hi, i have an asus p5n32-e sli and i am going to get one of logisys 5.1 setups this one actually http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836121012 and im not sure if the card that comes with my board is good or not. i want to know if it works as good as a x-fi extreme music card or if its just like any other onboard audio. i was interested in the new card from asus the xonar d2(i like all the lights ) budget is an issue so that would be alittle bit down the road. any suggestions would be very helpful. thanks in advance
Most on-board sound these days is quite impressive... but it'll never be the equal of a dedicated soundcard in my opinion.
indeed, onboard sound card are pretty good (specially on good motherboard manufactures). But if you want to listen to music that is more "lively", "richer", "clearer" (less static), then a dedicated sound card would be good choice. I recommend a dedicated sound card if you listen a lot of music or play a lot of games. My sound card recommendation (strongly recommended for playback) is the ASUS Xonar D2. The X-fi is cheaper now in price, but the drivers for WinXP and Vista (only available on those OS), will KILL you. For example, under Vista, if I run Skype perform a call and close it, my sound card doesn't work anymore, I have to reboot the computer. In WinXP, when I perform the same task, the sound is being played at ultra fast froward, MAX volume, until you change "Mode" (Entertainment, Gaming or Recording) in the sound panel, or reboot your computer. Moreover, it doesn't like nForce chipset, and some (but few) Intel users faces some pop-ing and crackling issue in their sound when playing games. If I had the money I would defiantly change immediately my sound card. So I say, the X-fi is interesting on the technical side, but on the driver side its fairly poor, or even I would go with abysmal.
It really is a personal thing, if you can notice a difference, then go for a dedicated soundcard, but personally I can barely tell the difference between an X-Fi, a RealTek HD Audio chip on a motherboard or the ADI chip my Asus board uses.
...then don't expect it from a package that includes a 6-channel amplifier and six speakers, one a sub, for the princely sum of $140. That's the weak link, not the on-board sound.
