New Skylake/170-series on board audio.

J

jamesgalb

Gawd
Joined
Feb 11, 2015
Messages
565
New 170 series motherboard have been released, and it looks like the major players are throwing a little bit of focus on onboard audio, as it is one of the few features/functions that can vary in quality between manufactures.

The main onboard audio efforts have come from Gigabyte, MSI, ASUS and ASRock. Until reviews on audio begin to come in, I will just list these 4 manufactures and what they claim their best sound-solution is.

Gigabyte - Z170X Gaming G1
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=5478#ov
Sound Blaster ZxRi - Amp-Up Audio
Big Features:
-Creative SoundCore3D ZxRi 120dB+ Audio Processor
-TI Burr Brown PCM1794 127dB DAC
-3 Upgradable 600Ω OP-AMPs (2 JRC NJM2114 and 1 TI Burr Brown OPA2134)
-Nichicon Fine Gold & WIMA FKP2 capacitors
-Shielded Audio Processor, Audio Components(?) and I/O Shield(?)
-Isolated Audio PCB
-Gold plated audio jacks
-USB Power isolation for external DAC
-Creative SBX Pro Studio Audio Suite

MSI - Z170A GAMING M9 ACK
http://gaming.msi.com/products/motherboard/z170a-gaming-series
Xtreme Audio DAC
Big Features:
-C-Media 6632A 384kHz/32-bit/122dB Audio Processor
-ESS Sabre 9006AS DAC
-Dual TI OP1652 600Ω headphone amplifiers
-Chemi-Con Audio Capacitors
-Shielded Audio Processor(?), Audio Components and I/O Shield
-Isolated Audio PCB
-Gold plated audio jacks
-Nahimic Sound Technology

ASUS - Maximus VIII Hero
http://www.asus.com/us/site/motherboards/z170/
SupremeFX
Big Features:
-ESS ES9023P Sabre DAC
-TI RC4580 2Vrms Driver
-Sonic Sense amplifier
-Nichicon capacitors
-Shielded Audio Processor, Audio Components and I/O Shield
-Isolated Audio PCB
-Gold plated audio jacks
-NEC de-pop relay
-Dedicated clock
-ASUS Sonic Studio II

ASRock - Z170 Extreme 7+
http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z170 Extreme7+/
Purity Sound 3
Big Features:
-Realtek ALC1150 Audio Codec
-115dB SNR DAC with Differential Amplifier
-TI NE5532 600Ω headphone amplifier
-Nichicon Fine Gold Series capacitors
-Shielded Audio Processor, Audio Components and I/O Shield
-Isolated Audio PCB
-Pure Power-In
-"Excellent Audio.RightMark score"

While waiting for reviews, let me know if there are any features/specs that were missed...
 
Last edited:
I looked up reviews on Gigabytes Z97 and X99 "Gaming G1" motherboard. This was also a Creative SoundCore3D solutions with swappable OP Amps, etc... Reviews were consistent with strong audio satisfaction.

In contrast, Gigabyte also released a Z97 Sniper (before Gaming G1) board with the SoundCore3D and swappable OP Amps, and the reviews were consistent with dis-satisfaction, as Gigabyte failed with this board (too few capacitors?)... This shows me that people buying these board for its audio components will give accurate reviews on the delivery.

Gigabytes improvement with its most recent implementations of their set-up have me pretty confident that they have learned how to set things up right with the components they have chosen (which are very good).... With the Z170 adding some things like more shielding, Burr Brown DAC, more capacitors, 2 more OP-Amps, and I'm sure more... Seems like a SOLID sound board.

The MSI offering looks solid too, and their last-generation reviews were pretty satisfactory across the board with them marketing to audiophiles as well.
 
TroyX said:
That Gigabyte with Burr Brown DAC takes the cake.
Click to expand...

I wouldnt be so sure, Sabre DACs are very good.
I have 2 Sabre32 DACs and they are something else.
It will be interesting to read reviews from audio fans.
 
I don't know about you but on choosing mobos based on their onboard audio is a fool's bargain when there a wide range of USB DACs out there.
 
I have the Z97 gaming and it has pretty much the same audio setup as the board mentioned on top. Although a gimmick, the audio section is even physically separated from the rest of the motherboard by a led lit barrier.

The built in audio is workable but not optimal for games of course as it doesn't enable audio offloading.
 
B00nie said:
I have the Z97 gaming and it has pretty much the same audio setup as the board mentioned on top. Although a gimmick, the audio section is even physically separated from the rest of the motherboard by a led lit barrier.

The built in audio is workable but not optimal for games of course as it doesn't enable audio offloading.
Click to expand...

The Gigabyte or MSI "z97 gaming"?

Why wouldn't it allow for audio offloading? Are you using Windows 7?
 
jamesgalb said:
The Gigabyte or MSI "z97 gaming"?

Why wouldn't it allow for audio offloading? Are you using Windows 7?
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure that no sound chip since the X-Fi has supported hardware offloading.
 
Quix said:
I'm pretty sure that no sound chip since the X-Fi has supported hardware offloading.
Click to expand...

Gigabyte/Creative are advertising the SoundCore3d to to exactly that...

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=5481#ov

Creative® Sound Core3D™ Quad-Core Audio Processor
Combining world's first Quad-Core Creative Sound Core3D Audio Processor Plus Advanced Creative SBX PROSTUDIO Audio Suite.
+ Harnessing the power of a Dedicated Audio Processor to offload workload from CPU
Click to expand...
 
My Gigabyte board is supposed to have good audio (and it might) however I'm not ready to ditch my Xonar yet because I haven't seen enough measurements and I believe most boards don't have ASIO support (which I need - and ASIO4ALL isn't suitable for my needs, no). Still it would be interesting to free up a PCI slot.
 
jamesgalb said:
Gigabyte/Creative are advertising the SoundCore3d to to exactly that...

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=5481#ov
Click to expand...

SoundCore3d is just the new name for the X-Fi chip more or less. Bit different in terms of packaging and features, but the same DSP that was at the heart of the X-Fi.

Sadly, there's next to nothing that uses hardware accelerated audio these days. At some point I'm going to rework my audio setup and my X-Fi will go away, since there is just no need for audio acceleration.
 
By the time all my jacked up wiring is installed, you can't see the board anyway :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top