Audigy 2 or Asus P5W DH's integrated?

[BulldogPO]

Sould I stay with Audigy 2 or use P5W DH's integrated soundcard?
Seems like that integrated has Dolby Digital Live.

[simonmaltby]

The intergrated is excellent imo. I am running via Optical Out and quality is superb.... no clicks or background noise.

I would stick with on board and save a PCI slot / some sys resorces

[BulldogPO]

Thnx, I tought that integrated soundchips consume more cpu time than real soundcards?
Then I'm going to use that PCI slot for DVB-T card and sell Audigy away :)

[Vric]

I would stick with Audigy 2. Even if integrated audio are better today, they are still not on par with Audigy 2 / 4/ X-Fi quality, feature and performance wise. Like you said, onboard audio use more CPU than any recent SB card.

[WeStSiDePLaYa]

deffiently go with the audigy.

[JoeBar]

I would stick with Audigy 2. Even if integrated audio are better today, they are still not on par with Audigy 2 / 4/ X-Fi quality, feature and performance wise. Like you said, onboard audio use more CPU than any recent SB card.
Why are u running a PII? :p:

[kiwi]

It depends, for mp3s integrated is just fine

But for gaming, no integrated sound would compare to Audigy (or any other pci/pci-e high quality sound card)

I have tried most of them

[Cooper]

It depends, for mp3s integrated is just fine

But for gaming, no integrated sound would compare to Audigy (or any other pci/pci-e high quality sound card)

I have tried most of them

What acousticks do you use, kiwi ?
I have pretty old panasonic attached to PC and also I use headphones sometimes. so it`s practicle 2.0 system. Will difference be noticable with Audigy 2 compared to realtek`s onboard ?

[taemun]

What acousticks do you use, kiwi ?
I have pretty old panasonic attached to PC and also I use headphones sometimes. so it`s practicle 2.0 system. Will difference be noticable with Audigy 2 compared to realtek`s onboard ?

The main point about gaming for an Audigy is the EAX support. EAX (iirc) is like audio acceleration for gaming (ie surround seperation etc).

[WeStSiDePLaYa]

even for mp3s the sound quality is noticable. dedicated sound cards are just better.

going from onboard to a sb live! with modded audigy drivers was significant. the only thing i wish the soundblaster had was a graphic equalizer like nvidias.

[kiwi]

What acousticks do you use, kiwi ?
I have pretty old panasonic attached to PC and also I use headphones sometimes. so it`s practicle 2.0 system. Will difference be noticable with Audigy 2 compared to realtek`s onboard ?

Front, Sven, wooden speakers 2x18W RMS
Back, RRR S90 wooden, old scool, you know what I mean :)
Some kind of creative subwoofer but it is a pretty small one


I think for audigy you need better speakers, at least some kind of creative 2.1 or similar, prefereably wooden. For heaphones, I don't know really, I have not used them often

[WeStSiDePLaYa]

Front, Sven, wooden speakers 2x18W RMS
Back, RRR S90 wooden, old scool, you know what I mean :)
Some kind of creative subwoofer but it is a pretty small one


I think for audigy you need better speakers, at least some kind of creative 2.1 or similar, prefereably wooden. For heaphones, I don't know really, I have not used them often


you dont need great speakers or a 2.1 setup to notice the difference to a decent soundcard.

also, you will be able to notice the difference much more if your using headphones.

especially noise cancelling headphones.

[David9799]

Like you said, onboard audio use more CPU than any recent SB card.

Is that really true? If so where did you get the info. I also have the P5W DH and a SB ZS card.

[kiwi]

IMO good sound card + only headphones = waste of money :p:

I wanna hear the sound on quality speakers, not $5 headphones :)

[Fixxxer]

Audigy 2. No doubt about it.

[WeStSiDePLaYa]

IMO good sound card + only headphones = waste of money :p:

I wanna hear the sound on quality speakers, not $5 headphones :)


dumbest statement ever.

if your using headphones, the MORE you will need a good soundcard. with headphones you can hear imperfections more.

you obviously dont know what your talking about. sorry but its true.

you can do critical listening much better with headphones than speakers in most situations. its cheaper to get good sounding headphones than to get comparable sound quality from a speaker setup.

[Anemone]

Aud 2 imo

[Mr. Popo]

Audigy 2, cause it's not some lame silicon chip on the mobo. :up:

[BulldogPO]

So if I want to keep my Audigy 2 then I have to wait for PCI-e DVB-T cards...

[kiwi]

dumbest statement ever.

if your using headphones, the MORE you will need a good soundcard. with headphones you can hear imperfections more.

you obviously dont know what your talking about. sorry but its true.

you can do critical listening much better with headphones than speakers in most situations. its cheaper to get good sounding headphones than to get comparable sound quality from a speaker setup.

I know exactly what I am talking about, you are not getting my point.

My point is not to hear every little imperfection of sound quality. I wanna enjoy my gaming and entertainment experience, that is what audigy (especially X-Fi) gives me. And sorry, there is no way I am going to use cheap headphones for that

If you are PRO then you are using headphones but not Audigy cards, they are not for professional sound processing (we have EMU, m-audio etc for this). Audigy is primary for gaming etc, and if you tell me that using cheap headphones instead of 5.1 system for gaming is better then that is what I call dumb.

[WeStSiDePLaYa]

I know exactly what I am talking about, you are not getting my point.

My point is not to hear every little imperfection of sound quality. I wanna enjoy my gaming and entertainment experience, that is what audigy (especially X-Fi) gives me. And sorry, there is no way I am going to use cheap headphones for that

If you are PRO then you are using headphones but not Audigy cards, they are not for professional sound processing (we have EMU, m-audio etc for this). Audigy is primary for gaming etc, and if you tell me that using cheap headphones instead of 5.1 system for gaming is better then that is what I call dumb.


if you want to use headphones why would you buy :banana::banana::banana::banana:ty ones? 50$ headphones would have better clarity than most pc speakers.

if you wanna complain about using cheap headphones, buy decent ones. dont say headphones suck because you own crappy ones.

[jbrukardt]

"I wanna hear the sound on quality speakers, not $5 headphones "


^^ then dont get 5 dollar headphones. /me pets his Beyers

Audigy 2 is far superior to any onboard

[stm]

Audigy 2 is far superior to any onboardNoticably :)
but not if you have headphones from walmart

[Vric]

It might not mean anything for some, but when I put my X-Fi in the computer, my 3dMarks 2003 score jumped by 500pts vs the onboard sound.

And no, it's not a PII computer. You guys are ready to spend hundreds on graphic card to get few fps more, but can't get a real sound card that will also give you some fps. For example, Battlefield 2 is a game that will benefit a lot from an Audigy/X-fi. (about 15% in my case)

[Vric]

Noticably :)
but not if you have headphones from walmart
Well it's like having Crossfire X1900XTX and playing on an old 14" CRT...

[Anemone]

Well it's like having Crossfire X1900XTX and playing on an old 14" CRT...


Very well put

:clap:

[Makubex_GB]

Go with Audigy. Not only for sound quality but also for boost in fps.

[Silver Bullet]

I tried the IS .. but went back to my Audigy 2 ZS, unless you need optical out .. i stick with the Audigy.

[i found nemo]

dumbest statement ever.

if your using headphones, the MORE you will need a good soundcard. with headphones you can hear imperfections more.

you obviously dont know what your talking about. sorry but its true.

you can do critical listening much better with headphones than speakers in most situations. its cheaper to get good sounding headphones than to get comparable sound quality from a speaker setup.


well when i make beats i use the radio to hear the bass, 'n the headphones are good for the highs, so headphones are good for gaming ( like hearing foot steps in css ) imo & radio is everything else ( radio could be the amp on the sub. you know what i mean )

[kimbo]

I just got an Audigy 2 on the cheap. Hopefully it will be better than my onboard RealTek.

I didn't really want to spend too much because my speakers/headphones are doodoo.

[JoeBar]

U won't notice any serious differences. Onboard realtek is on par with an audigy2 and since u don't have any quality speakers, the diffs would be minimal.
My :2cents:

[kimbo]

But Audigy 2 has EAX for gaming, I have Cambridge Microworks for speaker, they were top of the line like 5 yrs ago and still thump like crazy.

Or at least it will put less strain on my cpu not having to use onboard sound.