An audiophile or a music enthusiast can easily tell the difference between the quality of a dedicated sound card and an integrated sound solution.

A good dedicated sound card is still way ahead of the onboard sound, no matter how better onboard audio has become in recent times. However, if you are an audiophile, music enthusiast, enthusiast gamer or a professional whose job involves music or sound recording, testing or playback then you do need a good dedicated sound card. The most common integrated sound chip or chipset used in almost all the motherboards is Realtek and it provides up to High Definition (HD) audio and 7.1 channel sound setup in most of the motherboards. Most of the computer users don’t buy sound these days because of this tremendous improvement in the quality of onboard audio chips. An integrated audio solution is also good enough for listening to music, watching movies and even for an average HTPC setup. Thank you for supporting the work I put into this site!)ĭo you really need a sound card for gaming? Probably not for most of the gamers because onboard audio on motherboards has become so much better these days that you can have an enjoyable gaming experience on it. (*This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission if you choose to purchase through the links I provide (at no extra cost to you).

Best external sound card 2016