PC audio card + powered monitors question

So I just bought some M-Audio AV40 monitor speakers for my computer. I was wondering if I should bother plugging in my X Fi sound card. I took it out because I didn't really hear any difference and the speakers I'm using now are usb powered ones that came free with the computer. Didn't Microsoft get rid of hardware acceleration audio in W7? So would there really be any difference between the on board audio and the sound card?

Thanks.

I dont really see a reason to not use the sound card if you have it but there's also no reason to have a sound card these days unless you're doing major audio work or have amazing top of the line speakers.

The sound card will only provide very minor improvements. It also depends on what you are using the speakers for.

minor improvements with the sound card. mine broke so i had too buy a new one.

yes use your x-fi (or get a better soundcard , m-audio are ok , asus xonar is apparently ok too ... do i have to even explain audio quality , digital to analog conversion , the difference between amplified PRE and POST output ? , the difference between usb audio and regular analog outputs , WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU BUY THE MONITORS FOR .... ????????

also .. when you say .. you hear no difference .. are you perhaps listening to mp3s ?

@Jams said:

So I just bought some M-Audio AV40 monitor speakers for my computer. I was wondering if I should bother plugging in my X Fi sound card. I took it out because I didn't really hear any difference and the speakers I'm using now are usb powered ones that came free with the computer. Didn't Microsoft get rid of hardware acceleration audio in W7? So would there really be any difference between the on board audio and the sound card?

Thanks.

No don't bother. For listening to mp3's and such or playing games I seriously doubt you will hear any difference. If you do it will be excessively minor. You only really "need" a sound card for things like audio capture and editing. If you really care about your computers audio you need to go out and buy a good sound card. X Fi is not that hot a product to be honest. The thing is to buy a truly "good" sound card you are probably going to spend more than you think it is worth.

he just got some "decent" speakers .. designed for audio creation / editing .... so I would assume he wants to get the benefit that they provide say over his usb speakers .. othwerwise he just threw the $$ down the drain for the monitors...

as an audiophile i just cant comprehend this shit ..any small improvement is worth it , especially if you already have the card and dont have to spend any extra .. why not ? sure it might only be marginally better if at all , but it shouldnt be worse ..

its a no brainer really .. would have stood to save more money if you asked about the monitors before buying them ( woulda reccomended a corsair 2.1 system for gaming/mp3s etc)

Are you doing audio production? Realistically, unless you're dealing with a pre-mastered signal, everything you put through those speakers will be crunched and eq'd so much that they won' t really be monitors - just regular speakers. Otherwise, use a soundcard. I use Alesis MKii's through an Maudio 1010 Delta LT, and couldn't be happier.

Return the monitors and get some regular computer speakers.

@Hamst3r said:

Return the monitors and get some regular computer speakers.

yeah more direct and to the point that i could have put it with all my audionerd rage

@envane said:

@Hamst3r said:

Return the monitors and get some regular computer speakers.

yeah more direct and to the point that i could have put it with all my audionerd rage

Those AV40's seemed like a pretty good deal. They are supposed to really be a mix between monitors and computer speakers with a more flat frequency response. Since I'm not really interested in a subwoofer, I figured they'd be the best bang for buck. I was also looking at these Corsair SP2500 but they're a little over what I want to spend.

Alright, I've put in a request to cancel them on Amazon. It's early enough so it should go through. So what should I get instead? Those AV40's were $120 and I'm only looking to spend about that or under if I can help it.

EDIT: Looks like I couldn't cancel them. I think I'll just try them out anyways then return'em if they aren't up to my amazingly low standards.

@Jams: bumemr about the cancel , but they will be decent i guess , those corsair speakers are what i meant and they seem to be the shit for basicly everything youd need , and a bit more ..you have purchased some decent speakers but they are mainly for audio creation/video editing in a small studio setup , theyre not crap and you wont really notice the difference as you said you have low standards , thats cool etc .. but you can also probably easily justify returning them as they wont be as bass boosty or room filly as regular pc speakers etc , logitech used to be good but lately they have been getting a bit expensive for all that they are.