![]() Using a NUC or some other ultra-small system? Forget about expansion cards altogether. Building a Mini-ITX gaming rig? Your only expansion slot will probably be taken up by a graphics card. Sound cards don’t fit in every kind of PC, though. We’ve confirmed this in blind listening tests time and time again. That means even entry-level sound cards can sound noticeably better than onboard audio, provided you’re listening through a pair of decent analog headphones or speakers. They typically aren’t subject to electrical interference from the rest of the motherboard, either. ![]() Most good sound cards have high-quality DACs (digital-to-analog converters) with superior analog output. All kinds of subtleties will be blurred over in music and movies. The analog output may sound decent enough for cheap headphones and $50 computer speakers, but plug in anything nicer than that, and you’ll notice flat highs, muddy mids, and boomy bass. Our point is this: on most motherboards, the onboard audio just doesn’t do digital-to-analog conversion all that well. If you’ve ever read our System Guides, you know we like to harp on about sound cards.
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