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Looking to buy a new sound card. What do I look for?

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  • Components
  • Sound Cards
Last response: in Components
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June 25, 2013 9:31:47 PM

I've never bought a sound card before. My built in sound card isn't doing it for me anymore (having problems with it). What do I look for when buying a sound card? It looks like most of them are around $20-$30 which is about what I'm willing to pay for one.

More about : buy sound card

June 26, 2013 7:35:32 AM

I use an ASUS Xonar DGX, which is right at your price point. Its good for headphones as it has an in-built headphone amp, which allows more power to properly drive the speakers. In terms of outright audio quality I haven't noticed much difference, the amp is the only real difference I have noticed.
If you use speakers, for the Xonar DG, the DGX is more suited to headsets.

I think at the price-range your looking at there isnt going to be too much difference in audio quality, but you will have greater flexibility with how that sound is played. The Xonar driver gives you far more options in terms of equalizers, surround sound and simulated acoustics than whatever Realtek driver your onboard uses.

EDIT: Go for the DGX, the DG uses a PCI interface which is an older standard. In terms of features they are basically the same.
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