Sound card upgrade.. Opinions Pls..

[Bearcat]

I currently have a Xi-Fi Extreme Gamer sound card that I got about 4 years ago.. When I recently upgraded my rig I kept the old card but I am thinking of getting this card. I can get it for under $100. What do you think? I really don't have any problems with my current card .. I guess a part of this is just gas.. and I want to finish the upgrade.. What do you guys think?

[royraiden]

I think there is no need to upgrade your video card but it is your money and your will anyways.

[Bearcat]

I was asking about my sound card...

[royraiden]

I meant sound card as well, forgive me as it was a typo.

[Bearcat]

Yeah I know I was just busting your chops ...

[Sim]

I heard Asus sound cards are great I bought Xonar Xense (including Sennheiser headset) in some kind of a deal and absolutely love the card. But since you mentioned you already have a dedicated card (even a 4 year old one) - I doubt you will see any difference with an upgrade. Heck, even the latest Realtek on-board chips are so good that for most of the folks buying a dedicated sound card is just not worth it.

[VPK_CARTOON]

I heard Asus sound cards are great I bought Xonar Xense (including Sennheiser headset) in some kind of a deal and absolutely love the card. But since you mentioned you already have a dedicated card (even a 4 year old one) - I doubt you will see any difference with an upgrade. Heck, even the latest Realtek on-board chips are so good that for most of the folks buying a dedicated sound card is just not worth it.

 

[HippyDruid]

Well without knowing what your pumping your current XiFi into (normal speakers? monitors? are u using a pre-amp? Headphones?) I don't think you will notice any significant difference mate!

Save the money, and spend it on a pair of top quality cans instead. Then think about the soundcard upgrade! 

Edited April 19, 2013 by HippyDruid

[Bearcat]

I decided to forgo it anyway.. With the way my MOBO is laid out I probably wouldn't be able to get the PCIE card in anyway because of my GPU.

[SimHog]

I know I'm late to this BC and I know there are going to be people saying I'm wrong but here goes:

 

I used to be a staunch advocate of having a proper dedicated sound card with a good set of head phones. But with my last upgrade, about 12 months ago, I had a similar issue, because I had dual GPU's I lost a slot for my sound card. So I decided to try a USB solution and got the Corsair Vengeance 1500 USB headset.

 

It's got standard stereo and uses virtual 5.1 and 7.1. From my previous setup which was an XF-i with Sennheiser cans, I really couldn't tell the difference. The sound quality is excellent and there's much less stuffing around with drivers compared to the "traditional" setup I had. I simply installed the drivers and pluged phones into the USB slot and it was done. I can also configure them just like a traditional card setup as well.

 

I haven't had any problems with them at all, and I'd recommend them as an option.

[Bearcat]

Rgr that TY.. as I said I decided to forgo the idea anyway. I use a USB sound device for comms though.. I prefer my game sounds through my speakers and comms through headphones. I got a set of Altec Lansing headphones about 6 years ago ad they came with a USB sound dongle.. I have been using one ever since. The headphones broke and I got another set. I have since replaced the headphones about 3 more times but I still use the same USB dongle from the first set. I bought this thing here along with three of the Neewer ones at the bottom of that page, all for like $8 a while back. I gave two of them away to squad mates in need... For comms tat is the only way to go if you are using speakers for game sounds. TS sees that dfevice as a separate sound source and you can assign it to it. I was just thinking of trying to improve my sound.. but truth be told the X- Fi is not bad at all.. so I said what the hey.. and decided to sell my old CPU (Fx-8150) and upgrade that (Fx-8350) instead..  I did see some improvement BTW..

[skline00]

Rgr that TY.. as I said I decided to forgo the idea anyway. I use a USB sound device for comms though.. I prefer my game sounds through my speakers and comms through headphones. I got a set of Altec Lansing headphones about 6 years ago ad they came with a USB sound dongle.. I have been using one ever since. The headphones broke and I got another set. I have since replaced the headphones about 3 more times but I still use the same USB dongle from the first set. I bought this thing here along with three of the Neewer ones at the bottom of that page, all for like $8 a while back. I gave two of them away to squad mates in need... For comms tat is the only way to go if you are using speakers for game sounds. TS sees that dfevice as a separate sound source and you can assign it to it. I was just thinking of trying to improve my sound.. but truth be told the X- Fi is not bad at all.. so I said what the hey.. and decided to sell my old CPU (Fx-8150) and upgrade that (Fx-8350) instead..  I did see some improvement BTW..

Bearcat I use the Logitech G35 surround headset. Gave up on sound cards.