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Sound Card Pick

martine-dee
Level 12
Hi,

I am on the lookout to get a sound card. So far I have been using the MOBO (ASUS ROG Strix X299-E Gaming) and the Graphics Card (ASUS GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Strix Gaming, 11 GB VRAM) built-in ones. Full config is in the profile. And here is my situation:

It is very comfortable for me to plug my DT 770 Pro headphones into a VG248qe that receives sound via DisplayPort, which is why I use Graphics Card's sound.

Now, as I see consideration points, they would be:

- Is it possible to reroute the sound card's output via the graphics card into the DP? If not, I prefer to get sound through a 2 m extension wire (analog, 3.5 mm). Anything I should be aware of in that latter option? Any recommendations?
- Is there a sound card that works well both under Windows 10 1903 and Ubuntu 16.04? If not, let's focus on Windows and gaming.
- Let's focus on what integrates best with the MOBO and has great driver support.

Let the race begin. 🙂 Thanks!
Keep exploring, keep innovating, keep creating
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16 REPLIES 16

martine-dee
Level 12
Oh, P.S. There is some screeching in the sound from the MOBO sound card when playing. It seems to have the frequency of fps generation. That is another reason I don't use the MOBO sound card for gaming.
Keep exploring, keep innovating, keep creating

martine-dee
Level 12
Okay, are there particular brands that I can focus on? Back in the late 1990s I was sticking to Creative, but I've heard quite a few people unhappy with them from vague reasons. I'm open to consider new brands.
Keep exploring, keep innovating, keep creating

toronto699
Level 13
Creative Is Way To Go, Sound Blaster Is Way To Go , I Have 5.1 and 7.1 Audio Systems , No Issues , Sound Blaster Audigy Rx and Sound Blaster Audigy FX Or External Sound Card if You Like , Do You Use Headphones Or Speakers ? Games , Music , Movies? How Much You Want to Spend ?
The Drivers Are Basically The Same For Every Sound Blaster Sound Card , Just Different Hardware Features , Why Audio Is All Messed Is A W 10 Issue In Most Cases , Dedicated Audio Drivers Fixes That Issue When New Drivers Are Released For Sound Card Makers , Sound Blaster Is Good At Fixing W10 Issue And Driver Issues , I Had 2 Asus Sound Cards , Returned Them , Issues Driver Issues , Over Year For FIX By ASUS
I HAVE MESSAGE FOR ASUS < YOU WANT TO SELL ME SOMETHING < THEN SUPPORT IT OR GET OUT OF PC BUSINESS GAMING BUSINESS

https://www.soundblaster.com/
https://www.soundblaster.com/products/soundcards

https://forums.guru3d.com/forums/soundcards-speakers-hifi-file-formats.23/

Homewrecker
Level 9
EVGA has recently released a soundcard as well. Seems to have good reviews. I've been using Soundblasters since '95. They aren't that great with driver updates though. For example, they're still actively selling the ZX series but the drivers were updated last in 2017 and don't play well with the latest 1903 Win 10 update. Their newest models are the AE-9 & AE-7. I still like my ZX-R though. Now that they've identified the cause of the DTS / Dolby Digital Encoding issues with Win 1903 I have no reason to upgrade to anything else. I'M also not a fan of all of this RGB nonsense on the newer cards either.

EaglePC
Level 10
ASUS Essence STX II dominates them all especially when you have that motherboard ,running same board with it and just plain good ole ASUS drivers from there website.
Asus Rampage VI Extreme / Intel I9-7940X / Corsair H115i Pro / CORSAIR Vengeance RGB Pro 32GB (4 x 8GB) 3000MHz / EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti FTW3 ELITE GAMING BLACK Edition / 2x Samsung 970 Pro NMVe 1GB / 4x Samsung 850 PRO - 2TB / Asus ROG Swift PG348Q / Corsair AX 1500i / Thermaltake View 71 RGB PC Case /Win 10 PRO x64

Yes, Windows 10, 1903 user here. It seems like I am up for a hard time. Let's say I get a Sound Blaster AE-9. Still, conversations on waiting for new drivers seem to be going on for years. The drivers are still 1-2 years younger than the STX II drivers tho.

EaglePC wrote:
ASUS Essence STX II

Thanks for the new angle. I've read a few articles about it, it sounds like a great card when it comes to quality, though it may not be the right pick for me.

It is quality sound all right. Here I see that the card is big on keeping down the noise and distortions. It may seem an overdo for just plugging 3.5 mm headphones in, so that's the question of return for the value invested.

Molex may be a bit upsetting, non-trivial setup as well but let's keep those in a corner.

What about EMI shielding? With my Realtek HD Audio, I'm getting screeching at the ~frequency of frame rendering. It is so strong coming from the other monitor that I can hear it through headphones in NVIDIA HD Audio. Particularly while STX II seems to have some of its body covered, the SBZ has most of itself shielded. Is that the same quality/type of shielding? I would place high value on it.
Keep exploring, keep innovating, keep creating

martine-dee
Level 12
In fact, now that I dug it up, I am considering AE-9. :confused:
It should become available soon.
Keep exploring, keep innovating, keep creating

martine-dee
Level 12
Here, reveal of the AE-9.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ixWEb93aeI&t=52m42s

I want it.
Keep exploring, keep innovating, keep creating

toronto699
Level 13
AE-9 Nice Card ,