which is better?

[inigma]

So, to add stability to your overclock is it better to have a sound card or to utilize your nforce2 chipset for your sound?

[Semper Fi]

Adding a soundcard could definately help stability, but the nForce2 onboard sound is actually better than an Audigy 2, but the only real way you would be able to tell a difference is if you had a $500+ sound system hooked up to it. I couldnt really tell a difference between the nforce2 and the SB Live. Try it both ways, see if the soundcard helps your stability, if not, just run the nforce.

[Soulburner]

Dude the onboard sound cannot touch an Audigy 2.....I think you're confusing it with a SB Live.....:rolleyes:

[jmg823]

i heard a sound card with its own litttle processer on it is better because u are not using the cpus power for sound(in games u can sometimes tell the difference)

[Holst]

Personally I use ALC650 sound and dont notice the difference over NF2 or an audigi2.

Performance wise I think the MCPT sound is the best, but not by much.

[Semper Fi]

Soul, what kind of speakers are you using? I was able to get more channels from the nforce2 sound on BF1942 then the audigy 2. I couldnt tell a difference between the two with a klipsch 4.1 system.

[bigballaga]

AUDIGY 2 CANT BE TOUCHED !!!!! who ever said that onboard is better is mistaken to say the least.

[Semper Fi]

A buddy from the futuremark forums told me there is very little difference in sound quality during gaming between audigy2 and the nforce 2 onboard sound. After trying out both ways, I dont hear the slightest difference.

How much does the nforce2 sound stress the cpu?

[Soulburner]

Honestly to the human ear, most people won't notice the difference....but power wise the Audigy 2 is superior.

I am using the Klipsch Promedia THX 4.1 system and it sounds great. I do have onboard but its AC97 which isnt as good as Soundstorm. I haven't tried it yet but I don't think i'll bother.

[MudWhistle]

The Audigy 2 is superior in certain areas like recording from an external source etc, higher quality filters are used unlike the cheap connectors that are included on MCPT boards. If you own an Nforce 2 board with MCPT then the purchase of a Audigy 2 would be a waste unless your an audiophile with 400+ dollar speakers or plan on switching to an Intel system.


One benefit to using a PCI sound card would be less stress i.e less heat being omitted from the southbridge which could in turn, give you better clocks. This would only be noticeable/beneficial during the actual playing of games, not really for 3dmark or prime95.

Hard to say without testing though.

Personally i'm still using my Hercules Game Theatre XP as I find I use the breakout box quite often and the audio quality differences are miniscule with my Logitech Z-560's.

[shrae]

Soundstorm APU is excellent as long as you are using digital out, ie, you aren't relying on the codecs for the DAC. As I've posted many times on this forum, nVidia did not create any type of standard for the codecs and instead left it up to the mobo manufacturers to decide. Thus many companies use extremely cheap licenses like the typical old realtek or ac'97 analog codecs. So if you are utilizing onboard DAC then the Audigy2 will probably provide a superior alternative. On the other hand, if you are going offboard for decoding anyway then there is no way the Audigy2 is worth the cost compared to the existing Soundstorm APU.

BTW, if anyone has read the whitepapers, Soundstorm APU is very close to Audigy2 in many categories and actually surpasses it in some. Audigy2 superiority mostly comes in input processing, so if you aren't using that or the output DAC then it's really a waste. Soundstorm shows that integrated peripherals do not need to be cheap and low quality, and people really need to do some research instead of passing judgement just because something is integrated.

I am using the NF7-S with toslink optical out along with my Sony 777es and DefTech PM100s, and am quite satisfied with the sound quality.

[st0nedpenguin]

The Audigy2 has hardware processing, which the Soundstorm APU lacks, so using the Audigy2 should free up a few resources.

On the flipside though, AFAIK the Soundstorm APU is the only way to get true digital 6.1 output, so if you have some tasty digital speakers is should sound sweet as hell.

But again, if you are a gamer then the Audigy2 is the only real option if like me, you are a gamer, apart from freeing up those tiny amounts of resources, it supports full hardware EAX3.

[kromosto]

i never have that quality ears so i always use onboard :D

[bigballaga]

my Altec Lansing 2.1 speakers dont want to work when plugged into the Audigy digital out,,,, anyone know whats causing this ?

[Soulburner]

The Audigy 2 is 7.1 now FYI.

[X-Ecutioner]

im usin a audigy I ... ( audigy I and II usin teh same chip)
and i luv the sound ...

i use a 5.1 system and theres a dif in frames AND quality in games if u use eax hardware accelerated

i dont like onboard sound, but the nforce onboard sound is pretty good i think ...

but i still prefer usin my audigy

X

[st0nedpenguin]

Originally posted by Soulburner
The Audigy 2 is 7.1 now FYI.

Nope, the Audigy2 is 6.1, the Audigy2 ZS is 7.1.

[Soulburner]

That's the one I was talking about......obviously.

[st0nedpenguin]

Obviously.

:D

[JoeBar]

Originally posted by X-Ecutioner
im usin a audigy I ... ( audigy I and II usin teh same chip)
and i luv the sound ...

i use a 5.1 system and theres a dif in frames AND quality in games if u use eax hardware accelerated

i dont like onboard sound, but the nforce onboard sound is pretty good i think ...

but i still prefer usin my audigy

X

Yes audigy 1 and 2 are using the same chip, however i heard a difference in quality when switching from one to the other, with my Megaworks 550.