Soundcard recommendations needed

ohbilly

Hi all,

I have recently purchased a Dell Inspiron 660mt i5 and I am really not happy with the sound quality of it and I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions of a good budget soundcard please?

It's just for listening to music and not for gaming/videos etc.

Thanks

-TangleFoot-

Does this help?

ohbilly

-TangleFoot- wrote: »

Does this help?

Yeah actually, thanks

I was looking at http://www.amazon.co.uk/ASUS-Xonar-PCI-Audio-Card/dp/B003ZXDOL6/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1358700752&sr=1-1-fkmr0 but I have no idea if this would fit my motherboard

My motherboard is the same as this one I found on google http://i49.tinypic.com/fuao49.jpg

Really have no idea about upgrading my pc

-TangleFoot-

The one in the picture has three PCIe x1 slots below a single PCIe x16 slot and the case appears to be standard µATX. Plenty of room, in other words.

But that PCI card won't fit.

ohbilly

Hmm that's disappointing but it saves me buying something that wont work and thanks for explaining the ports to me.

This should fit/work then http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-Express-Normalizer-Virtual-Speaker/dp/B007RMMYFI/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1358703580&sr=1-1 ?

-TangleFoot-

ohbilly wrote: »

This should fit/work then?

Yup. Is this where you found that picture?

Willing2Learn

@ OP,
Read the reviews and user feedback on your potential choice(s). Cards are designed and marketed toward different markets. So, a card targeted for gamers, whilst having great 3D capaibilities will fall short on music reproduction. Then there are also cards that target film buffs to make best use of things like THX so that the user gets the full cinematic 'movie-house experience'. You obviously want a card that will give the best audio reproduction for music. So make sure you do the research before making a purchase to ensure you get both the best value and derive the greatest pleasure from your new kit.

Lifeforms

Agreed with the type of sound card. As a test to rule out a suspected broken sound card we've just thrown in an ebay gained cheapy model, however it's designed for gaming, and we're using it with music (notation, as well as ready cooked music) and whilst it's good, it's not the best I've heard. However now that we know the sound card was the problem, we'll replace it most likely with a decent music orientated card.

In addition you should look at your speakers too. If they're cheapy rubbish ones, you could have a fabulous sound set up, but terrible results from them. A good 5.1 set up (proper, not virtual) is something we invested in for the sound results, and weren't sorry.

closed

Doubt it's anything to do with your soundcard.

more likely to be speakers or media player settings.

What exactly is the problem

esuhl

It probably won't make any difference, but just in case... have you checked you have the latest audio drivers installed?

I think these are the ones for your PC: http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/uk/en/ukdhs1/Product/inspiron-660

ohbilly

I am currently using FLAC/WAV files via foobar and I am outputting to my Audioengine 5+ which sounded amazing on my previous pc when playing music and the difference is noticeable on my new pc.

Looks like I will have to look into the type of card. Thanks for the advice everyone

-TangleFoot- wrote: »

Yup. Is this where you found that picture?

Yeah I found that through google search and saved me taking a pic.