Creative SB Audigy 2 vs Realtek ALC889 (Onboard) Options

[fake1337]

Hello.

So I have an old Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 laying around and I'm currently using my onboard Realtek ALC889. Now people in general seem to think that a dedicated sound card is always better than onboard sound, but the Audigy 2 is much older than the onboard sound. Which one of these would give the best sound?

My speakers are the Corsair SP2500, in other words rather decent (I guess?).

[punkrockdude]

First of all, using these built-in converters I always oversample in Windows and Linux. In Windows I set audio sample rate in playback settings to 96kHz or 192kHz. I do the same in Linux using Pulseaudio in the file /etc/pulse/daemon.conf. Try this and report back what you think. Consider the hard rules in TOS #8 which is often mentioned when describing what you hear.

[Arnold B. Kruege...]

First of all, using these built-in converters I always oversample in Windows and Linux. In Windows I set audio sample rate in playback settings to 96kHz or 192kHz. I do the same in Linux using Pulseaudio in the file /etc/pulse/daemon.conf. Try this and report back what you think. Consider the hard rules in TOS #8 which is often mentioned when describing what you hear.

Physician, cure thyself! All that high-sample rate processing likely has no audible consequences.