HTPC Sound Card

July 16, 2008 · Filed Under Suggested Hardware

Most motherboards these days come with excellent onboard sound. The audio is High Definition Audio, and has DTS and Dolby Digital, with multiple channels (usually 7.1 channels). Most of these come with RCA and SPDIF outputs, so can easily be connected to you audio receiver.

The disadvantage to these is that they can use up more CPU power then dedicated sound cards, depending on the motherboards implementation. They can still be lower quality then a dedicated sound solution, so if you are an audio enthusiast, then you would probably appreciate a dedicated sound card. If you are not an audio enthusiast, you probably won’t be able to tell the difference.

If you are just looking for a cheap and decent sound card because your motherboard does not have satisfactory onboard sound, the Creative Audigy is the best value for money card out at the moment, which makes decent sound (slightly better than onboard sound from new motherboards).

If you are an audiophile, the best option is probably a M-Audio Revolution 5.1, which is known to have the best audio quality. If you are a gamer and want EAX in games, then the creative X-Fi series, such as the X-Fi XtremeGamer cards are the best gaming cards at the moment.

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