Are sound cards even worth it anymore?

[claptonman]

I'm building a new computer, and I was wondering if my onboard sound is good enough. Here's my board:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131733

It's either that or I buy this sound card:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102012

I listen to a lot of music, but I'm certainly not an audiophile by any means, seeing the sound card I'm looking at. Any help?

 

[StrangleHold]

Audigy SE is a pretty lowend sound card. Probably not much difference, the onboard might be alittle better. lol

 

[linkin]

The Audigy is pretty old, you'll want at least an X-Fi card for Creative. A Xonar DG might be a good option. Anything after that starts getting pricey.

 

[TrainTrackHack]

Yes, they are, but you can't just pick one at random and expect everything to sound great. Most onboard chips are pretty decent so you'll have to spend a bit more (above suggestions are all good). Also, you need a decent speaker setup or headphones to go with it. It doesn't matter how good your card is, if the rest of your audio gear is junk you won't notice a difference.

 

[PohTayToez]

If you don't know if you need one or not I'd say you don't. I've always been happy with on board.

 

[linkin]

Yes, they are, but you can't just pick one at random and expect everything to sound great. Most onboard chips are pretty decent so you'll have to spend a bit more (above suggestions are all good). Also, you need a decent speaker setup or headphones to go with it. It doesn't matter how good your card is, if the rest of your audio gear is junk you won't notice a difference.

If you don't know if you need one or not I'd say you don't. I've always been happy with on board.

I'm inclined to agree with you guys, but soundcards can have other uses. Yes onboard will do for 90% of tasks, but if you have, say, FLAC music library and decent headphones, you won't want to be using onboard audio. You can also restore hardware accelerated audio for games and whatnot.

 

[diduknowthat]

If you don't have good speakers then no it's not worth it. Also that card definitely isn't worth it. If you listen to a lot of music then at least get a Xonar D1 or DX.

 

[claptonman]

Right now I have a Creative Audigy 2 ZS and I'm using these speakers:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...6&cm_re=behringer_ms16-_-36-196-006-_-Product

And these headphones:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...28&cm_re=sennheiser_hd-_-26-106-328-_-Product

(I got the headphones free)

I guess I can upgrade a little bit. I just don't wanna spend any more money on this build.

 

[linkin]

Those speakers don't look like much. For a cheap soundcard to compliment those headphones, something like this would do:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102027&cm_re=x-fi-_-29-102-027-_-Product

PCI-E Flavour: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102023&cm_re=x-fi-_-29-102-023-_-Product

I've got the PCI-E one. You don't have to buy one if you think it's unnecessary and can't/don't want to spend more money.