Sweet mother of! Asus ROG Sound card announced

[DeltrusDisc]

Not quite released yet, but here's something to read about it. Looks gorgeous!

http://rog.asus.com/62712012/news/ro...ard-announced/

[Deleted]

Tbh, is it that big difference between having a sound card and not?

[DeltrusDisc]

I used to think like that, but then I got one. Yes, there is a difference. Onboard audio distorts music/gaming/movie audio a lot more than you realize, plus at higher volume levels it doesn't sound as clear, with a GOOD dedicated sound card, you greatly diminish these effects and enhance your audio experience. Course you need to actually have semi-decent speakers/headphones to notice the difference too.

For instance, your average gaming headset or computer speakers simply will not show the difference nearly as well as a high quality setup or even something mildly of better quality.

[Deleted]

Tbh, is it that big difference between having a sound card and not?

Several factors really. It requires that you have relatively undamaged hearing (which has been getting a lot rarer in recent years) and requires some strong sound equipment (valued in tripple digit €/£/$). It also depends a bit from system to system. Some boards have quite severe problems with interference (and few are completely without it), or just plain low Signal to Noise ratios, and soundcards (even cheap ones) typically eliminate both.

[Deleted]

If it turns out to be as good as you're suggesting it is, I might have to buy some speakers to make it worth it :P

My only question is, would it benefit my USB headphones? Sound Card noob here

[DeltrusDisc]

I don't think so, Lirrachus.

I personally would get this sound card for use with a high quality 7.1 headset. Kind of like the Sennheiser Xense headset.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829132018

[Deleted]

Looks pretty nice, I already have the Razer Megalodon headset so unless it starts breaking on me I'm not in any need for a new one.

If you were to get the Asus ROG card, what speakers in particular would you suggest for it?

[vesseblah]

I just wonder if that will be overpriced toy like the ROG motherboards, or offer actual value over the old Xonar line soundcards.

[DeltrusDisc]

I just wonder if that will be overpriced toy like the ROG motherboards, or offer actual value over the old Xonar line soundcards.

Yeah I can't help but wonder the same, I just like seeing new products and possibilities, I hope this sound card is well worth whatever pricetag they toss on it.

@Lirrachus, if I really needed to get a speaker setup for GAMING, I would probably ask here for suggestions, since I personally am more a music buff when it comes to speakers. Like if you asked me for good speakers for music, I can quickly point you in the direction of some good studio monitors based on your budget, but idk if they are the best for gaming or not, I know they're loud and have great clarity to the sound.

[haxartus]

This looks more like a gaming card with a ton of useless features and a ridiculous price tag.
6 pin PCI-E connector, really ?

[DeltrusDisc]

6 pin PCI-E connector, really ?

For the headphone amp, apparently. Yeah, I was like, wait WHAAAAT at first too.

[Bigbazz]

Without amazing speakers you would never tell the difference, infact since onboard sound these days is actually very good, you still would never tell the difference (because I'm pretty sure there would not be any). I run a Presonus Firestudio, which is a pretty decent £500 worth studio sound interface, and for playback it makes absolutely no difference at all to an onboard. For recording music, well that is a completely different thing.

Fancy soundcards are nice for running surround sound systems with their built in effects (like EAX) which can improve ambient sounds and effects like reverb, reduce system rescourse cost vs software processed sounds, but as for outputting a pre done sound (ingame music for example), there will not be any audible difference. Long gone are the days where you bought a seperate soundcard because the onboard soundcards were crap.


I used to have a Soundblaster Audigy 2 Platinum thing, with an outbox and a remote, lots of inputs and outputs, with a very high quality converter (for the time), it was all very nice but will do no better a job than a current onboard soundcard. Its just not comparable to the graphics card market.

[Deleted]

While a solid soundcard is nice and this one has some nice gimmicks it's probably overprized and/or overkill.
Using a high-end soundcard for games (which use compressed sounds) is like using a shotgun to catch flies.

[Oxyra]

I highly recommend you get a good sound card that has a built in amp if you're using a decent set of headphones.
Decent being $400+

On the topic though, I'd agree with the above guy, sound cards aren't THAT great for gaming, but I listen to FLAC music, and it makes a huge difference.

[vesseblah]

For the headphone amp, apparently. Yeah, I was like, wait WHAAAAT at first too.

PCIe cards are allowed to draw up to 12A without extra power connectors. Not believing headphone amp would top that.

[haxartus]

Apparently the power from the PSU is "cleaner" than the power form the motherboard. At least that's the explanation for the floppy connector on the Xonars.
I guess they decided that a PCI-E power connector would be more familiar to gamers than a floppy connector. I'm sure that ASUS will supply one in the package.
Edit:
If the card draws 12A it will need separate cooling. Imagine watercooled soundcards.

[Deleted]

PCIe cards are allowed to draw up to 12A without extra power connectors.

Isn't that only for PCI-E 2.0 16x?
(Few follow the 2.0 capabilities anyway to maintain 1.0 compatibility)

[DeltrusDisc]

To be frank, I disagree with Bigbazz to an extent. While I was quite happy with the onboard audio on my P8P67 mobo (very current gen) I still wanted to see what the sound card fuss was about. To be honest? I've noticed a difference with my Logitech Z2300 2.1 computer speakers and Plantronics Gamecom 377 7.1 headset. Now, you may be thinking, lol this guy has shitty audio gear, you would have been correct. However just yesterday I added some nice studio speakers making my speaker setup a 5.1 set, and forcing the computer speakers to try to keep up, and it's quite apparent the sound card works great with a really decent set of speakers. And like I said, I noticed a difference before getting the new studio monitors, so I can honestly say I don't want to go back to onboard. The clarity really went up, especially at higher volume levels, and now with the studio monitors? I'll be damned if they would sound as good with onboard audio.

All testing done with .wav music files, Samson MediaOne 3a studio monitors and a single Event TR5 studio monitor on top of what I already listed off. Sound cards are worth it if you like to listen to music and hear every little splash hit the drummer does or little effects the keyboardist does. And I do care. :P

---------- Post added 2012-01-14 at 01:24 PM ----------

Imagine watercooled soundcards.

I just.... lol. That's funny, to be quite honest. =X

[vesseblah]

Isn't that only for PCI-E 2.0 16x?
(Few follow the 2.0 capabilities anyway to maintain 1.0 compatibility)

Oops, remembered several things wrong... 18A with single power cable, 6A with no power cable, and 2A/~25W by 1x PCIe card only.

Yeah... 2A is not enough for high quality amp.

[Masterec]

Isn't that only for PCI-E 2.0 16x?
(Few follow the 2.0 capabilities anyway to maintain 1.0 compatibility)

Sure this is a PCI-e card? Think its just a PCI card.