Dedicated sound card or onboard audio?

Audio noob here... I have a Asus ROG Strix Z370 E motherboard and with the onboard audio, but can't decide if i need a Sound Blaster Z series card or external DAC instead. I will be using the system for music production, Fruityloops/DAW/DJ, perhaps connecting a musical instruments in the future.

Here are the specs:

ROG SupremeFX 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC S1220A
- Dual Headphone Amplifiers
- Impedance sense for front and rear headphone outputs
- Supports : Jack-detection, Multi-streaming, Front Panel Jack-retasking
- High quality 120 dB SNR stereo playback output and 113 dB SNR recording input
- SupremeFX Shielding Technology
- Supports up to 32-Bit/192kHz playback *5
Audio Feature :
- SupremeFX Shielding™ Technology
- Optical S/PDIF out port(s) at back panel
- Dedicated audio PCB layers: Separate layers for left and right channels to guard the quality of the sensitive audio signals
- Premium Japanese-made audio capacitors: Provide warm, natural and immersive sound with exceptional clarity and fidelity


The SB card seems to have 124db and similar specs... other folks online seem to recommend a separate sound card rather than onboard audio, but at the same time, it seems like the onboard audio technology has improved or may have surpassed a separate card?

Other urls found in this thread:

amazon.com/Behringer-UMC204HD-BEHRINGER-U-PHORIA/dp/B00QHURLCW
audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/a-deep-dive-into-hdmi-audio-performance.56/
twitter.com/NSFWRedditImage

external DAC's are ALWAYS better than internal soundcards. give /hpg/ a visit.

I don't do any music production, but I am currently working on fixing the sound driver for the Sound Blaster Z on Linux. If you want Linux support out of the box, get an Asus Xonar. If you want to avoid potential motherboard noise, get an external usb DAC.

I'm not a crazy audiophile, but I can tell the difference between onboard and my SBZ. Music seems less 'flat' is the only way to describe it.

external DAC -> Amp

OP here, what's a good external DAC to start out with? 200-300 price range i guess...

modi, but I bought mine in 2010 so I'm sure there are probably better options out there right now, modi's only like $100 tho

You could probably get the original modi for alot cheaper now too if you don't want all the other shit the modi2 has

schiit is awful

How so? Have you ever used their products? And what would you suggest otherwise?

OL DAC+Objective2 amp.

My honest humble opinion is that if possible, use the digital output of your on-board mobo audio card, and connect it to an amplifier that has TOSLINK (optical).

I've actually used their products and they're fine. I still use their modi magni stack daily. There's just a meme on Sup Forums where once one thing is widely accepted as good a bunch of people start saying it isn't anymore to be edgy.

Also this is another great option

How come they charge an extra $30 for a 1/4 jack?

This is a very ignorant thing to say.
It depends on the DAC and the soundcard.
There are plenty of cheap external DACs around that are absolute garbage.
And any DAC hardly could beat a very high-end internal sound card, it would have to be the toppest of the top of external DACs.

What motherboard/internal audio you have?

ofcourse we're talking about soundcards in the same price range you absolute retard

I've used Focusrite Scarlett and was OK for a beginner, but kinda limited.

Then I got a mixer-interface hybrid from Yamaha, which is awesome.

These were in the 100-120 bucks price range.

I heard an audio engineer telling me Presonus have also great interfaces, but I haven't used one yet.

If you don't plan on making music and using a few instruments at the same time, you don't need a 200-300 bucks interface. A 100ish one is ok just for managing your audio stuff externally.

>If you want to avoid potential motherboard noise
Aren't decent cards supposed to have protection against noise?

That is also a lie, depends a lot on each specific case.
Perhaps it is true on the low-end sector... perhaps.

Because people pay an extra $30 for a 1/4 jack. Welcome to modern audio electronics where people pay $100's for something a high school student could design and throw together for

ok asus employee

Audibly so? That is the relevant question.

If you hear noise in your audio or it generally sounds poor, something is wrong, and you might benefit from an external card. If it sounds great as is, you'd just be flushing money.

>asus
Creative or end your life, pleb.

Gigabyte gaming 7 z97. Has an onboard Realtek ALC1150. I've been using it about two months while working on the Sound Blaster Z driver, and the second I got audio out of the Sound Blaster Z I noticed a difference.
They do, and my SBZ is way less noisy than onboard, but there are still little buzzes occasionally. But, I'm also using an amp I built, so it could just be bad amp design. No buzzes with other sources like iPods though. Really though, computers are just hotbeds for EMI. Getting your soundcard outside of the PC is your best bet for clean sound.

Unless you're an audio pedophile you won't even know the difference between your meme sound card and onboard audio.

Yeah. Like with all audio stuff, you should invest in good headphones/speakers first, then amp, and then a DAC. No use in getting an expensive sound card if you've got junk speakers/headphones.

if you're panning on connecting an instrument or doing audio production the you should get an audio interface
the behringer UMC204HD ($80) has a great, transparent DAC and all the imputs/outputs you'll need

amazon.com/Behringer-UMC204HD-BEHRINGER-U-PHORIA/dp/B00QHURLCW

also the UMC404HD is a bit more expensive at $100 but has many more connection options and is externally powered

consumer PCI soundcards don't have XLR input and +48V in them

I've seen something like this for cheap in a second hand store. Do they work as just a headphone DAC/amp?

Of course, as evidenced by "ALWAYS" in the first post.

the DAC in that model is as good as you can get but the headphone amp in it is pretty average, is only the best choice if you actually need an audio interface
if you want a cheap DAC/amp for just listening purposes i would recommend the micca origen G2

Whatever you plan on doing, stay away from Creative.

"better"

It comes down to perceptibility. With the current noise floor of literally all audio hardware manufactured today, any issues with sound comes down to latency problems and shitty headphones with poor frequency response characteristics.

Onboard audio is fine for 99.9999% of people. Even with a set of headphones specifically designed for picking up garbage, like MDR-7506s, there's no noticeable interference even with the budget, shit tier MSI X370 motherboard I'm using. People who spout off about onboard audio are living in 2008.

If you do pick up a fancy DAC or sound card, make sure to pick up your $1000 headphones, cable risers and Brilliant Pebbles too, or you won't be getting anything out of it.

>MDR-7506s
holy shit get some better cans man

I can hear noises when my computer calculates some shit, insulation is shit m8

Perhaps you might want to look into a usb multichannel dac or soundcard, having a multi sub setup to get good bass response might be in your future if you're serious about music production.

I use an early 00s mid tier reciever for its pre capability, 8ch in/out volume control. These days dolby atmos took that features place.

USB/Soundcards can both introduce ground noise into your chain.

anything past 100dollars is placebo. they all use the same mass produced chips anyway.

just get the mackie BIG KNOB, is stupid good for the price

Does a working usb dac without shitty drivers actually exist?

t. Bought focusrite scarlet, audio pops and snaps and gets worse with higher cpu usage

motu audio express

Wrong.

Welcome to using USB for Audio 101 - it sucks giant donkey dick.

No, it's not enough. The small footprint of an ordinary pc soundcard or on-board audio cannot provide enough amplification for mics, instruments or monitors. You need bigger coils, transformers and other electronic components for proper signal transduction and amplification.

Try finding the right settings for your buffer. Focusrite has a utility that comes with the driver and allows you to choose your buffer, bit depth and resolution. Try set a smaller buffer then see if increasing it fixes anything. Don't set you resolution or bit depth too high, your cpu may not be able to handle it.

My advice: Forget an additional soundcard, the amp+dax on that motherboard and that's better than most. And most motherboards, even cheap ones, have a perfectly good DAC and AMP.

One thing that does make a difference is the cable going from the motherboard or soundcard to the front audio outputs, it may pick up noise from the system (it's generally not shielded). If you buy a dedicated soundcard then you're plugging into the back and you avoid that problem - but you can use the back connector to the on-board audio too.

If you want a dedicated soundcard then a USB DAC/AMP is the way to go. Not because it's better, it's probably not. But you can put that thing on your desk or near your audio equipment and not have to crawl to the back of your computer all the time.

no

yes, consider an external amp/dac.

The only time you actually should want an internal soundcard is when it comes with HDMI audio out.

>have an x-fi card
>get occasional random static that results in my my audio drivers having crashed
>have to manually stop and restart them via command prompt every time, or use a third party workaround that is a pain in the ass to deal with
I might just do the third party one, but i'm buying a dac soon.

OP your onboard sound seems good but it's probably not well isolated. I am very happy with my Micromega mydac.

If you have headphones and speakers, consider dropping more for an all in one dac preamp for headphones and speakers. I have a used xonar essence one that I picked up for a bit over half of it's MSRP and I can vouch that it just werks and has 0 noise or compatibility issues. Otherwise high end opamps are audiophile idiot priced

I'm about to buy a Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 for $200 mainly to reduce latency from 42ms, is there any audio interface that can do this under $200 and do it well?

>iphone's lightning to 3.5mm connector's DAC has flatter frequency response than Schiit's schiit
Yeah, I wouldn't reallyl say they're ALWAYS better. A lot of external DACs are fucking garbage and overpriced to hell.

You'll get similar quality from sound cards but also have options for sound processing

Seconding the Focusrite Scarlett. Use a 2i4 and its nothing fancy does everything i need it to do. 2i4 also comes with midi so i can run my midi controller/synths through it.

>very high-end internal sound card
Examples?

I love my Xonar DX, best modern sound card I've ever owned. No Creative driver bullshit. Encodes to Dolby Digital on the fly. They can drive my fullsized headphones without the need for external amp. Draws clean power directly from the PSU and you gotta agree it just looks sleek and sexy.

t. listens to youtube rips from 2008 exclusively

test at least 2 pairs of headphones on each of your audio output options (back of motherboard, front of case, or out of monitor, for example) and check for audio quality issues, and check to see if at least one of the options sounds clean enough for your tastes. Specifically, you should be looking for a high pitched noise that occurs when the headphones are plugged in, even though no sound data is being played (there could be other issues, that is just an easy one for you to check). If you find out that the motherboard audio is good enough for you, then you can buy a $10 audio cable extender, instead of an external DAC.

all of my pcie is full from mining.
get an external dac with optical.

You can buy PCI-E splitters now. Any shitty old board can have up to 4 PCIe cards per slot.

I bought a Sound Blaster Audigy FX I hope I did not make a mistake.

If you want an easy solution to your on board audio interference / quality just get a USB dac

sabaj da2/da3, smsl idea all of those will hands down crush any GAYMER sound card you can find for under $250 at a fraction of the cost

External DAC is better than a soundcard, but honestly DACs are the most placebo of all the audio gear.

An AMP is only needed if the headphones are high impedance

4 LAN/nvme/sound cards? Doubt it can supply 4 fully bus powered graphics cards like gtx 1050s.

Onboard audio.
Reason is simple: You already have onboard audio.
Consider sound cards (I suggest external, because computer cases are nests of electromagnetic noise) if and when you need it, not a second before that.

>music production on onboard audio
Stop it

Even then if you need to ask "should I get a soundcard?" then the answer is "no" untill you find that you really do need it.
Chances are he produces music for 2 days before finding it boring and starts playing wow instead.

So what, everything will sound way better for whatever he does.

Soundcards are complete placebo. The only legit reason to have them is if they offer a port you need that your onboard does not (for ex. optical input for recording), or if your onboard has horse shit drivers (for ex. the VIA VT2021 drivers don't allow you to redirect center to front speakers for a 4.1 setup).

If you just want better quality sound, get an external amp and feed it digital output preferably from HDMI on your videocard (it can handle uncompressed 7.1 channel 24bit 96khz - SPDIF maxes at 2 channel 44.1Khz).

The SBZ series is really good in my opinion. Much better than the new RGB shit they're pushing that doesn't even do real time encoding over optical.

Onboard audio is unforgivably cheap and undetailed. Have fun listening to shit music, only louder.

My board has an ALC887 and it sounds horrible, the equalizer does almost nothing and the volume is too low
My Xfi Titanium is way better, the difference is very noticeable
I use an Sennheiser HD 419, got this card on 2009 and it still rocks

yes which is why you get external DAC or amp that comes with one. soundcards themselves are still useless.

should i buy a soundcard

>literally budget tech released 10 years ago
any decent ALC1220 implementation (or 1150 for that matter) is going to sound better

>t. poorfag who bought a $60 AM3+ motherboard

thank god, I wouldn't want any dirty electrons making their way into my sound

I got a Cambridge Audio DacMagic XS for £40, and I am astounded at how good it is.

>focusrite saffire
i got weird stutter now and then when i had this even when just playing back mp3s. i had to back to my emu 0202

Cite proof please, otherwise FUD. Xonar will output 192 Khz PCM and it's great. I have Realtek ALC1220 on my motherboard too. It works, it sounds fine, but I'm not going through the hassle of trying to get around driver signature enforcement to get dolby digital encoding to work.

I run one of these cheap things into a 1972 Kenwood. It still sounds better than onboard and all the $100+ cards I've tried.

with 120snr that onboard is going to be better than 90% of sound cards and externals

>If you just want better quality sound, get an external amp and feed it digital output preferably from HDMI on your videocard

Absolutely incorrect. HDMI is a terrible jitter ridden digital interface for music. Its so bad its actually "audible" compared to the clean spdif of my firewire audio interface. Citation.

audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/a-deep-dive-into-hdmi-audio-performance.56/