I want everyone's opinion on the sound cards in mid to high quality motherboards vs external sound cards. Any factor you can think of for it being better like cost, quality, etc. I just want to hear what people think about the two. Also if one is better for gaming and why or for recording sound using a microphone.
External soundcards are always better at least when it comes to noise.
are we talking about external USB or do you mean PCI?
usb headsets have pretty good quality, i've heard, and they don't use your sound card at all
USB headsets are really poor if you compare to real *good* headphones. If someone actually made a sonically *good* USB headphone it'd cost far over 500 dollars (~150 dollars for a descent DAC & amplifier circuit and at least 200 dollars worth of drivers, and then a massive premium of several hundreds because it's all in the same package.) Now I know standards vary alot and the average gamer has usually pretty low standards for sound - but I think if everyone was given the opportunity to listen a truly nice setup like the Hifiman HE-400 or Sennheiser HD650 headphones powered by an external DAC & amp, many would put some more thought into their next sound purchase and perhaps actually get nice stuff. Nice audio doesn't have to be super expensive, and by the way - Beats isn't nice audio. It's a step in the right direction from poor gaming headsets, but if you want Beats sound you can get it for like 1/3 of the price. Also the surround sound hysteria is ridiculous that resonates around many gaming products. Want nice positional sound with great audio quality? Get an open headphone with a wide soundstage.
To comment further on the noise thing - USB / Firewire interfaces are the safest choice regarding that. PCI cards are still in your computer and are able to pick up interference.
Goddamnit you're awesome, this summarizes exactly what i had in mind when i saw the thread title.
They all use the same chips so technicaly there is very little diffrence between onboard and low end (<$50) discreet sound cards. The discreet cards have more capacitors so they have better dynamics between quite and loud sounds but other than that there is really no technical diffrence between them and this diffrence is just to small to be really noticable or worth the money. Audiophiles will argue they can hear the diffrence but then again humans are practicly deaf and audiophiles will argue that they can hear a pin drop 5 miles away in a tornado if only they have the right $5000 equipment.
There are however noticeable diffrences in the software part of the sound card but its really subjective and personal preference as to what is "better".
If you are planning a home studio then you wouldent even consider onboard audio.
the difference of quality is hz to khz frequency range, signal to noise ratio and how the sound card is being pushed. you can get a 16 cycle style humm, artifacts or undesired noise in any setup be it internal or external. i will always go for the sennheiser headphone setup over some usb driven headphones any day and usually with a quality internal 24bit 192khz sound card. the price you pay for a good sound card and good headphones will always outperform some expensive usb driven headphone setup and still be cheaper. this isn't even covering latency or internal hardware buffers.