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?).

[zima]

Almost a decade ago I did have a setup where hearing the difference between on-board (probably worse back then, on average, than now) and dedicated (not even a very remarkable one - just an Aureal Vortex SQ2500) was fairly straightforward - and that on some inexpensive Creative 2.1 speakers, or cheap all-in-one Sony system.

Curious effect, generally - not really about all-around sound quality: it's just that, with dedicated, ~bass was clearly more tolerable up to a much higher loudness levels. With on-board, the speakers were just starting to... vibrate in a bad way & "crackle" (as in - also/particularly their cases) much sooner. Which was rather easy to hear
(what would be the technical description of what was likely happening? Some weird distortions with on-board? Or maybe the other way around, the dedicated sound card distorted the sound but in a way which was easier on the speakers - say, a sort of filter "smoothing" the signal a bit?)

This post has been edited by zima: Sep 14 2012, 12:37