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computer soundcards


essexbasscat
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Hope this is the correct forum ...

HI all

I've recently had a new computer built which works as expected, with the exception that the onboard sounds are less that great. The sounds on the motherboard are designed to work in 5.1 or 7.1 format. It's a Realtek HD audio manager.
The stereo options all sound ... just terrible really. It's like listening to a high end 60's transister radio. All the sound effects just make it sound like attempts to make a 60's transister radio sound better. I

Can anyone recommend a good sound card I can install please ? I'm not particularly interested in the greatest HD sounds TBH, I rather prefer a solid sound that represents most frequencies fairly well.
The analogue sounds produced by high end audio equipment of the late 90's sounded fairly good to me TBH. I know things have moved on, but I'm not a great fan of transparent sound really, as it often lacks authority at low volumes.

Any ideas ?

Thanks all

EBC

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Why not just go for a good external USB audio interface? Lots of good options with the added bonus of being able to do low latency recording so you will get some added bass value. :)

A few examples to check out are Steinberg UR22 or the Focusrite Scarlett series.

John

Edited by JohnR
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I upgraded my PC a while ago and got an ASUS Maximus Ranger VII motherboard (pretty decent gaming one). MY old Soundsblaster X-fi soundcard was PCI and I only have PCI-E slots so it wouldn't fit. Shame as it sounded really good. The onboard sound on my new motherboard was marketed as being way better than the usual onboard soundchips but in reality it was just as pants. So I bought myself an ASUS Xonar Essence STX and to be honest I've been blown away by it. Sounds amazing, had a good headphone amp and does Dolby Surround really well (I watch Game of Thrones at PC just for that reason). They're not cheap - around £140 or so but worth it in my opinion. I take an RCA out to my hi-fi amp and everything sounds crystal clear and "right" to my ears.

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[quote name='JohnR' timestamp='1467131550' post='3081391']
Why not just go for a good external USB audio interface? Lots of good options with the added bonus of being able to do low latency recording so you will get some added bass value. :)
[/quote]

If you're wanting a dual-purpose listening and recording interface then be warned that the latency on the Asus that I recommended totally sucks for recording. It can record, but it's not designed to be an audio interface in that regard. It's (considerable) strength lies in music playback.

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