Gamer and Sound Card
- Thread starter joey117
- Start date
Thelosouvlakia
Classy-Fried-Chicken
Both yes and no. It depends on a lot of things. Does your gaming computer have a gaming motherboard with "gaming, premium" sound section built in? Do you only use that computer for gaming, or do you listen to music too to an audiophile/enthusiast grade? Do you plan on using headphones that are 7.1 true surround (like the razer tiamat)?
If your motherboard has that premium audio and you aren't interested in more advanced stuff then you should be fine really
SuB
The Webmaster
Not so much these days, it's more of a 'sound quality' thing to most people. Onboard sound has come a very, very long way in the last few years and is easily comparable to what was on offer as 'premium' cards a few years back.
Personally I like them because of extra features (headphone amps for example) better sound quality (in my opinion) and often-times, better mic-input .. I've found on-board mic inputs to be notoriously shit compared to a half decent pci/express option. Simply because of interference or corner cutting.
Before you ask, no, don't buy anything from Creative unless it's an X-Fi that you have sourced either second hand or otherwise, their Recon3D based stuff and latest ZXR are pants and should be avoided. If you want something decent grab one of the Asus branded Xonar cards, for headphones not much touches the Essence ST/X, for speakers and surround sound one of the other offerings is better, or the Essence 2 with the 7.1 add-on card.
Most of it is very personal preference, but to the short version is no, you don't *need* one, but you may very well want one after you've heard one with a good pair of headphones
Personally I like them because of extra features (headphone amps for example) better sound quality (in my opinion) and often-times, better mic-input .. I've found on-board mic inputs to be notoriously shit compared to a half decent pci/express option. Simply because of interference or corner cutting.
Before you ask, no, don't buy anything from Creative unless it's an X-Fi that you have sourced either second hand or otherwise, their Recon3D based stuff and latest ZXR are pants and should be avoided. If you want something decent grab one of the Asus branded Xonar cards, for headphones not much touches the Essence ST/X, for speakers and surround sound one of the other offerings is better, or the Essence 2 with the 7.1 add-on card.
Most of it is very personal preference, but to the short version is no, you don't *need* one, but you may very well want one after you've heard one with a good pair of headphones
NeverBackDown
AMD Enthusiast
Onboard will distort at lower volumes levels making it sound muddy whereas a soundcard/external dac/amp will allow you to go much higher without sounding muddy and it will stay clearer. Keep in mind though sound quality is only as good as the weakest link in the whole audio chain. So it comes down to how much you are willing to invest.
PCgamingnoob
New member
Buy an Audioquest Dragonfly and don't look back.
