EPTI am getting a new computer soon. Is there a difference between onboard motherboard sound cards, and stand-alone PCI/PCI-E sound card sound quality?
I change between speakers and headphones depending on the time of day and what activity I do.
Headphone enthusiast thread! - Page 150
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Stiluz
Norway688 Posts
I am getting a new computer soon. Is there a difference between onboard motherboard sound cards, and stand-alone PCI/PCI-E sound card sound quality? I change between speakers and headphones depending on the time of day and what activity I do. | ||
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Myrmidon
United States9452 Posts
On March 01 2012 02:27 Stiluz wrote: Since the topic of sound cards came up, I'd like to ask: I am getting a new computer soon. Is there a difference between onboard motherboard sound cards, and stand-alone PCI/PCI-E sound card sound quality? I change between speakers and headphones depending on the time of day and what activity I do. First of all, there's a wide difference in quality between different onboard audio, and there may be a large difference even between two computers using the same onboard audio chip (e.g. Realtek ALC892). Of course there's a difference in quality between onboard and dedicated solutions when there's already a difference between onboard to onboard. There's often a difference in feature set as well. Some dedicated sound cards have hardware DSP processors or drivers that provide extra functionality (though really, it may not be that useful or desirable). As mentioned a bit earlier in the thread, the inside of a computer is not a great place to house precise A/D or D/A (well analog anything). There's a lot of EMI to contend with and dirty power. This is especially bad for onboard audio on a motherboard. Obviously it's not the mobo manufacturer's highest priority to route the entire board and reserve extra board space to ensure higher audio quality; the onboard audio is mostly just an afterthought. This is why external dedicated audio devices are preferred, except there's not much of a market for them in the consumer space so the quality and selection of actual products offered below certain high price points is not the best. Now whether or not these differences will actually be audible to humans will depend. Unless your speakers and headphones are good, it's not worth bothering over unless you hear weird noises from onboard. There's a much larger difference between different speakers and headphones (and it's much harder to get them right), so even if you think you have nice speakers or headphones, those are probably still the weakest link in some sense. For running speakers, you're just interested in the quality of the D/A for the onboard or dedicated sound card. For running headphones, you're interested in the quality of the D/A as well as the (integrated or not) headphone amplifier, so there's more difference here to be had in general. Possibly if the onboard audio is doing well, I would think that acoustic treatment for the listening space would be more important than the sound card. | ||
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jackdaleaper
Philippines1216 Posts
On February 28 2012 18:16 rebdomine wrote: Your ears probably hurt due to supra-aural earcups. Try looking into headphones with circumaural cups. They might be a btter fit for you. I have the same problem. I'm also new to this and not really sure if I'm willing to invest in an expensive headphone/headset. Could someone recommend a "starter" circumaural headphone/headset -if that makes any sense- in the 100-150 usd range (preferably nearer 100)? My gf is in the US so I'll probably buying something online there and have it shipped to her address. I use an old a4tech headset now for gaming and listening to music and I'm curious to how much difference a good headphone makes. | ||
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seiferoth10
3362 Posts
On March 01 2012 11:11 jackdaleaper wrote: I have the same problem. I'm also new to this and not really sure if I'm willing to invest in an expensive headphone/headset. Could someone recommend a "starter" circumaural headphone/headset -if that makes any sense- in the 100-150 usd range (preferably nearer 100)? My gf is in the US so I'll probably buying something online there and have it shipped to her address. I use an old a4tech headset now for gaming and listening to music and I'm curious to how much difference a good headphone makes. Audio Technica ATH-AD700 are the renown winners in the $100 range with that pad configuration. They are good without an amp, and are known to be quite comfortable. Edit: If you care about open vs. closed, there's the A700 which are the closed variant, but the AD700 is regarded better than the former. | ||
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jackdaleaper
Philippines1216 Posts
On March 01 2012 11:45 seiferoth10 wrote: Audio Technica ATH-AD700 are the renown winners in the $100 range with that pad configuration. They are good without an amp, and are known to be quite comfortable. Edit: If you care about open vs. closed, there's the A700 which are the closed variant, but the AD700 is regarded better than the former. thanks! I'll look it up | ||
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Fishes
United Kingdom47 Posts
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Corsica
Ukraine1854 Posts
Also I have Bose ae2i , i think day9 has similar ones. E: oh and tell me what people think of this model (owners only) as this is my first expensive headphones i dont know what to think. ![[image loading]](http://www.4electronicwarehouse.com/content/bose/ae2i-headphones.jpg) | ||
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kainzero
United States5211 Posts
what's a good headphone for that? i have a bunch of headphones for listening to music, but it feels different. it just sounds funny with sr-80's or pk2s, and i haven't tried my dt880's but i think headphone amping for this is a little much. | ||
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Fishes
United Kingdom47 Posts
On March 02 2012 09:28 Corsica wrote: Can someone tell me difference between Gaming headset and normal headset, besides microphone difference? Also I have Bose ae2i , i think day9 has similar ones. E: oh and tell me what people think of this model (owners only) as this is my first expensive headphones i dont know what to think. There is very little difference between a gaming headset and a normal headset, mostly just the marketing/branding. Also, I don't own a Bose ae2i but Bose headphones in general are bassy and overpriced. A quick google search says that the AE2/AE2i are slightly less bass-centric than other Bose headphones but for the price you could have gotten more! Also, if you plan on getting a headset, don't! Just use a good set of phones and a clip on or desktop mic. | ||
ZeromuS
Canada13389 Posts
On March 02 2012 09:20 Fishes wrote: Just bought a pair of Shure SRH-840s, put a dent in my wallet but I hope they are worth the £120! Needed a closed pair of phones, since my HD595s leak sound and have no isolation I can't use them outside. I have a pair and they are spectacular headphones. Replaceable cable and ear pads to boot | ||
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Corsica
Ukraine1854 Posts
On March 02 2012 09:41 Fishes wrote: There is very little difference between a gaming headset and a normal headset, mostly just the marketing/branding. Also, I don't own a Bose ae2i but Bose headphones in general are bassy and overpriced. A quick google search says that the AE2/AE2i are slightly less bass-centric than other Bose headphones but for the price you could have gotten more! Also, if you plan on getting a headset, don't! Just use a good set of phones and a clip on or desktop mic. I hate Canada, because of how you shop for technology, In Ukraine you can try the product on the spot, they will open it for you and let it test. While in Canada you cant do that, so i was forced to choose from Bose, drdre, and cheesy ScullCandy. Scullcandy i think is just pure mrkting/design, DrDre is made for beats (like rap, hiphop) and I dont listen to that shit, so i was forced to choose Bose, which I liked. I didnt want to go out the store, test headphones and then comeback on the weekend to return...Lol so thats my story why i got them  | ||
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PleasureImWallace
Canada45 Posts
On March 02 2012 09:48 ZeromuS wrote: I have a pair and they are spectacular headphones. Replaceable cable and ear pads to boot I also had a pair until I got them stolen. Fantastic. I'm likely going to grab some SRH-440's as a replacement (can't afford them twice). | ||
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Surrealz
United States449 Posts
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Genome852
United States979 Posts
But, nope, he says they're all wrong and he's gotta get the Bose because it's Bose. Pretty annoying actually. Who needs to do a little googling before buying a $300 pair of headphones, right? ... On February 29 2012 21:41 Mackem wrote: Anyone know if the FiiO E6 will be good enough to power the Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro 80 Ohms? I wanna use them on my iPod and PC at home so I require something a bit more portable that doesn't break the bank. I'm using the DT770 80 ohms as well, plugged straight into the sound card (Striker 7.1) with no external amp. Sounds perfectly fine... much better than my AD700s in almost every aspect. I was going to get the FiiO E9 because apparently everyone says the DT770s require an amp. Then I found a head-fi thread where a few DT770 owners said they couldn't hear a difference amped vs unamped (with $100+ amps) so I figured I'd skimp out. <_< | ||
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Stiluz
Norway688 Posts
On March 01 2012 03:02 Myrmidon wrote: First of all, there's a wide difference in quality between different onboard audio, and there may be a large difference even between two computers using the same onboard audio chip (e.g. Realtek ALC892). Of course there's a difference in quality between onboard and dedicated solutions when there's already a difference between onboard to onboard. There's often a difference in feature set as well. Some dedicated sound cards have hardware DSP processors or drivers that provide extra functionality (though really, it may not be that useful or desirable). As mentioned a bit earlier in the thread, the inside of a computer is not a great place to house precise A/D or D/A (well analog anything). There's a lot of EMI to contend with and dirty power. This is especially bad for onboard audio on a motherboard. Obviously it's not the mobo manufacturer's highest priority to route the entire board and reserve extra board space to ensure higher audio quality; the onboard audio is mostly just an afterthought. This is why external dedicated audio devices are preferred, except there's not much of a market for them in the consumer space so the quality and selection of actual products offered below certain high price points is not the best. Now whether or not these differences will actually be audible to humans will depend. Unless your speakers and headphones are good, it's not worth bothering over unless you hear weird noises from onboard. There's a much larger difference between different speakers and headphones (and it's much harder to get them right), so even if you think you have nice speakers or headphones, those are probably still the weakest link in some sense. For running speakers, you're just interested in the quality of the D/A for the onboard or dedicated sound card. For running headphones, you're interested in the quality of the D/A as well as the (integrated or not) headphone amplifier, so there's more difference here to be had in general. Possibly if the onboard audio is doing well, I would think that acoustic treatment for the listening space would be more important than the sound card. Alright, thank you very much for your reply :D On March 03 2012 06:33 Genome852 wrote: My roommate wants to get Bose headphones despite me telling him to do some research about headphones and to read some opinions from audiophiles. General consensus among audiophiles is that Bose is awful value for the amount you pay... you can get far better headphones in the same price ranges. But, nope, he says they're all wrong and he's gotta get the Bose because it's Bose. Pretty annoying actually. Who needs to do a little googling before buying a $300 pair of headphones, right? ... I'm using the DT770 80 ohms as well, plugged straight into the sound card (Striker 7.1) with no external amp. Sounds perfectly fine... much better than my AD700s in almost every aspect. I was going to get the FiiO E9 because apparently everyone says the DT770s require an amp. Then I found a head-fi thread where a few DT770 owners said they couldn't hear a difference amped vs unamped (with $100+ amps) so I figured I'd skimp out. <_< Just want to echo this guy's sentiment again, same situation for me and I use the Windows volume output around 15-20% usually... And then adjust program volume accordingly, depedning on the source. Plenty of loudness to go around. | ||
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Fishes
United Kingdom47 Posts
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Sad[Panda]
United States458 Posts
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Twistacles
Canada1327 Posts
On March 03 2012 21:54 Fishes wrote: My SRH-840s arrived. They are so good. I've been a while without a proper set of headphones. The bass is strong and deep where it needs to be, the mids and highs are clear and smooth at all volumes, and nothing is stressed. They are incredibly balanced, not too loud, and pick up stuff that I haven't heard before in some songs! So good, I am really impressed with them, although I might look like a pillock wearing them outside (bigger than I expected) I will definitely take them along for train journeys. I take them on the train too, I have no shame. The only annoying thing is the long ass cord! | ||
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Cambium
United States16368 Posts
I initially wanted to buy either AT AD700, Sennheiser D555 or Shure SRH840, but then I began having doubts as I would only use them with internet streamed music services such as free Pandora (128 I think?) and Grooveshark. Would good headphone actually make a difference? I primarily want the headphones to be 1. NOT noise-cancelling, the more I can hear the better, as listening to music should not be obtrusive to work 2. comfortable; I owned a pair of medium-ranged AT a long long time ago (think portable CD players), and my warmed my ears quite a bit after a while, which was less than pleasant 3. good value Recommendations would be great! Currently, I'm thinking about downgrading from SRH840 to 440 or even 240, which is about $50 on Amazon. | ||
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CorsairHero
Canada9491 Posts
On March 11 2012 17:35 Cambium wrote: Hey guys, I think I want to buy a pair of headphones for listening to music at work, and I need some input. I initially wanted to buy either AT AD700, Sennheiser D555 or Shure SRH840, but then I began having doubts as I would only use them with internet streamed music services such as free Pandora (128 I think?) and Grooveshark. Would good headphone actually make a difference? I primarily want the headphones to be 1. NOT noise-cancelling, the more I can hear the better, as listening to music should not be obtrusive to work 2. comfortable; I owned a pair of medium-ranged AT a long long time ago (think portable CD players), and my warmed my ears quite a bit after a while, which was less than pleasant 3. good value Recommendations would be great! Currently, I'm thinking about downgrading from SRH840 to 440 or even 240, which is about $50 on Amazon. You should prob take the 840 off your list as well as the other Shure's as they are closed which means that they'll warm up. | ||
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