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[Best Of] PC Sound Cards
[Best Of] PC Sound Cards
Internal sound card offers the benefit of low latency multichannel analog output, so if you have any plans to listen on 5.1/7.1 speakers hooked up to a PC for gaming, internal sound card is the way to go. (While you can encode Dolby Digital and DTS in realtime on some PC audio solutions, send the compressed audio over a digital connection and then decompress it with an outboard decoder, doing so introduces additional latency which isn't ideal especially if you're gaming on a PC.)
Also, based on my research the DAC and opamps in the Creative Sound BlasterX AE-5 are very good and an equivalent outboard solution for multichannel audio and headphone amplification would cost at least twice as much (the dedicated headphone amp in the AE-5 has an excellent 1 ohm output impedance).
Also, based on my research the DAC and opamps in the Creative Sound BlasterX AE-5 are very good and an equivalent outboard solution for multichannel audio and headphone amplification would cost at least twice as much (the dedicated headphone amp in the AE-5 has an excellent 1 ohm output impedance).
natefarious
I'm curious to know if you have compared the AE-5 to any other sound cards like the Asus Strix Raid Pro or something along those lines. I've been a long time Creative Sound Blaster Consumer. But after having some recent issues with my Sound Blaster E5 and having to deal with the horrendous technical support they offer. I think I am finally done with them. I've also read a ton of negative reviews on that new Sound Blaster AE-5 as it seems to be effected by the old SB Software monster (bad support lots of bugs). My E5 now randomly goes into Sleep Mode while gaming or doing anything else on my PC (they added this feature in the last 2018 firmware update), and for some reason Technical support tells me there is no way I can revert to an older firmware as they have no way of doing that... Which is complete BS... So I'm now stuck with a $200 external sound card that randomly goes into sleep mode and requires me to exit any Competitive game as well as Media players, before being able to bring it back out of sleep. Worthless in other words. Well, I may be able to use it as a paper weight.
Sorry for the Rant.... Just extremely disappointed in Creative Labs at the moment. But back to my actual Question. If you could give me a nice comparison between it and anything else Sound Quality wise, I would appreciate it. I'm a budget Audiophile/Gamer and I'm on the fence right now between a few of these cards. While leaning away from Creative's Sound Blaster. My SBZ's are all still working fine. Just lacking in sound quality compared to the E5. And if I'm going to grab something new, I would like whatever I get to be just as good or better.
Sorry for the Rant.... Just extremely disappointed in Creative Labs at the moment. But back to my actual Question. If you could give me a nice comparison between it and anything else Sound Quality wise, I would appreciate it. I'm a budget Audiophile/Gamer and I'm on the fence right now between a few of these cards. While leaning away from Creative's Sound Blaster. My SBZ's are all still working fine. Just lacking in sound quality compared to the E5. And if I'm going to grab something new, I would like whatever I get to be just as good or better.
why would anyone need an internal sound card? External ones offer much more features like XLR, DSP and signal routing and mixing.
felipevareschi
Offer more features? Ha you clearly haven't looked at the features on internals in what 10 years? go look at the features on that Asus one i'll wait. Sure a 1-2k external DAC is unbeatable for sound quality but on the cheap the internal ones more than hang in with the externals and have many features aimed specifically at PC use that can make them much more useful to some users.
For the price Creative sound blasterx g5 is the best amp for the money i got mine on amazon for $75.00 and the program for it is great for everything ..gaming has only gets better with premium sound.
Where the GSX 1200 PRO Gaming Audio Amplifier ?!
Mogelaw
The GSX 1000 would be better if you aren't gaming at LAN parties. They are identical besides the daisy chain feature the 1200 Pro has added to it. I know it's only a $20 difference, but still. $20 is $20. Especially if you aren't going to be daisy chaining to other 1200 Pro's.
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