It all depends really. Don't get me wrong, I love my sound and want nothing but the best quality when I listen to my music. But as for spending $100 and above on a soundcard for my computer? I just don't see the need/use in that. Onboard soundcards nowadays have come a long way and I mean a long way. That's all I need to be honest with you. There's a reason why my father spent thousands on all of our home theater systems ... because it just doesn't compare.

G. G. said:
Oh, right. I forgot about the CPU load. Aside from Creative hardware-rendered audio, most use the CPU to perform APU functions. Often, that can result in a 15 FPS penalty.

I have the advantage of being a system builder and testing components side by side.

The difference between 90 decibels and 100 decibels isn't much. My 500w sound system will achieve much more (130+dB), and I notice no difference between the X-Fi and Gigabyte's onboard Realtek ALC889A or Realtek ALC888DD, no matter what the volume. There's very little distortion on either one, and both carry bass and treble very well regardless of volume. I can easily setup the onboard sound to match the X-Fi.

Intel's onboard SigmaTel STAC9271 and STAC9227 are also good, but start getting distortion at higher volume (110dB+).

Asus's onboard Azalia has always sucked and still does. AD1988B isn't much better. I can't dial distortion out of either one above 80dB.

Try each of these products side by side and I'm confident that even the most picky listener will agree.

Uh, how are you measuring dB because I'm positive it is inaccurate, especially only on 500w speaker system. 130 dB is "painful" to humans, as in, get away as fast as possible. In fact, most door alarms produce 130 dB of energy because of that fact.

Here's some information on acoustic output: http://www.sfu.ca/sonic-studio/handbook/Decibel.html

I love how people are constantly positive that others are wrong, even when they have no clue about the other person's backround.

Even cheap speakers will damage your ears in the right situation. Headphones are worse.

In fact, 80dB continuous damages the human ear and requires ear plugs in a work environment. Frequency also plays an important role, and can do damage at much less dBs. Anytime your ears are ringing is a sign that hearing has been damaged. This would include every concert I've ever been to, and riding my bike without earplugs. My system puts out a wall of sound that rattles the windows at half volume and effectively clears my side of the house for privacy.

I'm measuring with an Action Electronics dB meter that I've used for measuring dB in factories for many years. It was part of my job. It cost about $700 when I got it, (probably about half that price now), is OSHA approved and calibrated yearly. But you could get roughly the same results with a $59 Sound Level Meter from RadioShack to get about 130dB. It's only when testing for specific frequencies or higher dBs that the expensive systems are necessary.

This is why I laugh out loud every time someone posts the benefits of a sound card over onboard audio, unless they're referring to an ASUS board. For the most part, sound cards are a waste of money and have been for the past 18 mos or so.

When it come to DD and DTS...... like watching movies with a program that can detect both of these sources... can an onboard audio output the necessary 5.1/7.1 channel sounds like in a dedicated Creative Lab's Audigy 2 ZS and up cards?

dark41 said:
I actually upgraded from AC'97 Onboard (MSI Mobo) to an X-Fi XtremeGamer. From my experience, it seemed to carry the bass and mids a bit better, for a "warmer" sound. Also, it did increase performance a slight bit in Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter, taking the responsibility off of the processor, and on to the card. But, hey, I'm on a Pentium 4. Any increase in performance, these days, is a miracle.

But I didn't have to pay for it. My dad bought it for his media computer, and it ended up not being the one he wanted, so he gave it to me. Score!

Bobby Phillipps said:

And you can't go wrong at that price.

So, let me see if I have this straight. I have a THX 5.1 speaker system by Logitech and it's not necessary to get a THX Sound card to compliment the capabilities of THX? I got a Xi-Fi sound card for that purpose.

Maybe I missed something in a previous post.

Also, I always love how after a post is active for a period of time, it goes way off topic of the original post. It's kind of like telling the kid in the front of the class a secret and he has to whisper it to the person behind them and it changes about every other kid until it has completely nothing to do with the original story.

I have a forum I manage myself and this always happens...

THX ? All that means is that it is certified that you will enjoy the best possible THX sound with that hardware.

So, whether you get a sound card with the THX logo or not, you will still be able to enjoy the THX sound quality.

Several companies choose not to pay for that certification. I wouldn't unless I knew it would sell my hardware faster.

I don't use my computer for movies other than occasionally testing dvd-roms and such. Music is my passion. Personally, I've always thought filtering systems (Dolby, etc.) reduce sound quality more than added to it for music.

But from what I understand, no computer sound card is going to meet THX requirements. The room has to be of specific dimensions as well as using a cross-over in the speakers, etc..

I think Sander has built a few home theatre sound systems that might qualify though.

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/thx.htm

And just for the record, I never said I listen to my music at 130dB, but it's nice to know the system is capable. It's only been turned up that loud occasionally when I'm working in the garage.

Well if you're a gamer, sound cards are a must.

EAX (and other similar environmental audio effects) adds so much to the experience of gaming.

Take for example BF2/BF2142. They sound like a different game on good EAX hardware compared to ANY onboard solution I've heard.

Sure, for music etc I'm a firm believer that its the speaker / woofers etc where you'll get the most benefit, once your particular sound solution (onboard or discrete) has decent quality outputs.

dark41 said:
And what was the distance between the meter and the speakers?


dark41 said:
I do believe the requirements for THX varies from business to home use. Most Audigy and X-Fi cards are THX certified as well has high end Klipsch, Creative, and Logitech speakers.

FordGT90Concept said:

Distance is where I sit, approx 4 feet from speakers and 6 feet from subwoofer.

I'd love to see the home requirements. My previous link shows that any hardware or movie theatres can be certified for THX before they even meet any requirements. THX seems like FUD to me.

I'm dying to see a good comparison by someone with more clout than I obviously have on this forum though. Hopefully Sander is paying attention as I know this would fit right in with previous reviews.

G. G. said:

Yes it can. You don't need a fancy soundcard to detect DD/DTS. It's actually up to the sound processor and the amp to facilitate all the channels to each individual speaker. Like I said, my S478 motherboard has an onboard 8-channel soundcard - first motherboard at that time to introduce this - and it plays DD and DTS in 5.1 channel mode. Very well too. Not to mention I have really good speakers too: A set of Logitech's Z-5500 speakers. I couldn't be any more pleased.

I guess it all comes down to is that with onboard sound.... DD/DTS is decoded via software and the cpu has to handle that duties vs with a Audigy 2 ZS~X-FI doing it onboard to the add-in card's hardware done by its own processor/asic off loading it from the cpu to do other things.

There's advantages and disadvantages to both. Whether it's built into the chip, or has to be emulated by software doesn't really matter to be honest with you. Of course, with a high end soundcard such as an XFi, it'll sound a bit better than an onboard solution. But to me, I don't see the use in going with expensive sound cards for your computer. What I'm trying to say is that, it's gonna have to go through the software anyway. So why bother? Just get some really good software to play your DVDs on.