave like front /rear/ side speakers.

You don't have this flexibility with Asus. The ports are fixed for front, rear and centre/subwoofer channels.
 
vivacious_tg said:
If I understood your query correctly, you are saying you have a flexibility to configure 3.5 mm jack of onboard sound card how it should behave like front /rear/ side speakers.

You don't have this flexibility with Asus. The ports are fixed for front, rear and centre/subwoofer channels.
Click to expand...

yes, exactly..i am talking of flexibility from realtek....then a SC will not do me much...anyways...dropping the idea because of the flexibility issue
 
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