High End Motherboard Audio or Sound card

PC-Noobist · Jul 2, 2014

Which one is better, the onboard audio on the MSI Z97 Gaming 7 or the audio on the Creative Sound Blaster Z, which one will give me the best audio experience, if the onboard audio is better ill save some money which is always welcome, the Creative Sound Blaster Z will be pared with a Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD5H Black Edition, Thanks In Advance!

Joey2oo9 · Jul 2, 2014

To be honest i'd save your money and stick with the on board audio, you'll never notice the difference.

chunkymonster · Jul 2, 2014

+1 to Joey2oo9!

The Realtec codes they put on motherboards nowadays are just as good for anything from 2 channel to 7.1 surround as a dedicated sound card. The only reason I can think of to go with a dedicated card anymore is for audio mixing and recording.

PC-Noobist · Jul 2, 2014

Would an external dac be better? im looking at the Audioengine D1 Premium 24-Bit DAC, i would like the best sound but my build is completely black so the Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD5H Black Edition suits my build very much and is a bit cheaper, im kinda lost and would like peoples opinions on what they think is the best, thanks for the help so far!

chunkymonster · Jul 2, 2014

PC-Noobist :

The Realtec ALC1150 Codec that comes with that Gigabyte motherboard has a 24bit DAC. You can read the specs from the Realtec website here; Realtek ALC1150 Specs.

Truly, unless you are a complete audiophile, the kind of person that complains that 320k mp3's are not high fidelity enough, you most likely won't hear a difference between the codec and an external DAC or dedicated sound card; especially with the software which offers multiple listening environments, equalizers, dynamic range controls, etc. Heck, the speakers you choose are just as, if not more important, as the audio component if you are concerned about audio quality.

PC-Noobist · Jul 2, 2014

chunkymonster :

Okay thanks, i hear alot of what you just said often, ill be choosing the Gigabyte Board mainly for the looks and ill try the audio on that first (im very picky and could be considered an audio-phile but alot of snobbery comes with that name), if i dont like the audio what would you suggest; either the Asus Xonar Essence STX or the AudioEngine D1 Premium external DAC? Also my headphones are 60ohms so they need a bit of power to be pushed. Thanks for your help so far ive cleared my mind and i have been able to make decisions.

chunkymonster · Jul 3, 2014

PC-Noobist :

I'd go withe AudioEngine D1...that's my humble opinion.

PC-Noobist · Jul 3, 2014

chunkymonster :

i see people saying you cant get a good dac at the price point the STX is, they literally cost the same, are you only suggesting a dac to reduce distortion? does the STX actually sound better? you have been a big help so far thanks

chunkymonster · Jul 5, 2014

PC-Noobist :

Yes, suggested the external to reduce any signal noise that might be picked up by an internal audio card.

I honestly don't know which one would sound better between the AudioEngine and SXT.

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High End Motherboard Audio or Sound card

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