Dedicated Vs. Integrated Soundcard: No difference.

I sold my Creative X-Fi Titanium HD a month ago. The reason is because I didn't hear any difference in sound quality compared to my integrated soundcard (VIA VT2021).

The music I'm playing is 1047 Kbps FLAC and my speaker is Swan HiVi M50W ($280).

Am I doing something wrong? Should there be any difference between them or soundcards are just marketing gimmick?

Thank you.

Not necessarily with a 2.1 setup. When you're listening to a 5.1 speaker setup with media that supports it, then you should hear a difference.

Mr Sardonicus said:

Not necessarily with a 2.1 setup. When you're listening to a 5.1 speaker setup with media that supports it, then you should hear a difference.

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Totally agree! In addition, I looked up your mobo specs and the integrated sound is capable of 7.1 surround sound as well. Here's a 7.1 audio configuration for your reference:

I know for sure that headphones will gain benefit from soundcard because it has built-in amplifier. But people on my local forum says that the difference is significant, even with 2.1 speaker. They even said that perhaps I have problem with my ears!

But people on my local forum says that the difference is significant

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So, what did they suggest?

They even said that perhaps I have problem with my ears!

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Hmm...

Cheers friend! We have to stop meeting like this; however, wait for more responses or send fireberd a PM and ask him to respond. IMHO, he is somewhat of an audio guru and has his own recording studio so he would be a great resource to ask/answer your questions.

They asked if I played the music with ASIO/WASAPI output (what are they?). Also, they said that it was such a waste to sell that "hell of a soundcard" and didn't suggest anything, considering that I have sold that soundcard.

I will ask fireberd about this.

Anyone using a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) for music production, is familiar with ASIO (Audio Stream Input/Output). The Creative X-Fi Titanium HD is far from the best card for music production, but it gives you the ability to do so, thanks to it's ASIO compatibility.

Usually when buying a high priced card, one has to ask...what will be it's purpose, music production, watching movies, headphone use, etc.

Today's onboard audio has come a long way. Not everyone can tell the difference in sound. For that part of the market, the use of onboard audio and a software EQ is fine. Many have learned that the hard way.

Although I do have a recording studio (using Sonar) and am a musician, I'm not an expert on what someone "hears". When I do recordings and the mixdown phase, I obviously try for what I perceive as the "best" mix. Most of my clients agree with my mixes, but occasionally one will not and in that case I mixdown to what the customer wants.

Having said that, I had a high end Xfi sound card installed in a PC, instead of using the on board RealTek sound, for PC ONLY audio. Coming from a PC background and working with computers since "before PC", I had always assumed a separate sound card was best. It may still be "best" but I've come to the conclusion for my uses the integrated audio on current production motherboards is more than adequate for my use.

Back to the Xfi sound card, the Xfi does have ASIO drivers but that was interfering with my recording studio audio interface units (which are ASIO) and I finally had to remove the Xfi card. Surprisingly, my PC audio did not take a hit, the playback sound was no different.

As I don't use the PC sound devices for recording, they are limited to the number of channels and have high latency, whatever recording capabilities the sound devices, such as an Xfi have, are of no concern to me.

Bottom line, I don't really have an answer for the original poster.