Is a Sound Card Needed?

[whosBlu]

I'm Planning to Buy this Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H77-DS3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard

Is a sound card need with this motherboard? Or will i be just fine?

If needed please link so suggestions of sound cards because i haven't did a lot of research on them.

Thanks in Advanced!

-JP

 

[JTV]

Its not "needed" no it has a very capable one onboard, if youre a sound enthusiast or whatever then obviously you might want to look at a dedicated card.

 

[TheBigTroll]

the sound is decent on the boards. if you want to, a asus dg 5.1 sound card for 30 bucks blows away the onboard stuff. most people will notice a difference but most people dont mind the onboard

 

[pacioli]

I say no... Unless you are doing work with sound editing and need it. The modern sound included on mobos is great.

 

[whosBlu]

Thanks for the info Guys!

 

[kajabla]

I got a DG and it was absolutely indistinguishable. As far as I know, sound cards are only good for people who need features like a headphone amp or 7.1 surround sound. I've been trying to get someone to do a blind test for a while now, but nobody's yet taken me up on it. If you're willing, TBT, get someone to switch between dedicated sound and the sound card that I assume you have, not telling you which one is on, and see if you can reliably tell the difference.

 

[TheBigTroll]

i can tell the difference. maybe its just me with very sensitive hearing

 

[kajabla]

Please try the blind test. If you can tell the difference without knowing which one's on, I'll believe you completely.

 

[TheBigTroll]

i used my friends dg 5.1 to listen to my recording of me playing a violin (it was burned on a regular CD in a generic mp3 file @ 320bit rate). on the onboard sound, it sounded normal and nothing out of the ordinary. with a dg 5.1, i can hear a few footsteps in the back because someone walked by the room at the end of the song. i was using a generic pair of apple earbuds. it was also played at the same volume

its not the best comparison i know.

its not too much of a difference but there is a difference.

 

[TheBigTroll]

oh and one more thing. i have pretty poor eyesight.

 

[kajabla]

Seriously, the blind test matters. It would also help if the volume were changed more or less at random, as you can't be sure it was the same.