If computer games can be said to have come of age in any particular time period, it must be the late 1980s and early 1990s. Hardware had advanced to a point where artists' visions could be more realistically rendered onscreen, and the proliferation of first 3.5-inch floppies and soon after CDs would give programmers more space than they ever dreamed of to make their ideas a reality. But if one year could be said to be the most transformative, the most magical, it would have to be 1988.
That was the year when, with Sierra On-Line's release of King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella, PC games finally became able to treat your ears like important parts of the body.
well personally i dont see a need for a sound card atm. I got crappy computer speakers 2 subs and 1 amp with 4 speakers hooked up to it. My on board sound card is pretty decent. Not that i know anything about sound but it has 6 jacks on the back and all these features i don't even use. as long as it powers my items i am happy because they sound better than my friends high end stuff.
The audiophile nerds can say what they want to say. Line level, SNR, blah blah blah.
The fact of the matter is that I have exceptional hearing (it's been tested!), and my $300 Sennheisers sound fantastic when connected directly to the Realtek HDA's audio jacks, without a pre-amp.
Go ahead, nerds. Cringe.
There is no line noise/crackling/interference, and the audio sounds spectacular. Could it be better with a dedicated card, like an Auzentech? Suuuure. Do I care? No. "Close enough" > $200 for a sound card.