ASUS 6-channel or Giga GVAXP onboard???

[must kill Dell adguy]

I currently have bought a Gigabyte GVAXP, and I am extremely happy with it. However, because I currently don't have a l33t speaker-system at the moment, I can't tell whether it is worth keeping my PCI sound card.
The Soundcard is an ASUS C-Media 6-Channel with a Midi port, and SPDIF-in (but no SPDIF-out!!!).
One stereo front-out, One stereo rear-out, One stereo centre/bass out, and One Mic-in, One Line-In.
It supports EAX, Aureal3D, Microsoft DirectSound 3D..etc.

The onboard is Realtek ALC650 6-channel with SPDIF-out.
Dunno about the details, but the input/output ports are the same as ASUS, but with 2x SPDIF out (external).

Well??
Do you think it would be worth keeping the ASUS PCI, or should I just get rid of it?

[swiftynz]

i would say yes. realtek is arse.

the later cmedia chipsets have been very good for their price so i'd say yes, it is worth keeping it. from my experience the sound quality on the cmedia 8738 chipset has been very close to a SB Live, which is nothing special but not bad.

but i've never heard the realtek chipset you describe. is their any percievable difference? does the onboard sound work with headphones? headphones are probably the best way to determine how good they are.

[Hans]

Realtek ALC650 is NOT a sound chip. It's merely an AD/DA codec. All the processing is carried out on the SB, e.g. the MCP-T on the nF2 or VT8235 on the KT-333/400.

On the other hand, the C-Media chip is a HSP sound chip with AD/DA built-in. (It uses CPU cycles to do some processing, not sure about the VT8235 and MCP-T)

In my experience, the C-Media is pretty crap. The sound is kinda dull. The ACL650 is okay in terms of sound. But its high is a bit lacking. Plus, you can't expect too much from a S/N ratio of 90..

If your speaker cost less than $200 then you prob won't notice the difference between the two. Not to mention a higher end sound card.

[must kill Dell adguy]

Thanks a lot!!!
That's cleared up.
I've decided to sell my ASUS snd card, and save up to get an audigy or something similar. I have a lot of music-making programs (guitar, backing tracks etc) so I'm leaning towards the Philips Acoustic Edge. Apparently it has a very low Sound/Noise ratio.

[mird-OC]

Signal to Noise ratio - higher is better

:)

[must kill Dell adguy]

???OK....my mistake, so that would be noise to signal ratio being the one that is low.Thanks for clearing that up...

anyway, found an acoustic edge for $250, hopefully the price will drop by late nxt month.

[Sydog]

What exactly do you want spdif for. At the moment the only speakers that support digital 5.1 are the digital Creatives and a few others.
SPDIF with other speaker setups/dolby decoders will only output all channels when a Dolby Digital track is going.

Chosen1 found this out the hard way and can only get the front 2 channels unless he is playing a movie with a unchanged ac3 track.

For analogue your cmedia will do fine, you will get EAX in games and discrete channels for anything that supports this.
Of course if you are upgrading for quality then an AE is a good choice

[Ragnor]

I see many people recommending AE's but how many actually own one.. I do and I don't recommend the Acoustic Edge anymore for anyone buying a new soundcard..

It's good card but it is a fairly old now, hardware audio driver support in new games has slipped a bit.. and generally there are better newer cards out there now

The Hercules Fortissimo III for example.. damn fine card

or if saving up will take some time keep an eye out for news of the M-Audio Revolution.. that card looks like its going to blow ever other consumer soundcard out of the water

[Sydog]

Hehe, I don't own one, I was seriously looking between that or a Audigy.
So yeah, get the audigy, it is primo

[Solid Snake]

There is a new one being developed by Phillips right? Uhm Sonic Edge or something ... I remember Elle T telling me about it.

But I agree with Hans aye, if you don't have speakers that can do justice to a high-end sound card... there isn't much point ot get a really nice sound card only to be let down by the speakers.

[Ragnor]

Originally posted by Sydog
Hehe, I don't own one, I was seriously looking between that or a Audigy.
So yeah, get the audigy, it is primo

From what I've read, seen and heard the Hercules Fortissimo III is superior to the Audigy 1, cheaper, and not Creative.

Audigy 2 is superior to the Fort but the price is to high and Creatives history or support.. heh

[Elle T]

Hold off on buying any Philips card for the next 4 months as the new Sonic chip was white-papered about 2 months ago.
We should see a new card by then.

I'd be looking at the Hercules cards, Stay away from Creative i've had more issues with drivers than you can count.

You know its funny Crappy drivers almost killed ATi but for some reason ppl keep buying Creative who in the same context are even worse. :rolleyes:

[SilverPriest]

Hehehe, after getting my nForce2, well, the onboard sound is simply sublime :D
*insert big ear to ear grin here*
[H]arls I believe is using soundstorm instead of his GTXP, which says something ;)

[paul rhee]

Sonic Edge is nothing but cmedia 8738..with some of Philips's own driver/optimization. i.e: Sound Manager for Equlizor/Effector

whats more? there is a hack out for normal 8738 to use Philips Sonic Edge drivers/apps..

will post if anyones interested..

[must kill Dell adguy]

Originally posted by paul rhee
Sonic Edge is nothing but cmedia 8738..with some of Philips's own driver/optimization. i.e: Sound Manager for Equlizor/Effector

whats more? there is a hack out for normal 8738 to use Philips Sonic Edge drivers/apps..

will post if anyones interested..

Thanks guys,
I have got awesome speakers, I pulled them off an Old-School Pioneer, 4-way 200Watt RMS, so clear, even when I was playing them off my old guitar amp, which isn't supposed to give a clear-tone!!!
I'm fully going for the acoustic edge for the following reasons:
I'm not going to buy "computer-speakers"!!!
They suck so bad, no matter how much they cost, they'll never be able to handle a full amplifier setup. I am a guitarist, I have programs on the computer that act as seperate "pedals", and pre-amps to give me all the sounds and effects that I need, and I can record it digitally!!! The only non-full professional "$1000" soundcard that will support evrything that I need is the Acoustic-Edge, I have found musician-forums on the net, with many people using, and recommending the Acoustic Edge. Asking if anyone has one on those forums, is like asking "does anyone have a Ti4200" on this forum.
And with regards to SPDIF, you are quite wrong, there is a whole crapload of Amplifier manufacturers, as well as speakers (I do not consider Creative/other computer-speaker companies...cause they are crap) that will support SPDIF. And they aren't very hard to find/import!
I am buying it on Wednesday, and will hopefully have the card by the weekend.
Thanks
for the input Rhee, I was actually considering thinking of even looking at one after a few of these guys said that it was "white-papered" (????)

[Elle T]

White paper = Chip Annoucement = Chip Specs

And Paul its not the Sonic edge, I'm talking about the new chip coming out in a few months - Known as Sonic.

[Ragnor]

Originally posted by must kill Dell adguy
I'm fully going for the acoustic edge..

If you're going to be using it primarily for music and multimedia (eg: dvd) sweet as man.. it's a good choice.

There are some problems with using hardware audio in new games like UT2003 and BF1942.. I found this is more to do with the crap sound support in these games then a problem with the drivers from philips, but philips driver support for the card has dropped off a bit.. there used to be a new driver every couple of months...

If you have any trouble or need any help with it drop me a PM.. or Whetu he owns an AE too.

On the sonic edge
... and I still can't understand why they made a sonic edge, why they used a CMedia chipset rather then there own superior chipset and why they released sound agent etc for the sonic edge instead of their premier card the AE..

[must kill Dell adguy]

Thanks man.
Will keep that in mind.

[haytona]

Originally posted by Sydog
What exactly do you want spdif for. At the moment the only speakers that support digital 5.1 are the digital Creatives and a few others.
SPDIF with other speaker setups/dolby decoders will only output all channels when a Dolby Digital track is going.
Chosen1 found this out the hard way and can only get the front 2 channels unless he is playing a movie with a unchanged ac3 track.


Can you give some more information on this? I am looking at upgrading my cmedia 4 channel soundcard to a 5.1 channel card only so I can use the spdif (coaxial) output to my receiver for surround gaming. The cheapest card seems to be dse's XH7847 which comes with the spdif coxial/optical daughter board. If I can't get surround through my receiver then there's no point upgrading I can just keep using the [audiophool's nightmare] 5 channel stereo mode.

[Maverick]

Originally posted by haytona
Can you give some more information on this? I am looking at upgrading my cmedia 4 channel soundcard to a 5.1 channel card only so I can use the spdif (coaxial) output to my receiver for surround gaming. The cheapest card seems to be dse's XH7847 which comes with the spdif coxial/optical daughter board. If I can't get surround through my receiver then there's no point upgrading I can just keep using the [audiophool's nightmare] 5 channel stereo mode.

Only one sound chipset will enable you to do this: nforce2 MCP-T on a motherboard with SPDIF/out (it doesnt need to be "soundstorm" certified, just the correct chipset, the APU enabled, and an SPDIF output).
Also older nforce1 boards with MCP-D chipsets and SPDIF out will also do this.

If you dont want to upgrade your mainboard, I think you are SOL, unless your receiver also has Analogue inputs for Gaming with non AC3 content (ie EAX/DSnd3D). In which case, any 5.1 soundcard with both SPDIF out for DVDs/or future games with AC3 encoded sound (Doom3?), and analogue 6 channel outputs for non AC3 surround content (EAX/DSnd3D etc) will do the trick.

A recommendation would be an Audigy1 class or higher, for the gaming support, & high SNR.

Hope thats clear as mud.

Mav

[haytona]

Originally posted by Maverick
Only one sound chipset will enable you to do this: nforce2 MCP-T on a motherboard with SPDIF/out (it doesnt need to be "soundstorm" certified, just the correct chipset, the APU enabled, and an SPDIF output).
Also older nforce1 boards with MCP-D chipsets and SPDIF out will also do this.
Mav
Thank you. Maybe this belongs in a FAQ?

My receiver does have analogue inputs but that means 4 or 6 cables instead of only 1. Its not the expensive but the mess, I can only just fit the number of cables under the door now. Sounds like I've got an upgrade target.

[neoprint]

Originally posted by Elle T


You know its funny Crappy drivers almost killed ATi but for some reason ppl keep buying Creative who in the same context are even worse. :rolleyes:

amen to that.

reports of whether or not creatives driver team is in fact a bunch of trained chimpanzee's enthusiastically beating on keyboards are yet to be confirmed

[Chris]

ragnor kinda touched on this, but i've had/seen quite afew c-media sound issues with games, perticularly blizzard games such as WC3 TFT.. I believe there is a fix for it now though..