Soundblaster Live 24bit or Realtek ALC889

[Digital Punk]

Hi. I'm doing a new build for a relative that will be running Windows 7.

Their old XP PC has a Soundblaster Live 24bit card installed and I'm wondering if it'll still be better to use that in the new build rather than use the onboard Realtek HD ALC889.
I believe there is no longer hardware support for the Soundblaster in Windows 7, but will it still be better audio solution than the onboard sound?

It's only going to be hooked up to a pair of stereo speakers so no worries about 7.1 etc.

I'm thinking the Soundblaster may still be the better choice coupled with Daniel-K drivers. Any thoughts appreciated.

 

[kedge]

I believe there is no longer hardware support for the Soundblaster in Windows 7, but will it still be better audio solution than the onboard sound?.

I have used two soundblaster x-fi cards in win 7 x64 with no major issues with day to day usage and listening to music. Check creative's europe suppot site for driver updates, you might be able to get a soundcard driver update through windows update. In most cases and through user experience dedicated soundcard is prefered over onboard motherboard sound solutions but you can only jude for yourself by testing yourself which you prefer.

There is hardware support in win 7 but no EAX support other than creative alchemy which apparentley helps with legacy games/software. EAX is not often if ever supported by game developers today. EAX is history but the older soundcards are ok.

 

[VonScar]

In this case, I would stick with onboard. That sound card pre-dates X-fi...Onboard sound has improved a lot over the last 7 or so years that card has been around.

I am also not sure that card has Windows 7 support, but you will have to check Creative support or simply plug it in...

I would suggest the following, plug it in the PCI slot on your new PC and see if Windows 7 will find relevant drivers for it and then simply give it a listen.

I would then compare it to the codek (probably realtek HD) from your onboard sound. I do not know which motherboard you will be using, but unless it is a really really cheap mobo, or over 5 years old, you will find onboard quite pleasant these days.

Of course if you really want to improve the sound in the new build PC, you could get an Asus Xonar DG for 20.99, like everyone else on here and let your releatives enjoy real bang for buck high quality sound.

Cheers

Von