On-board Audio VS. Sound Card

**lopan** · 11-30-2004, 01:33 PM

Word of caution with M-audio, they sound great, but the input is a resource hog... what should be a line in is actually some kind of monitored port, so if you have an external device you want to listen to (xm radio) it'll actively monitor the port bringing your machine down to a crawl... A real shame to, I paid a lot of money for mine and now it just lays in a drawer...

**rgardjr** · 11-30-2004, 04:43 PM

Originally Posted by dingofarmer

M-Audio Sonica, Works great love the digital interface, very clean sound, Zero Noise..... It actually sounds better than my old HU. Cheap too, 15$ on Ebay, and the new M-audio gear is even better. Nice alternative to creative labs, if what theyoffer will not work in your particular situation.

Gave up on using my Sonica because it wouldn't come out of hibernation. Are you using hibernation with yours?

**dbxxx** · 12-01-2004, 02:28 PM

sticking with onboard video and a line driver sounds AWESOME better then an external card at least.

**EBJUSTIN** · 12-01-2004, 03:18 PM

Originally Posted by pip

Audigy 2 NX USB, great sound.

I use the USB Audigy 2 with my desktop PC...I agree it has excellent sound. The problem I had using it in the car was that the card would not turn on properly when resuming from Standby. I haven't tested the card with hibernation yet. Does anyone use hibernation with this sound card? Any issues?

**0l33l** · 12-01-2004, 06:13 PM

Originally Posted by EBJUSTIN

I use the USB Audigy 2 with my desktop PC...I agree it has excellent sound. The problem I had using it in the car was that the card would not turn on properly when resuming from Standby. I haven't tested the card with hibernation yet. Does anyone use hibernation with this sound card? Any issues?

Hibernation = Standby in software terms. Same commands are sent.

**dingofarmer** · 12-01-2004, 09:37 PM

Originally Posted by rgardjr

Gave up on using my Sonica because it wouldn't come out of hibernation. Are you using hibernation with yours?

You know, now that you mention it I am, I usually just shutdown, but on my new laptop, hibernation is a no go, on my old toshiba setup, hibernation would fail about 30% of the time.

I'm using digital right now and don't like the fact that I cannot change volume on the display, I guess I could go analog. The sound is so nice though.

**dingofarmer** · 12-01-2004, 09:39 PM

Originally Posted by lopan

Word of caution with M-audio, they sound great, but the input is a resource hog... what should be a line in is actually some kind of monitored port, so if you have an external device you want to listen to (xm radio) it'll actively monitor the port bringing your machine down to a crawl... A real shame to, I paid a lot of money for mine and now it just lays in a drawer...

Yeah had some issues when I had my PII366, Running a 2Ghz Laptop and no issues, now the external USB card, like mine does not offer an input at all, Are talking about an internal or one of there Larger units?

**TruckinMP3** · 12-01-2004, 09:55 PM

Originally Posted by Pudge

Ya and onboard video looks the same as a Radeon 9800

For a 2d display and any given front end used to play music... Ya it is the same, In fact it uses more power, costs more and generates more heat. In my book, High end video solutions are not good for a car install playing music.

I have used two MBs one has onboard sound the other needed a card. I tried an old ISA soundblaster and a Diamond Monster PCI card.... all 3 sounded the same to me.

**Nick1_S** · 12-05-2004, 05:15 PM

Has anybody any idea about how much noise is generated inside an automotive envirmonment and/or a pc?

Car: Alternator, ignition, etc
PC: anything from DC up to a few Ghz these days are flying around. Thats not to mention any harmonics.

In conclusion, looking from an electrical point of view, a sound card in a pc inside a car, is a nightmare for any engineer looking to reduce noise. And shielding cannot cure it, any signal line in our out of a shielded box will be prone to noise pickup. Shielded cables can help, but is your pc in a farraday cage? If you were to place a spectrum analyser hooked up to antenna inside a car, and wave it around up in the engine bay and then at the pc, I am sure most audio enthusiasts would have a heart attack.

It is fairly unlikely there will be much difference in an internal or extrernal card. The quality of the DAC's plays its part and thats about it in a carpc environment.

Audio testing is subjective for those of us without audio analysers. People can often hear what they want to hear, especially after a small investment.....

**Nic** · 12-05-2004, 07:49 PM

Originally Posted by Nick1_S

It is fairly unlikely there will be much difference in an internal or extrernal card. The quality of the DAC's plays its part and thats about it in a carpc environment.

Audio testing is subjective for those of us without audio analysers. People can often hear what they want to hear, especially after a small investment.....

My external sound card was free

people also tell me that i'm stupid if i think i can hear the differance between 128 and 192kbps mp3s

come over and i'll prove both