Onboard Audio vs. Sound Cards

[bryan240g]

After my fresh install of Win7 beta, my X-fi sound card did not work because of drivers, therefore I was forced to use the onboard sound on my EVGA 780i mobo. In my opinion, I couldn't really tell a difference in sound. There for my question on this poll is:

Are sound cards worth it now, with fairly new mobo's offering several different audio outputs?

 

[4745454b]

Finally, I have now used both. Honestly, I can't tell the difference either. Things sounded just fine on my S939 Asus A8R-MVP. The worst thing was that board lacks optical out, only coaxial. I did get a great deal on an Audigy 2, so I bought it. I even get the drive bay, which is the best thing about it. Nothing sounds clearer, but it does seem to get louder. The reason the drive bay is so great is that I've now got front of the computer sound controls. (I've also now got more jacks then I know what to do with.

Sound cards are like RAID arrays. Basically, I consider them to be "rich man toys". If you need to get a smaller GPU or CPU, or drop down to 2GBs of ram instead of 4GBs, its not worth it to you. If you have the money, then go for it, as it won't hurt to have it.

 

[jay_l_a]

If you want in game surround over digital, a sound card is the only option.

 

[pr2thej]

Onboard. Cant tell the difference but then i am probably still partially deaf from 5 years working in a nightclub.
Still you think they would factor such things into the manufacture of dedicated sound cards.

 

[chookman]

I said yes, but they will only make a difference in certain circumstances. If you dont require this (or meet the requirement of these circumstances) a sound card will do you no good.

 

[Breakstuff]

Chookman-

Can you please define these "circumstances"?

 

[chookman]

Firstly hardware
The only main hardware requirement would be a decent set of speakers... and i don't mean those logitech's that you picked up for $100 from the local store that you thought was a bargain. I mean some hi-fi speakers, presumably with an amplifier or a good set of headphones (again not the cheap pair you got from down the road). Without a high quality set of speakers you are never going to hear the difference in high fidelity audio.

Secondly your needs
Do you want to use EAX? Do you want to use DDL/DTS? Do you want so many line in/out connections? Do you want a certain type of connection 6.3mm stereo/RCA/Optical/Coaxial?

Basically if you don't want any "features" that the onboard doesn't provide and you don't have high quality equipment its probably not going to be worth it.