Thread 725592435

I got an open slot and the price is right. How much CPU will I save while gaming by using a dedicated sound card?

Pretty much nothing. Sound cards are only necessary if you need them for advanced audio work or specific programs that require one.

>>725592435 (OP)
ask /g/

sound cards offer no advantage. for audio latency you're bottlenecked by your machine and windows drivers use latencymon for instance to check it. for audio quality its all in the dac which are external.

>>725592435 (OP)
in games like BF6 maybe, but in general no

>>725592435 (OP)
just get a quality DAC anon, sound cards are a fucking meme

This isn't 2005, you don't need one at all.

>>725592435 (OP)
not worth it unless you have noise issues on your motherboard audio or you need lower latency for things such as ASIO or WASAPI drivers

got one since i could hear my mouse moving bec of shitty insulation in my mobo

>>725592885
What's the point of that? How is a DAC any different from the onboad audio shit?

>>725592435 (OP)
Literally nothing unless you're using a CPU from the 90s.

>>725593187
what the schizo is this, am I being baited?

>>725592435 (OP)
They should make one of those but like, for the game graphics

>>725593323
you must be a zoomer, this would happen on old PC all the time,if you move your mouse slowly in a game with high fps you can hear the buzzing

>>725593347
what would they call such device?

>>725593323
its not

>>725593418
I'm not a zoomer but I also wasn't poor or brown.

>Plays game
>Audio starts bugging out
>Drains CPU

I joke but you just know this is happening in those unoptimized slop Unreal Engine games.

i have the card in op and it's actually pretty decent
it has a nice feature to automatically mix multiple programs' volumes which is handy if you like to listen to music while playing a game and talking to friends on vc all at once and don't like fucking around with volumes trying to balance everything.
the virtual surround sound works good, the other audio adjustments are useful for various types of games
it's baseline is quiet with no hissing or picking up usb header/coil whine.
it has a built-in output loopback making it easy to pirate songs off spotify.
the card itself has a red light that looks cool.

all in all not a bad purchase especially if you have a powerful speaker setup or use headphones primarily and want big sound with a low noise floor, do any kind of streaming video or audio recording, or have adhd and like/need to listen to several audio sources at once.

>>725593550
well if you were not poor you would have a better chance to experience it because it only happened at high fps
but by your typing style your just some retarded pol tourist that probably didn't even have a PC growing up

>>725593187
I'm 90% i have this except its my ssd reading/writting

>>725594176
you're*

>>725594176
>on old PC
>your
You Are Brown.

>>725593240
you want your audio converted to analog aka waves further away from the motherboard to eliminate electrical noise

>>725594279
>>725594423
>doesn't know basic boom PC lore
>starts having a melty

your a retarded zoomer poltard

>>725592435 (OP)
Basically nothing.
Your CPU has all sort of stupidly efficient vector math functions that solve the "audio mixing" task with minimal effort.

>>725593249
It was not even CPU weight, but CPU timing.
As CPUs were single core back then, it was not certain the CPU would be able to update the audio buffer in time.
Dual core CPUs solved the audio problem completely.

>>725592435 (OP)
Nothing. No software has been written to take advantage of dedicated sound cards for at least 20 years now.

>>725592435 (OP)
lol all modern mobos have isolated sound chips, you can literally see it on the board as a separate zone
only drooling retards buy sound cards

i remember BF Bad Company 2 used a whole fucking CPU core if you put audio quality to high

>>725594212
i once had a soundcard that output noise whenever there was SATA activity
after a while of troubleshooting producing no results and no updated drivers, i uninstalled and sold the damn gay thing

>Checks PC
>Headphone and mic ports on the front

Unless the internal wiring is ass, that shouldn't be an issue. The Sound card (theoretically) will give me better sound quality than the onboard. Doesn't look like the DAC does that.

>>725594735
Directsound probably still can do hardware acceleration, but you will be offloading audio to a 40Mhz DSP or something of sorts.

>>725594885
>>725594885
no offence anon but your actually retarded, at least use google

>>725592435 (OP)
If you dont use high impedance headphones, there is absolutely no need to buy one. Also you shouldn't use a sound card when external external USB DACs exist

>>725594965
I don't trust google.

I had to get a replacement because the Realtek audio chip that came with my motherboard was terrible. Any time I was watching a cutscene in a game, characters speaking from off screen were completely inaudible even if they were close to the camera. Just to be sure it was the sound chip, I tried it with my USB wireless headset and it sounded fine.
I eventually ended up getting an audio interface so I could play Rocksmith with it. Don't buy Focusrite. They have a lot of issues with static/buzzing after they've been running a while. It took some doing, but I finally have it set up in a way that the buzzing sound doesn't happen too often.

>>725594926
>Directsound
Ancient shit that is trivial on any modern CPU

dont forget your audiophile rocks

>>725592435 (OP)
None on windows. The audio stack is handled by the gpu via hdmi/dp
Which kind of sucks if you want a 5.1 stream to say, a receiver and you’re doing dp/hdmi to your monitors.
Windows out if the box won’t let you do an audio only hdmi connection - it’ll still treat it as a display.

>>725595058
I have a focusrite too and for some reason the buzzing just went away one day. My friend that has one gets buzzing through his microphone though so it's a real gamble.

every soundblaster is a DAC prove me wrong

>>725595058
anon why the fuck would you use an audio interface for sound?


i also have a Focusrite for rocksmit but i have a DAC for my headphones

>>725594965
>your
Look at this retard

>>725595369
are you a newfag or just retarded?

>>725595285
>The audio stack is handled by the gpu via hdmi/dp
I don't use the DP on my card for audio. That stuff is sent through the motherboard 3.5mm jacks to external 2.1 speakers.

>>725595359
Because it works way better than the Realtek chip and I don't feel like buying anything else right now

>>725595491
i'm pretty sure under the hood it's still GPU bound, but i could be wrong.
(as in, it's adding an extra step, going from the GPU's output, back to the realtek chipset or whatever your mobo has)

>I got an open slot

Get one of these PCIe SSD slots instead. They're almost as fast as the proper N2 slots and its negligible in every case I've tried

>>725594763
what do the leeches do

>>725595586
no, even the most shitty onboard sound is better than an audio interface
the headphone port on your focusrite is just for you to monitor the sounds, its not ment to replace your sound card

>>725595445
>I was merely pretending to be retarded

>>725595620
So a Sound card would save on the GPU instead of the CPU? Miniscule, yes but a save is a save.

>>725595689
suck the sound

>>725595106
Yes, that's my point.
You're getting your 2000Mhz CPU (if you're destitute poorfag), and removing the equivalent of 40Mhz of load from it.

>>725593187
Same and because my mobo doesn't have optical out

>>725592435 (OP)
Unless you have a speaker system or 300+ ohm headphones, you'll just be wasting your money and motherboard slots with a soundcard.

>>725595683
I've already got two M.2 ports so I'm good. If I need more space, I'd just use an external cause you don't need speed to watch movies or listen to music.

>>725595726
I don't use it with headphones. I have the rear audio out running to my speakers. When I do need to use headphones, I have a wireless USB pair.
And you don't know just how shitty Realtek's chips can be.

>>725595683
I got one of these
more storage>negligible improve in sound quality

Sound Blaster is literally just a DRM key. It has not been doing hardware DSP since X-Fi.

>>725595323
The ones with RAM in it like the awes can load samples to the memory and play and mix em etc..
It is pretty nifty to make 386's play mod files without being overburdened.

I'm amused at just how divisive a thread about fucking sound cards can be. Is everyone an audiophile?

>>725596176
having a decent DAC and a pair of good headphones is not audiophile territory

you have no idea how autistic real audiophiles are

>>725595972
then use this, it cost like 5$ and its better than the Focusrite shit sound

>>725596289
Google tells me external DACs are snake oil. At least the Sound Card is guaranteed to lighten the load on my CPU. Also, have actual speakers that will take advantage of the better sound quality.

>>725592435 (OP)
Virtually nothing, and as it happens you're going to find that discrete sound cards are nearly extinct in the average user space. All that's left are more expensive options used primarily in music authoring.

>>725593323
They're not suposed to do that, but if the electronics are super-shitty you can get issues where the electric currents running through the thing can bleed into something like the audio circuit and add static to the line.

>>725596715
nigger no one uses a fucking sound card since like 2007, DACs are the new standard for quality audio, but since you dont even have headphones everything will sounds like shit

>>725594763
tsuchinoko if he real

>>725592435 (OP)
Hey, OP. I've got that same soundcard in my last build, and another Sound Blaster card (the AE-7) in my current. My opinions after using both for years:

>the performance savings are negligible unless you're one of those hyper min-max autists trying to overclock stuff and get 1% higher FPS
>the big advantage to a soundcard is being able to tweak and customize settings based on your personal tastes
>the AE-7 card I have in my current machine has an aggravating channel switch bug that's been a known issue on AMD boards for years (something relating to the CPU drawing extra power under heavy load or something, idk), and it's pissed me off enough to swear off internal cards from now on

I'm going to switch to an external DAC whenever I do my next build, but opinions seem split on them (even in the thread). Price-wise, they're about the same as an internal card.

>>725596982
Nice chimpout. Now I DEFINITELY know that external DACs are snake oil.

>>725592885
>don't get PCI dac card, get a USB dac card
you don't even know what you're saying, are you

>>725597225
Stop being a retard. A DAC is mostly just an external enclosure of the chips and shit that would go on an internal sound card. Look at the specs of some DACs and compare them to internal cards; there's a lot of overlap.

>>725597313
you want your audio processing far away from the PSU and other EMI

>>725597559
also DACs dont use 1$ Realtek audio chips like the ones on MOBOs

>>725593550
on opposite day, sure

>>725597225
>Realtek
lol literal TEMU tier quality, you are using a 70cent chip from china for your audio, i think you are the retard here

>>725592435 (OP)
I bought the base version of this without the red shroud like 10 years ago when I built my first pc because the on board audio sounded like dogshit. I still use it to this day in my latest am5 pc. Don't see why I shouldn't.

>>725592435 (OP)
Nothing since the sound is processed through a dedicated chip in the motherboard

I'm using software audio through USB and Logitech software

>>725598125
>>725597559
>>725597808
All I'm hearing is "buy a sound card".

>>725592435 (OP)
nothing, video games since 2009 have been using software based rendering for sound, and Windows unified a lot of the sound APIs for every sound driver possible so latency is pretty rough, the only advantage you can get out of sound cards are like DSP (like HTRF surround sound) and higher soundrate and bit depth which is not a issue anymore since every motherboard, even cheap ones have pretty good sound DACs, sometimes its good to get one if youre trying to get a 7.1 speaker setup and yout motherboard doesnt support it natively

>External DAC: $8
>Internal Sound card: $100

External DACs are for poor people.

>>725598507
nigga just buy the cheapest Fiio DAC you can find, dont be a retard and dont get a fucking sound card

>>725598507
It sounds more like you want to buy a sound card and are looking for the thinnest external validation to do so.

Spend some time researching the differences between sound cards and DACs, then make an informed decision instead of being a whiny little shitstain.

>>725592435 (OP)
are you actually retarded? installing a soundcard costs you cpu performance. the cpu has to communicate with it. it's an additional component in your pc.

>>725598718
uh oh

>sounds cards
>2025
?
what's the point exactly? card-exclusive sound software is dead

>>725599114
its just one schizo in the thread trying to convince himself that he needs one

>>725598718
i bought one of those USB stick sound cards from micro center once. plugged it in and it immediately popped. smell of burning electronics, etc. they're chink fire hazards as one should expect.

>>725594212
After I slapped an ssd in my old laptop I would regularly hear hissing noises through my headphones.

>>725594546
I accept your concession.

i use one of these for playing guitar but there is a constant buzzing sound (only on monitor, it doesn't come through on the recordings). i guess it's the hard drive or something getting picked up on the usb? maybe a sound card would fix this idk

>>725599657
you probably have a grounding loop, which is probably the DACs fault

>>725599657
sounds like emi affecting the monitor

last sound card i had to buy was in 2005 when my internal jack got fucked

>>725598451
>I'm using software audio through USB
Literally a DAC

You only ever needed a soundcard in tyool 2007 for Crysis FPS maxxing

i'm honestly shocked sound cards are even still made

>soundcard
>lessen the load on your CPU
L to the MAO

Let me see those benchmarks, pal.
>1.
It doesn't work like that anymore.
>2.
I am sure your spyware soundcard drivers will make sure that you actually have WORSE fps with the soundcard than without it


Love it when tech illiterates talk about shit they have no clue about but just a gut feeling kek

>>725592627
this guy is a retard, latencymon has nothing to do with your audio latency

>>725600623
rare peep

>>725599473
I'm listening to some classic hissing right now. The sounds literally fucking changes when i scroll or when I move the mouse too fast. It is an old laptop so there must be something fucking it up.

>>725599657
handfuls of critical reviews also complain about the noise. it's not your equipment it's the way this was designed.
hum could be an improper ground inside the device or they've laid a power trace too close to the ones that drive monitor out
doubt it can be addressed

>>725592435 (OP)
Creative killed 3D Audio for PC games and Aureal Semiconductor. Hardware accelerated audio used to be real and buying a sound card had a purpose. When are devs gonna get on raytraced audio now huh?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nq6RJtyoiIw

See all these channels for documentation
https://www.youtube.com/@IDrinkLava
https://www.youtube.com/@3DJ
https://www.youtube.com/@gamingaudioisdead
https://www.youtube.com/@-WildCat

Damn you creative for killing this medium's only chance of getting decent positional wavetraced/raycasted/reflections in our audio. Now current implementations are all lacklustre, or if they're good it's usually rare and isolated.

>>725601053
it has nothing to do with Creative and everything to do with consoles and the 80-IQ cowadooty audience

Oh come on how much overhead can audio have on a PC that can run big games?
One thread for a few microseconds?

>>725601047
well i can hear the buzzing change as i alt tab around and scroll down pages so i think it's picking it up from the computer via the usb>>725600834

>>725601053
>When are devs gonna get on raytraced audio now huh?
Don't give Nvidia any ideas.

>>725600834
didn't mean to (you) you

No anon, AGPx8 era is in the past, right now cpus can handle it without noticing anything,
Get proper MoBo with headphone AMP or something.
I was getting AE-7 for "reasons", cant tell difference between MoBo soundcard and SoundBlasta.

Hear me out... SLI sound cards...

>>725598365
CPU still has to do something right?

i thought audio processing was done on the sound chip anyways.

There's a hissing + weird noise coming from mine

>>725595172
There was this one audiophile business website I found over a decade ago that sold these obscenely priced cables with different colored rocks in them. Doesn't sound that unusual, but what set it apart was that they had a long "skeptics" page that tried to counterargue against normal people who don't believe in this crap. It was mostly a bunch of gaslighting and schizo babble if I remember right. Anyone else see this too? Wish I could remember what the business was called.

It's not pic related

>>725600712
>LatencyMon checks if a system running Windows is suitable for processing real-time audio and other tasks.
Stupid fuck.

>>725600712
>>725592627
>latencymon
what does that one digivolve into

>>725601679
it has absolutely nothing to do with your >>>AUDIO LATENCY<<<. it measures the response latency of DRIVERS, which determines if you will hear cracks/interruptions in your audio.
you are mentally retarded. very good chance you are an actual nigger based on your inability to read basic english text

>>725601671
Lmao wtf. Audioniggers explain yourselves.

>>725601437
>one for each ear
genius
just make sure they dont have coil whine

>>725601679
anon, show us in latencymon where you're seeing your audio latency
let's see it

i can't wait for you to show something that says "500 nanoseconds" so i can laugh at you

>>725596176
Some of us are

>>725601160
try isolating it then, plug it into a different outlet on the other side of the room, one that your PC isn't plugged into.
this is what literally creates a ground loop.

i have an identical situation going on. if i have my amp, speakers, etc plugged in to the same outlet as my computer i can hear hey kid im a computah noises, but as soon as i ran an extension cable around the room and isolated my audio gear, the problem went away.

i am not smart enough to explain why this happens, and it's really inconvenient to have a cable on the floor. i had to put a rug over it.

I can literally listen to the CPU working through my headphones in the shitty PCs my office has. I don't understand how.
As in, whirs that last exactly as long as a heavy CPU load, blips when saving, etc.
They also only have 1HDMI output so I imagine they are the cheapest crap that can booth and do what we need, but still...

>>725593550
>I'm not a zoomer
>except I don't know about stuff that was common until the turn of the millennium
Zoom zoom, faggot.

>>725594760
can’t believe it took this long for someone to point out that mobos have had dedicated audio chipsets for a decade at least

>>725602038
Same here, and I only started hearing this when I bought headphones that aren't a 6 dollar piece of junk.

>>725602252
Dedicated audio chips doesn't mean good audio chips.
Most CPUs have integrated graphics, right? So what do you need a GPU for?

>>725602038
A fellow CPU whisperer? At some point you won't even need headphones to hear it, it will just come naturally to you.

>>725602447
Spare me please.

>>725602031
It's electric interference, it's common because computers are generally really good at generating extraneous em to their local area and to the power lines they are hooked up to.
Audio equipment is usually pretty sensitive to such things as the makers assume that the power going into it is clean so they can avoid spending extra money on shielding.
In addition frequency modulation of a power source is generally reliant on more expensive equipment/circuit design that few are willing to spend time integrating into audio gear.

>>725593323
It happens to older motherboards with really shitty onboard DACs which is why sound cards used to exist. It might still happen if you have a $50 motherboard, I dunno I buy like $200 motherboards now and the onboard DACs all sound perfect.

We have a water well in my house, when the water pump turns on I can fucking hear how it changes my headphone's noise.

>>725601748
Audiophilomon

>>725592435 (OP)
I wouldn't be surprised if you spend more CPU communicating with that card.

>>725593187
This happened with the front ports on my case, but thankfully just getting a longer cable and plugging into the back solved it.

>>725595172
>>725601671
I know people like to listen to rock but this is ridiculous.

>>725603207
Why are autists always utterly infatuated with trains?

>>725603769
the floor is lava

>>725593323
as other anons have said.
its more noticeable when scrolling up and down, you'll hear a faint buzzing sound and once you notice it you cant unhear it.

>>725594760
>lol all modern mobos have isolated sound chips, you can literally see it on the board as a separate zone
It's called a DAC.

>>725603207
If you don't find this KINO and see the soul in it, you don't belong here.

>>725603775
Overpriced cheap parts in a fancy casing

>>725601053
I used to have a SB sound card and a Creative 7.1 speaker setup in the 2000s. Shit was cash. Now I use this thing with a pair of speakers and a sub and call it a day.

>>725605116
That's the schiit and you are my brother

I still use that cheap 20 dollars tiny stereo I got from a mom and papa shop back in 2010.

Why are audio fags such schizos?

Internal soundcards always sound like you hear the audio from a different room, muffled and shit. Tried hard with the equalizers to get it right.
I got a DAC from amazon with a 5-star review. Sounded like dogwater.
Went back to my trusty soundcard from 2007, there is a very clear difference.

>>725607085
Audio is inherently schizophrenic. Even completely normal people hear things incorrectly all the time. Audio is basically a bunch of hallucinations cobbled together by your brain from unreliable sources. It's no wonder some people truly believe they hear things better when there are crystals on top of their speakers. Maybe they actually do, we can't prove their experience wrong after all.

>>725601190
I would like to give them ideas. Because gaming audio has been shit post the death of hardware accelerated 3D audio. Raytraced audio could be possible, but how many people are gonna adopt what this guy made? probably no one. Valve couldn't even get Steam Audio in widespread use which could work on Unity either. Here is one new implementation I've found in recent times.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6EuAUjq92k

This guy makes out like what he made is pretty optimised, I wonder how it compares to Valve Steam audio which is very intensive on your CPU. Now we don't have the benefit of offloading the processing anymore after all. Steam audio is close to A3D levels of accuracy, but barely anyone touched it. And I've yet to see any game use whatever was in this video either.

>>725592435 (OP)
I miss sound cards

>>725597825
on planet retard maybe

>>725593323
Unlless it's audiophile voodoo, anon probably some complete jank in their build. Bad ground. Shitty motherboard. Leaky PS/ps cables with poor shielding causing magnetic fields. Crappy case or broken standoffs causing some sort of leakage. More likely to happen on tiny cramped mobos and builds.

>>725596289
The only time I've seen anyone NEED a dac is if there was something fucked with their build or some laptops. And most of these problems require headphones to hear anyways.

>>725602038
Last time I saw that, it was a faulty building ground and an inadequate power supply. He wasn't hearing the CPU, but hearing the PS surge to meet demand.


>>725603028
Some of the new motherboards are complete fucking garbage. And not even like no name chinese shit or weird proprietary office computers. AS rocks have been eating CPUs.

>>725603196
Check ground. Borrow a UPS to see if cleaner power fixes it.

t. Owns an oscilloscope.

>>725594763
snek

>>725607085
It's just gearfaggotry. If you really care about audio quality, a quality pair of headphones and a DAC are all you need. You don't need to spend more than $200 on those combined if you're not retarded. And you can spend much less than that if you're especially thrifty.

>>725593497

VisionBlaster

>>725594763
Where are the special rocks?

>>725592435 (OP)
Fucking nothing anon
Sound cards aré obsolete ITS not the fucking 80s where you need a millions cards for basic hardware functions

>>725595683
Should probably be faster since the m.2 slots on your board are likely going through some IO controller instead of direct to the CPU.

>>725592435 (OP)
I'm only getting a sound card because I fucking HATE the latency digital audio gives with surround sound in videogames and how fucking long it took just to get working. I'm going all analog again. Fuck digital audio.

>>725611715
sold separately

>>725593323
Only very poor/cheap people have experienced this.

>>725601803
That's a fair price for tuning rocks. I'm sorry you're poor, have no taste, and will settle for soundslop.

>>725592435 (OP)
Just get a dongle DAC

>>725594763
>*Plays YouTube mp3 music through Bluetooth*

>>725592435 (OP)
You don't need one unless your motherboard was made before Windows Vista launched. You especially don't need one for gaming purposes, and your CPU isn't being taxed in the slightest for running the on-board sound chip.

>>725592527
Or special ports, software, other shit like that.
Probably could kill two birds with one stone via some kind of DAC card or something.

>>725592435 (OP)
Nothing, unless Unreal is even worse than I thought. Then again, Unreal Engine's so ass I wouldn't be surprised if it was bugged to cut your FPS in half if you have a webcam plugged in.

>>725593323
Not that Anon, but I used to have some fuckups left over from when I first built this PC, and any time I moved a wired mouse while using wired headphones, I'd hear this high-pitched, very quiet electrical whine in my headphones.
I'm... 90% sure I fixed it, but I only use a wireless mouse these days so I can't be 100% sure.

>>725592435 (OP)
sound cards aren't for performance
you get one if your motherboard has dogshit audio

>>725593240
Ex audio fag here:
Modern day external dacs are a meme. It wasnt that way in the past but they are today.
Only the cheapest of cheap mobo's(60 bucks for the mobo) have noise. A good dac costs peanuts today and that 250,- external DAC does nothing special. Pure snake oil.

I bought a sound card during my World of Warcraft days and there WAS a difference in how much better it sounded.

Also how come for home, car audio, dj audio no one will take you seriously if your using default stock hardware, but somehow PC is immune?I dont buy it

>>725617773
Even if there's no noise, they still enshitten the sound

>>725601793
>>725601909
I really hope this is a samefag, as the alternative is there's not one but two retards here.
Latencymon is primarily intended to check for audio latency, music producers and mixfags use it to check if their system can deal with latency issues of their audio buffer in Windows.

>>725620214
did you really reply like 3hrs later just to pitifully lick your wounds over being wrong
LOL

>>725620253
I'm not the same anon, but I do know how to read.

>>725620272
it measures DPC latency (not audio latency - the mentions of audio are referring to how ASIO audio will crackle if your DPC / driver latency is high)

you are mentally retarded and raped by being wrong online

>>725620370
It measures both DPC and ISR latency, but if you actually read what anon said in the first place, he says
>for audio latency you're bottlenecked by your machine and windows drivers use latencymon for instance to check it
Learn to read before samefagging and shitposting so loudly.

>>725620527
the DPC latency you measure on latencymon has *nothing to do* with your audio latency. i don't know how many times i can say this. your DPC latency is some nanoseconds, your audio latency in eg. a game is 60-100 *milliseconds*. latencymon does not, and can not, measure your audio latency. your audio latency happens due to a long long long long chain of pro1cesses inside the kernelmode audio driver and kernel which latencymon (a usermode device) cannot access. you are mentally retarded and comment on things you have zero knowledge of, confidently. it's time to off yourself.

>>725593616
Question, if UE slop is already bad with standard audio drivers? What makes OP think UE can work / recognize a specialized physical device owned by as many as literally him?

Also Sound Blaster.
Mmm....windows 95, take me home.

>>725592627
>current year
>still using windows

>>725595683
First I laughed but then I got srs.
This is actually genius because of how many retarded motherboards I have seen that have the NMVe slot BEHIND THE FUCKING GPU slot.
Not to mention for GOOD motherboards, having 3 slots for backups and SHIET, this is great.

>>725620749
DPC and ISR have a lot to do with your real-time audio latency. Latencymon is deliberately designed to check for these issues as a means to check if your system is suitable for audio recording/tracking and real-time audio processing. It even tells you based on its results where your system is suitable for real-audio tasks or not in its summary. Obviously, there are multiple factors that affect your resulting audio latency and not just system interruptions, but system interruptions are by far the most impactful to the real-time latency of your system. It's the main reason anyone even uses latencymon. The latency you experience in audio is directly affected by how efficiently your system is able to handle processing of the audio buffer in real-time (done in very small packets of data); even a small dropout of data results in garbage being generated and you'll hear that as audible crackles & pops. So yes, even small (relatively speaking) system interruption stutters around 1000-2000µs matter in audio, as that can mean the difference between the audio buffer dropping data or not.

The reason this translates to milliseconds of audio latency is because a mix engineer (or whomever is doing the tracking of live audio) has to increase the buffer size to compensate for garbage data, and a larger buffer size means the CPU takes a little longer to process the first packet of the buffer first before you can hear anything, delaying the real-time audio heard. If your system interruptions are extremely low, you can set the buffer size to be absolutely tiny and barely have a couple ms of RTT latency, if even that.

>>725621353
retard. complete mental retardation. unsaveable.
post hidden. farted on it, too

>>725621353
>If your system interruptions are extremely low, you can set the buffer size to be absolutely tiny and barely have a couple ms of RTT latency, if even that.
No you can't unless using ASIO which zero games support. The lowest audio latency you can ever have in regular programs is ~80ms.

>>725593067
my headphones whine when I move my mouse across the screen. Will a sound card fix that or is it a sign of a problem somewhere else I should fix rather than cover up?

>>725593187
oh the answer was literally right under the post I replied to

>>725621508
buy a $5 apple DAC USB dongle and it will likely fix it
also will likely have better SNR than the chip on your mobo

What's the best sound card, that's reasonably priced?

>>725621472
>No you can't unless using ASIO
nigga what do you think someone in the example I gave would be using?

>>725595683
I already have 4x m.2 slots, and 1 has nothing on it, and that's my fastest one too, I think I will be fine, I'm building a NAS next.
I have a GT1030 in my x8 slot as a second GPU.

>>725601053
Put audio reflections in games and people will complain that the new update broke audio and you hear sounds from where there are no players.

>>725621472
>>725621674
Also there are games that support ASIO (or at least partially support it)
Strictly speaking, "gamers" could be using latencymon to check their system latency in a gaming context but AFAIK nobody in gaming cares about DPC latency in vidya. Your display monitor's latency is more important in vidya anyway, I guess.

I bought the Edifier R1700BT and they sound like shit.
Is there a way to improve their quality or do I need to buy something better?

>>725621472
>>725621821
There's also exclusive mode WASAPI although AFAIK that still uses larger buffer sizes compared to ASIO. Apparently you can achieve single-digit <10ms of latency with exclusive WASAPI thougheverbeit - and it's often used in vidya.

>Goes to bed after laughing at how serious and autistic people are about fucking sound cards
>Wakes up to find the thread still going and people still arguing

Man is this funny. While on the subject, what's the best wired Headphones that aren't retarded expensive?

>>725594763
Why are the cables so fucking thick??

>>725595726
>>725596517
>no, even the most shitty onboard sound is better than an audio interface
you have no idea what you're talking about.

>>725595683
Actually a good suggestion, but be aware that many mobo's will throttle the PCIe bandwidth if too many lanes are occupied, so double check you mobo spec just in case.
pic looks like an x4 so it's unlikely to cause a problem

>>725602269
buy a 6 dollar usb dac

>>725597195
Tsuchinoko is real
They're called blue tongued skinks

>>725596715
External DAC's are great because I can turn my headphones on and off without touching any settings or plugging anything in

I have an AE5 which used to work good but since I took another mobo it keeps having these loud crunching noises during certain games

>>725594763
>those audiophiles who pay for personal electrical poles/lines
audiophiles are mentally ill. only really challenged by vegans or mech keyboard fags

Audiophile means a retard that knows nothing about audio and has too much money to burn.
A cheap CS43131 dongle dac for 20€ is all you need.
A cheap chinese IEM from Tanchjim, Kbear or Trurthear for 20€ is all you need.
A 80€ Edifier MR3 studio monitoring speakers is all you need.
Don't fall the scam of overpriced audio equipment, go to audiosciencereview.com and educate yourself.

>>725627293
>My wars dont work lmao, also xhinkshit lmao
Kys faggot, a Sony v6 or Vanatoo Plus speakers make a whole lot of difference for audio

>>725627667
Found the audioretard here.

>>725601975
I used to work for Kef's American branch. It sucked ass.

>>725628461
>No real counter-argument
Tsk tsk

I just use the little atom amp and dac JDS labs make as i've got all my audio routed through them. My PC, my PSX and my PS2. Cleaner than using inbuilt audio and by the nature of being external lets me volume balance all of the devices. This is important for what I turn on my psx and don't get my ears and windows destroyed by the boot up tune we all know and love.

>>725601634
I think your sound card might be possessed by a cat.

>>725627667
I find 4" drives too big for a desktop but really depends on your setup. Room acoustic is important too so some edifiers for 100 bucks may be just enough for speakers already.

>>725630113
always fucking boomers too

>>725593323
It's not shiczo. It used to happen to some of the oldest computers in my university library.

0.00000001%. Your microprocessor has a sound card inside of it, it doesn't use the CPU cores for that task. At most it will make it a little bit hotter.

>>725592435 (OP)
Use Linux. Literally 2 orders of magnitude faster than the Windows audio stack.

it improves audio everyone just copes and tries to claim a shitty 15 cent on board sound card is going to compete with a 100+ dollar dedicated sound card
like how everyone copes with how shit monitors are and falsely claim their oled monitors arent burnt by thr 2nd month

>>725630508
Linux audio is fucking garbage. You can't even make it output audio from the speakers if there is any cable plugged in the front jack- you have to unplug it manually.

The only reason I have a soundcard is because of EAX 3 - 5 emulation

>>725630593
Does it actually improve audio or is it audiophile cope like monitor headphones which sound like shit for recreational music listening.

>>725592435 (OP)
Fuck all. It's not 1995 anymore.

>>725630695
I had the same thing on Windows in the past. Front panel audio takes priority. It's just a configuration issue, AKA, skill issue.

>>725630809
On windows you can easily select the device you want to output from, regardless of what's plugged in from the audio panel.
Also when you're Steam streaming on Linux it's so retarded that will output audio from both the speakers and the TV and you will have to manually mute whichever source you don't want audio from. On windows you just select which one you want from the audio panel again.
And don't get me started on managing audio sinks and pipes on Linux .

>>725631036
>reeeeeee linux
>is actually PEBKAC

>>725592435 (OP)
theres a sound card inside your MB dumbass

>>725631240
There's also a graphics card in my MB too but that's nowhere near as good as a dedicated graphics card.

Sound cards are only for situations where you have an actual audio setup that requires the additional outputs. You don't consider one beforehand, you find yourself in a situation where you need one.

One example could be a powerful stereo amp that doesn't accept HDMI but does accept toslink.

>>725631303
>There's also a graphics card in my MB too
[X] Doubt. Unless you are running some ancient N force chipset integrated graphics haven't been on mobos for 20 years.

>>725592435 (OP)
like .00000001432000%?

>>725592435 (OP)
For gaming, it is a nice to have but definitely not a must buy thing. If you're going for a surround sound setup it might worth considering getting one. For the vast majority of people your motherboards onboard audio is good enough.

if you're worried about sound draining CPU resources. It is probably time to upgrade your CPU to something better. From what I understand CPU spikes are more likely to be caused by software issues. Getting a dedicated soundcard might not even fix that problem.

>>725631423
I have surround sound speakers I bought cause my monitor speakers are ass and Headphones that came with my keyboard & Mouse that are surprisingly good.

>>725630759
>>monitor headphones which sound like shit for recreational music listening.

>>725601053
https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/List_of_games_that_support_Dolby_Atmos
PC setups with surround sound are extremely rare, I'm surprised they even bothered though.

>>725593323
Go buy a second hand laptop with questionable solder work all over the place and plug your cans on that shit.

>>725631217
I've been using linux for longer than you have so I'm fully aware of its advantages and flaws and not in denial about them because I'm not a retarded fanboy like most who shill Linux.

>>725593323
I bet if you cranked your volume to the max with a pair of very good speakers you could hear it too. It has gotten much better but never really went away because the desktop PC is a huge fucking electromagnetic box.

>>725631563
They do because that's not their intended purpose. Most music on them sounds flat and boring as fuck. Unless you're do actual music/sound production in a studio, they have literally zero use.
I fell for that meme once and got ATH-M50X. Returned them a week alter because of how bland they made everything sound and because I don't give a fuck about flaunting some brand like the majority of monitor users.

>>725595783
Optical out is the only real way of getting audio out of your motherboard.

>>725631303
That's because digital audio is a long solved problem.

>>725631849
>I fell for a shitty headphone, that means all of them are shit
Okay anon

>>725593323
if I rotate my headphone connector a certain way, I can hear interference from my GPU when I run a game

>>725631956
Admit it anon, you were going to give that meaningless bait answer regardless of which model I had mentioned.

>>725631849
You got entry level studio headphones. I'm not surprised they failed to impress. I think you should stick to Airpod Pro 3s or whatever you are currently using though.

>>725632072
If you had picked something good like the V6/7506 or Beyerdynamic I wouldn't have

>cope threads over 15 cent onboard sound cards
>ITS TOTALLY THE SAME U GUISE PLZ BELIEVE

>>725630150
they have money to spend on stupid shit and you should go back to work little zoomie

Choosing an internal sound card over an external sound card or even just a DAC make a lot more sense if you're going to use any kind of surround sound system, Like LTT has an old video about sound cards and their relevance but because they never tested them with surround sound so they misinterpreted how useful the creative's software actually was.

The surround sound setting when used with speakers actually upscales 2 channel audio to surround channel speakers very well, When used with headphones it change's how open the sound stage is not the sound's directionality which is why LLT's said it didn't increase spatial awareness in games.
IDK how the "crystalizer" setting works or what it's exactly doing but does seem to make certain things sound better but very subtly.
The bass effect is only available on headphones at least with my settings, Not sure how it differs from changing the EQ curves.
The smart volume is really good with speakers especially the night mode which decreases bass making playing with speakers at night significantly less irritating for other people.
Dialog+ does in fact make voices more prominent and it will direct voices to the center channel speakers if present.

>>725632136
Again, nice bait attempt. What exactly is "non-entry" studio headphones? And for the record I don't use garbage apple products like you, especially not shitty wireless ear pods.

>>725632180
>no it has to be THIS arbitrary model
I'm not falling for any more of your shitty overpriced recommendations. Audio advice from anons here and on /g/ has always been pure shit. Do you fags unironically wear these clown sized headphones outside lmao?

>>725632613
Get HD600s. They are so common that I bet you can have a listen at your nearest audio shop.

>>725632613
ok poorfag

>>725632613
>outside
You use wireless earbuds of your choice outside. Yes they are dogshit for a multitude of reasons but you're fucking outside and will never get a proper audio experience anyway due to external noise. So choose convenience.

>>725592627
Bro you WASAPI, ASIO ?

>>725631303
the reason pci sound cards arent sold anymore on consumer desktops is that the MB ones got perfect so additional cards arent needed yet

same applies for GPUs (for normie, non gamer use) being inside the CPU package

>>725592435 (OP)
modern CPUs literally fart out lossless audio in their sleep. You won't see any difference, it might even increase CPU usage due to the extra drivers needing to interface with an extra hardware component.

>>725632613
>Do you fags unironically wear these clown sized headphones outside lmao?
Closed headphones yea.

>>725594763
what the fuck is that empty box in the middle of the lower cable?

>>725632180
>Beyerdynamic
I've got a pair of those recently.
I was shocked at how much better they sounded compared to the cheap Logitech headphones I was using.
I expected there to be a difference, but I expected it to be subtle, that two analog headphones plugged into the same setup would be rather similar. The depth and range are so much better, I'm spoiled now.

>>725633042
>MB ones got perfect
There might be ones that are good, but the on-board realtek that came on mine is terrible and a soundcard is a lot cheaper that a new mobo.
I had to get a wifi card for the same reason.

>>725607085
i guess it's some primal instinct or some shit like that.
hearing is the primordial sense. It's the last one you lose when you die.

Reminder that audio on linux is 200ms faster than Winblows

>>725634000
A pity linux DAWs suck ass

>I have a ASUS Xonar DGX sound card
>want to upgrade to a 9070XT
>GPU will get in the way of the sound card

>>725634170
You don't need to upgrade.

>>725633585
this is literally the reason i got one, was cheaper than a new mobo plus i get to connect speakers

>>725632297
Just a little reminder that lifestyle creep is real and that jewish vampires specifically prey on groups like that.
"Its expensive so it has to be good and worth the money" is one of those flaws in human thinking.

>>725593989
>the card itself has a red light that looks cool.
Okay I'm sold

>>725632613
assuming they still make them as good as before, sony's mdr-7506 (basically the same as the mdr-v6) are bretty gud. shit was used everyfuckingwhere in audio circles. there's a you don't need the absolute best shit on the market to play fucking video games

>>725630113
>Audiophile
>It's all about the visuals
why is it always like this?

>>725632297
Boomers are the last people to spend big bucks on audiovisuals when they've had their 5 senses degrade for 40 years at that point. Could you hear the difference between 500€ and 5000€ headphones when you were 20? Sure. Now that you're pushing 70? LMAO!

>>725635663
>mfw i can barely hear the sound that old people can't hear anymore.

when i was 27 that shit caused me nausea.

>>725635956
I've owned a CRT for all my life and just not hearing it anymore after 30 is slightly depressing even if it somewhat improves the experience.

>>725594763
I still don't get audiophiles. If you want "high fidelity" just buy studio headphones that go for as cheap as $150.

>>725592435 (OP)
I gained 100fps by putting in a PCIe soundcard

>>725636957
I still don't get cinephiles. If you want a "massive high quality screen" just mount your phone to your head that takes up all your vision.

>>725637043
100lbs*
Sorry, typo

>>725592435 (OP)
As opposed to having no sound? Nothing.
You will get a slight increase in quality compared to inbuilt sound chip though, even the cheapest cards are still better.

do you know you can save money by buying old PCI cards as they fit the PCIe slot

>>725637630
and also don't have drivers for modern OS and sound like shit

Since HDMI Audio output released sound cards are obsolete

>>725592435 (OP)
sound cards only mattered 25+ years ago
nowadays every motherboard has decent quality shielded audio components
i have dacs that sound worse than straight out of a motherboard

>>725637714
>sound like shit
proofs

>>725620917
yeah linux audio is so much better lmao

>>725638041
Stereo amps rarely come with HDMI inputs, that’s mainly for 5.1 and up which is overkill if you’re just running small 2.0 bookshelfs or, more likely, some dogshit miniscule active computer speakers.

>>725592435 (OP)
>picks up all the coil whine from your neighboring gpu

>>725638041
That's not from your motherboard default. That's using your AMD GPU to render audio. Good for your monitor to support all that shit. Mine doesn't.

>>725634000
>Reminder that audio on linux is 200ms faster than Winblows
even with ASIO ?

None of the "muh external DAC" people ITT mention is that the biggest problem with sound cards now is the lack of Linux compatibility.

>>725638758
Its AVR not monitor

>>725638987
The issue with these is that they can bottleneck the video signal and lock you down to HDMI. Alot of monitors have dogshit sub-spec HDMI and expect you to use displayport for full resolution and VHz. Add to that no ARC or eARC support from GPUs and it seems a rather odd choice.

>>725640720
you shouldn't use this for video, only for audio,
use video card outputs for video (DP is better) and motherboard hdmi to output audio.
(e)ARC is dog shit for audio because it doesn't support lossless encoded format

>>725641152
>because it doesn't support lossless encoded format
ARC doesn't but eARC does. There's literally no reason not to use eArc for audio these days.

>>725637113
Audiophiles will pay hundreds to thousands just to color the sound in the way they prefer which can be achieved through simple EQ. A better comparison would be buying those expensive as hell studio monitors.

>>725641405
Huh why would I need a TV to output sound from PC it doesn't make a sense. It's literally the third wheel here.

>>725641518
>A better comparison would be buying those expensive as hell studio monitors.
It might be if that was in any way related to the point I was making.

>>725636957
>studio headphones that go for as cheap as $150
Those have audible improvements up to a grand.

>>725642152
Correct. All DD headphones are bottlenecked by bass distortion as opposed to planar magnetic or electrostatic headphones that, if engineered correctly, will have no audible bass distortion. To be fair you can get good sounding planars for around $150, they'll just be built like shit. Thanks Hifiman

>>725631036
>On windows you can easily select the device you want to output from
?

>>725642657
AIIEEEE

>>725642657
KEK

Remember as a rule /v/ hates with a passion good audio output.

>>725642491
After getting some decent enough planars i've never going back to dynamic drivers. Mostly because the good ones cost more than I can afford.

>>725644650
only good PC sound output is:
HDMI -passthrough-> AVR DAC -> anything

>>725644650
PC audio has always been turbo neglected. It's the home theaters that got all the attention and even then surround setups have gotten rare due to the housing crisis forcing people to live in small cramped flats that have no chance in hell for a surround audio. And even if you went for a microsurround setup your neighbours would hang you by your entrails.

i have no idea what sound is after reading this thread

>>725593616
And in helldivers 2

>>725644865
toslink is perfectly fine if you aren't going for surround and even then most users won't be able to tell compressed from uncompressed.

>>725644936
It's a wave.

>>725645065
Nobody should be using toslink output these days as USB is more than up for the task if not leveraging HDMI. Other anon is still wrong though.

>>725644936
It's a particle.

>>725645173
Proper stereo amplifiers that drive proper speakers rarely accept USB audio inputs. Most common models accept RCA or toslink. Those chinky USB DACs meant primarily to drive headphones only are another matter entirely.

>>725645065
it's a string.

>>725644896
PC audio is fucked because microsoft stopped giving a fuck about the audio stack by about vista. Then we had efforts like TrueAudio from AMD that nobody cared for because gamers in general (pc or otherwise) don't care about sound. The only people who care for decent sound a movie nerds. Audiofools are a different breed though.

>>725644936
It's a range of probabilities that turns into an single experience once it hits your eardrum.

I literally got dumber by reading this thread.

>>725645573
t. audiophile.

NO YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND I *NEED* A BALANCED OUTPUT AND 4W OF POWER FOR MY HEADPHONE AMP, ANY AMP THAT DOESN'T DO THIS IS TRASH, THE CULTISTS AT ASR KNOW NOTHING.

>>725599657
your guitar will always buzz a little
its bare wires on a support

>>725592435 (OP)
Ironically it actually uses more CPU to run dedicated soundcards, even if they're USB.

>>725646040
4W might be a bit much but after accounting for preamp gain with EQ at least 2W should be the minimum a decent desktop amp should provide. Some headphones need over 8 dB of bass boost and that requires almost twice the power after a negative 8 dB of preamp.

>>725646464
Unless you are using the HE-1 90% of amps that do 1w in something like 32ohm will drive your headphones to ear destruction levels even with your -8db. When I used an EQ for my M1060's (which was using a re-amp gain of -5.6) I couldn't use high gain on my atom amp without the knob being close to the off position because it was so loud.

>headphones
>speakers
lol what is it like living in 2002? IEMs have vastly outstripped both and have done for best part of a decade.

>>725642657
just in case anyone's curious
https://xhamster.com/videos/ssbbw-shaking-her-ass-and-playing-with-her-dildo-derty24-1706565#

anons, what would be the best/easiest route of getting my aux headphones working on my oled TV? i don't know why TVs don't seem to have this port anymore. i don't know really anything about dacs or most audio equipment in general. i have a soundbar connected to the eARC hdmi slot but their isn't an aux slot on it either. pic related are my slots

>>725648469
disgusting.

>>725648180
not everyone is retarded enough to fall for "this time really" IEM shilled by influencer cause there are anime girls printed on the box.

>>725648469
corrr that arse is fuckin perfect init lads

>>725648740
moshi moshi, 2002 desu ne?

>>725649012
Imposter, Nigels aren't allowed to view that webpage.

>This thread is still here, still active.

I didn't think asking about Sound Cards would be this fucking important. Or this funny.
>Sound cards are a scam
>External dacs are a scam
>MB sound chips are a joke
>Your headphones are shit quality

Great shit!

>>725648598
optical out.

>>725649113
yeah we are i just give me id to 'em an hope it never leaks

>>725648598
Get one of those dongle DACs that are USB-A or C and have a regular 3.5mm slot on the other side. FiiO makes decent ones. Even an apple USB-C dongle with a USB-A adapter would probably work. Depends on the TV but it should recognize the DAC or the dongle anyway. Then just plug the headphones to the dongle and that's it.
>>725649096
I don't like putting shit in my ears, man. And clogging filter and moisture damage are a pain. I'd rather change earpads than IEM filters.

>>725649096
then post your super good IEM.

>>725638636
>nigga doesnt know about pipewire black magic

Don't audio interfaces have their own DACs? From what I'm reading, they have good audio quality but might need amps if you're using headphones.

>>725650732
>Don't audio interfaces have their own DACs?
They do. A soundcard is basically a DAC+Amp. Most audio interfaces are the same way. But a lot of audio interfaces have really underpowered amps so if you want to run a less sensitive headphone you'll need a seperate amp. Focusrite Scarlett for example is extremely underpowered when it comes to desktop models, barely beefier than an onboard soundcard.

>>725614073
youtube audio is ironically very high qality.
check it with yt-dlp.
also can do up to 10MB/s in maximum bandwidth.

>>725649192
>>725649314
https://www.amazon.com/Fosi-Audio-K5-Pro-Headphone-dp-B0BFHFSX4C/dp/B0BFHFSX4C

something like this, i.e. optical to optical and headphones into the aux jack? would it bypass the soundbar (eARC) when i plug my headphones in?

>>725592435 (OP)
I use Dragonfly Red 8)

>>725651959
>something like this, i.e. optical to optical and headphones into the aux jack?
yes
>would it bypass the soundbar (eARC) when i plug my headphones in?
That would depend on how the TV is setup. Some devices blast down all outputs all the time, others will give priority to certain outputs over others. You'd have to read the TV manual.

>>725652165
That pic belongs in a museum unc.

>>725651706
holy based
>>725651959
>something like this
Yeah, more or less. Don't have to worry about USB compatibility if you connect it via optical instead. Though this particular model needs to be connected via USB to supply power anyway. I have my DAC Amp connected to my PC via USB and to my TV via optical and just switch between them whenever I need.

>>725652220
>>725652551
thanks. i also just realized that this would also be bypassing the volume control of my soundbar so volume would then by controlled via the tv again i assume as well as the volume control on the dac itself

>>725592435 (OP)
>>725592435 (OP)
>>725592435 (OP)

The problem is there is so much terrible information floating around out there. The general consensus, yes even amongst us Grandpa's and older- is that unless you are using high-end internal sound cards for some kind of purpose, whether that is high quality archiving, maybe software idk, then there is no fucking reason on the planet to possess one. I bought a Khadas tone board 1 for 50 bucks and it outperforms any internal sound card. Everything has moved to external DAC's. Everything.

>>725648598
you can connect your headphones into yellow jack 3.5, but the normal way is to connect AVR to eARC and connect headphones to AVR.

>>725653621
not even a new thing

Harman MEME.

>>725593240
an external DAC might have a headphone amp, more outputs, allows you to connect both speakers and headphones at once and switch between them by pressing a button. There are reasons to own one that aren't audiovodoo.

>>725653851
>you can connect your headphones into yellow jack 3.5
not home, but are you sure?

>>725651267
Do I need an amp if I'm using a DAC with desktop speakers? Does turning up the speakers (as opposed to increasing volume with an amp) degrade the audio quality?

>>725655472
>Do I need an amp if I'm using a DAC with desktop speakers?
no, literally all desktop speakers are active, they have their own amps inside

>>725642657
bruh

>>725655190
Oh damn, didn't notice it is AUDIO IN.
Just checked my Bravia and it has both ports AUDIO IN and AUDIO AUT.
So you need AVR or soundbar with 3.5 jack for headphones.
Rip Sony, even their phones have 3.5 jack.

Zoomers should be barred from having audio related opinions and just stick there soundbars and wireless IEMs in the same hole their words fall out of