Do I really need a sound card?
 

I'm using some crappy SoundMax integrated sound that comes off my mobo, and it sounds alright. Before that, I had another motherboard (before it blew up) that had some RealTeak or something 97 sound, that seems pretty common nowadays. Anyway, I was just wondering, do I really need a sound card? I saw one at Wal-Mart the other day for $20, so it won't really break the bank, but all I do is listen to music, play video games, and talk on Ventrilo. Everyone sounds perfectly find to me. Do I really need to waste money on a sound card?

What speakers do you have? If you don't have good speakers, you might not be able to tell the difference. If you're satisfied with what you've got now, there probably isn't reason to buy a soundcard, even though it will allow for better sound if you've got good enough speakers.

I've got these, from several years past, hell, maybe even in like 1999:

http://www.yamahamultimedia.com/yec/...rs/ystms50.asp

Exactly, sound cards are almost always built-in and provide good enough quality to get good use out of $50 or less speakers. Only go higher if you need more features, better sound quality.

I'm not sure what to tell you since I don't know anything about those speakers. If you think they would benefit from a better soundcard, then get a soundcard. What is the name of the card at Wal Mart?

I've been wondering about this as well. Now that I have my ultimate ears IEMs, the noise from my crappy onboard sound chip is nearly unbearable. It also makes it a pain to edit the sermons from church.

Would a normal PCI soundcard have less noise? I assume it would, because all of the parts are away from the motherboard.

If it sounds fine to you, then you don't need one.

PiccoloNamek, if you get a newer PCI card, it will sound better than the onboard. I'd suggest something with an Envy24 chip, or a cheap X-fi.

You take your chances with a really cheap or older part, as sometimes they sound *worse* than (decent, new) onboard solutions.

There, you just answered that for yourself! If you don't mind the few wasted frames per sec that you could get with a dedicated gaming card like the Audigy2 or higher, or cannot hear any difference between onboard and true high fidelty audio that Envy24 chip based cards provide, then you don't need to buy a new soundcard.

For 6-channel sound with a nice 5-piece +sub speaker set up, a $20 card is all you'll need.

No, you really don't need it, but for the cost of it, you might as well go for it.

It probably would have less noise, and that noise might be caused by the sound processor on your motherboard overheating. A good sound card is the Chaintech AV-710.

Here's another question: Just the other day I dropped the subwoofer onto the ground, not too fall, I was trying to squeeze it into this small space and one of the wires was stuck underneath it, so I tried lifting the sub a little to pull the wire out from underneath it. Anyway, it fell like maybe a foot to the ground and there's a big dent on top of it. Anyway, now I'm starting to hear sometimes clicks and like a static crackle from time to time coming out of the satellite speakers. Would that have to do with the sub being dropped and damaged internally?

It could have something to do with that, or one or more of the wires could have been damaged when it fell.

It could also be your sub just can't handle strong bass. It's also caused by a bad connection between sound card and speakers. The most common thing I see with crappy speakers is the inability to get very loud without crackling like crazy.