Onboard audio - VIA VT1708S vs. Realtek ALC892

[crucibelle]

Didn't know if I should place this in the motherboard forum, or here, but I decided to place it here. I've been trying to narrow down some AM3 motherboard choices & I have a question about onboard audio. I'm just wondering if there is a noticeable difference between VIA VT1708S and Realtek ALC892. Is one better than the other? I'll be using headphones & listening to music (no gaming) if that makes any difference. I would appreciate any info. Thanks!

ps - the headphones I'll be using are the recommended "budget" headphones (I found from reading various audio forums). So nothing really fancy/expensive here. The headphones are Sennheiser HD 202.

[OFaceSIG]

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.

[maxpain12]

Most onboard solutions from either Realtek or VIA don't advertise signal to noise ratios simply because most of these products don't do too well in this regard. This is because they share the same space on the motherboard PCB and as a result are subject to noise from the other components that are located around them. But they are good enough for a casual listening experience. More than the chip other factors count towards good sound like the DAC's and other output stage components that support the audio chip. Onboard solutions usually have cheaper components coupled either with the VIA or Realtek chip to keep costs down. For the average listener its good enough but if you have got an ear for music then the short comings of the onboard solution will start to become prominent. But most people that I know are happy with their onboard solution and don't really want a sound card even after trying a high end audio card. So it boils down to personal preference in the end. If you do consider a sound card I can recommend the Asus Xonar range. They start from about US$35 and go all the way to $200+. Even the low end Xonar should be an improvement over onboard. Stay away from Creative Labs; the drivers are no good.

[brothergc]

If you game *AT ALL* I would go X-Fi.

XFI ! You gotta be kidding
All the issues with their software , overpriced garbage that cracks and pop on start up of your pc, all the bloatware of software it takes to run one of these cards ! oh and most newer games do not even support EAX 5.0 , that assuming that one of these dont die on you in a year . Are you kidding !
Not me dude , I would not give you a plugged nickel for a truck load of Creatives" sound blubber products .
And lets not forget thst creative disabled features in driver releases of their audigy series so they could sell more newer cards . Daniel Had to mod their drivers to make it better. yea great company with great support
If you want a good card go for a HT Omega otherwise might as well use onboard.

[notdrugged]

Sound quality on a PC is hit or miss because all systems have different firmware and software interactions. It's sort of like the power state problems PC sometimes have. It either works properly or it doesn't. I always prefer VIA sound. That's not to say onboard sound will definitely be good though.