Re: Onboard audio - VIA VT1708S vs. Realtek ALC892
They are both onboard solutions. They are going to be constricted by cost/tdp/board space all those things. They aren't going to be geared for a "great" end user experience. They are more there as a "check box" feature so the motherboard manufacturers can say they have onboard audio. One can easily say however that Realtek has been doing onboard audio for a LONG time so they have experience on their side.
On the other end VIA is a company I truly believe strives for excellence in their products so I doubt their chip is "bad".
Now I would recommend that if you are a "casual" music listener and have average headphones you may be just fine with onboard. However if you feel that you really listen for all the little details in music you may end up be better off buying one of the lower end Asus Xonar cards.
If you game *AT ALL* I would go X-Fi.
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