ASRock Z77 Extreme4 Add an Audio Card?

Sonorus

Honorable
Jul 23, 2013
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10,510
Would an audio card be an improvement to my ASRock Z77 Extreme4 motherboard? According to http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z77%20Extreme4/ and http://www.overclockers.com/asrock-z77-extreme4-motherboard-review, the motherboard has Realtek ALC898 built in.

My speakers are Logitech Z623. They were a very good choice. Love them. I wonder, however, if the addition of a sound card can make my music and movies even better.

After researching sound cards at http://sound-cards-review.toptenreviews.com/ and at http://whatswithjeff.com/5-best-gaming-sound-card-2013/, I decided I might like the ASUS Xonar Essence ST. But will this improve anything?

Thanks
 
Solution
The top 10 reviews look dated even though it says 2013.

For gaming the Creative "Z" series are probably the best but since you just have a 2.1 system it might be worth it in terms of surround sound.

Will a sound card improve your sound? Maybe, it depends on how good your on board sound is and if you are getting any EMI(electro-magnetic interference). The soundcards have EMI shielding which might help with the analog output, in terms of noise. You probably won't hear any perceived differences in sound but after spending a bunch of money buying a sound card, your brain will probably perceive a difference because it needs to justify the cost.

Once you get over a certain amount of SNR or THD lets say 100, 99.7%(guessing) of the worlds...
The top 10 reviews look dated even though it says 2013.

For gaming the Creative "Z" series are probably the best but since you just have a 2.1 system it might be worth it in terms of surround sound.

Will a sound card improve your sound? Maybe, it depends on how good your on board sound is and if you are getting any EMI(electro-magnetic interference). The soundcards have EMI shielding which might help with the analog output, in terms of noise. You probably won't hear any perceived differences in sound but after spending a bunch of money buying a sound card, your brain will probably perceive a difference because it needs to justify the cost.

Once you get over a certain amount of SNR or THD lets say 100, 99.7%(guessing) of the worlds population won't hear a difference.

Even though the Z623 are good PC speakers, they aren't good speakers compared to decent home speakers. People will claim they can hear a difference but if you sat them down and did a bunch of A/B comparison tests then they would probably won't be able to pick out any differences using the equipment you are using.

Personally I feel you are better off spending the money on some better speakers or just getting some good headphones. That will have a greater impact on your sound then a sound card would.

Happy listening, the Prisoner...
 
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