Sound card for Logitech Z523

[iron2570]

Hello

I am using a Logitech Z523 speaker with on-board sound card Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H ATX
I am thinking getting a sound card to enhance the audio level, not planing to use headphone.
I listen a lot of pop song like Maroon 5 and Katy Perry.
Will I hear the difference when I get a sound card


please give me some advises for the sound card
or should I sell the z523 speaker and upgrade something higher

I been doing some research
Asus Xonar DG 5.1 $30 dollar
Asus Xonar DS 7.1 $60 dollar
AsusXonar DX 7.1 $90 dollar
or any better advise?

And what is the different between the pci and pci-e interface
Because the same model , pci is cheaper

I found out Logitech their subwoffer and bass are too strong for some music
What happen to Altec Lancing, most of their product has been discontinued


Thanks



Audio Chipset on my motherboard
Onboard Audio Audio Chipset VIA VT2021
Audio Channels 8 Channels




Hardware info
Intel Core i5 3750K Processor
Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H ATX
GIGABYTE GTX 670 oc Graphics
G.SKILL Ripjaws X F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1600
Corsair Force Series GT 120GB SSD SATA3 Solid State Disk
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM
Antec HCG-620M 620W ATX12V Modular
Coolermaster Storm Enforcer
Windows 7 unlimited pre-install
Microsoft Office 2010 Pro Professional English

 

[jay_nar2012]

This is a good card- http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-Express-Normalizer-Virtual-Speaker/dp/B007RMMYFI/ref=sr_1_2?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1349021813&sr=1-2

5.1 systems will give you better surround effects than 2.1 systems so i would advise you to get a 5.1 system, the Z906 is a good system.

 

[nukemaster]

PCI-E was said to have some issues of latency with early designs, but that said, I have an X-FI titanium(PCI-e) and it am more then happy with it.

If you plan to keep a card long term, I am not sure Creative is a good idea(x-fi cards are mostly discontinued and recon cards are not nearly as good from a spec point of view) since they tend to be slow on driver releases for new OSes.

I am gonna ride my X-fi till it dies because it has hardware OpenAL(for a Winamp plugin I have.). I do not think this is as important to most users, but I like to listen to music AND game at the same time and all the new cards in conjunction with current versions of windows seem to have some kind of auto volume(even when its turned off in windows.). I can not stand when I play a game and gun shots cut down the music volume. With this plugin, windows does not even handle the sound so I NEVER get this issue any more.

PCI-E(and the only reason I switched away from my Audigy 2zs) to me is more future proof because PCI is getting less and less common.

On the bass issue, the speakers have a bass control, try to turn it down a notch maybe?

On the topic of Altec Lansing(God i miss the old stuff they made. had and still have the ATP3's and a semi functional Select 641). I have the Select 641's best damn speakers EVER, but one of the sub amps had started to fail. I replaced it with an Edifier set. It sounds very good(the satellites are very clean sounding), but lacks some of the extreme boom from the 641's sub(If i can ever get a hold of parts and time, may want to try to get that working again.).

I think this is one of the things that made me see how windows handles audio now days(all in software). Back with the 641's I have a computer that dealt with music and media(and team speak and game servers) and another to deal with games, but the new speakers do not have dual inputs that run at the same time, so one or the other. Again, I think I may have been the only person to use the feature. Finally I have had time to put together a mixer to run the 2 systems on the one set of speakers again so things are so much better for my system use(no more switching from computer to computer to hear sound, they both play together at what ever volume each is set).

As for other cards, Auzentech is well respected for sound cards, but so is Asus.

Another feature some cards have is user swappable opamps(I can see this being VERY good for headphones), but your millage will vary because you have opamps on the card and in the speakers and i am sure the cheaper ones will be the limiting factor(I tried cheap and expensive opamps in my own projects and they sound so close, I think it is because my speakers are the limiting factor).

Sound is almost to personal to vote for a BEST card(I keep what I have because the sound is good to me and it has features I like), Personally I hate most of the up mixing features for audio and only use Stereo Surround or Stereo X2(effectively the same thing from and rear and use as little center as I can because I find most cards use the center is a very strange way that effects the overall balance of the sound)

Sorry if this is not as helpful as you would hope, but for me, if you are using it long term, I think PCI-e is a safer bet(but if it will stay in the system forever, PCI will NOT sound worse it can not) and read the reviews because at least then you get an idea of what others think.