Terratec or On-board sound?

[talsilo]

I have been using this excellent audio card Terratec EWX 2496 for the last 4 years or so. It feeds into Marantz PM7200 amp which drives Monitor Audio S6 speakers. But currently, it is giving me some problems. It stops/BSODs, etc.



Technology has changed a lot in the last few years. Want to know how good is the current on-board sound-cards compared to this terratec. Currently my onboard is Realtek HD that comes on G31 Asus m/b.



I tried doing an A/B comparison, but wasn't sure which was better. In the long run, I hope to get a USB DAC like Benchmark or a Lavry Da11 DAC.



Can anybody help?

[NinByChoice]

I tried doing an A/B comparison, but wasn't sure which was better. In the long run, I hope to get a USB DAC like Benchmark or a Lavry Da11 DAC.

If you cant tell the difference then stick with onboard.



General opinion is that onboard is still crappy compared to any decent sound card.

[TechHead]

I have been using this excellent audio card Terratec EWX 2496 for the last 4 years or so. It feeds into Marantz PM7200 amp which drives Monitor Audio S6 speakers. But currently, it is giving me some problems. It stops/BSODs, etc.



Technology has changed a lot in the last few years. Want to know how good is the current on-board sound-cards compared to this terratec. Currently my onboard is Realtek HD that comes on G31 Asus m/b.



I tried doing an A/B comparison, but wasn't sure which was better. In the long run, I hope to get a USB DAC like Benchmark or a Lavry Da11 DAC.



Can anybody help?

ANalogue outs - big difference.

Optical out - not that big a difference.