I have Audigy 2 ZS on my 2004 desktop (Pentium 4 HT). I got it because the onboard audio was noisy, and I like it.
On my 2008 desktop (Core 2 Extreme) I got an X-Fi XtremeGamer (the only X-Fi with a proper front panel audio header), but it didn't sound better than the onboard audio, the drivers were somehow less capable, and eventually the card (or the PCI slot) started glitching so I returned to the onboard.
On my 2018 desktop (Core i7 8th gen) I didn't even bother trying external audio cards.

yawetaG wrote on 2020-04-17, 06:26:

Except for a few very high end sound cards (which are considerably more than 30 bucks, like ten to a hundred times that) it's hard to use an internal sound card and not have problems with coil whine or grounding issues causing noise on modern systems. Most semi-pro audio interfaces are external these days.
It also has the advantage of not having one or more massive cables attached to your computer...

Not an issue with an external DAC being fed SPDIF.

Yeah, the big problem with onboard audio in the old days was the constant crackle and hiss. Someone here called it "hearing the computer think".

the joys of hearing the mouse cursor move ^^

people with expensive sound cards don't even know what they missed

Yes, and I remember connecting CD audio cable from the drive to the motherboard made the noise ten times worse. (This was on a i815 machine from circa 2000). Horrible.

I remember on one board I just had to disable the PC speaker and the sound was fine ^^
with PC speaker enabled you had all the thinking noises.

I remember at LANs in the early 2000s being envious of the Audigy Master Race with their fancy front panels. Unfortunately my new Cooler Master case didn't have any spare 5.25" bays so I just stuck with the cheap Yamaha card that came with my machine.

I have a combo of two Audigy 1 cards, SB0160 and SB0090 - first running Creative drivers and the second kX Project drivers. The first card is used as the default output port for surround sound in games and movies and for MIDI playback with multichannel effects. The second card accepts 6-channel digital signal from the first, converts 5.1 to 4.0 using a custom matrix and produces two slightly different versions of the signal for rear channels (used by different room correction presets on next device in the chain). This card also applies a custom 2-to-4-channel upmixing algorithm to stereo sound and adds reverb when Audigy Sw Synth is used on the first card (that synth is software-based and cannot be processed by the card's own DSP).

P.S. Since a lot of people replied about using an X-Fi, here is a file I made to port effect presets from Audigy control panel to X-Fi audio console. Replace the .dat file (after backing up the original if you saved your own presets earlier) in C:\ProgramData\Creative\CADI\Preset\ in modern Windows or C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Creative\CADI\Preset in XP, reboot, launch the console in Audio Creation Mode and check the preset list for Reverb, for example - it is now a lot longer than previously. Hope you have fun!

Errius wrote on 2020-04-17, 19:23:

Yeah, the big problem with onboard audio in the old days was the constant crackle and hiss. Someone here called it "hearing the computer think".

I've heard that on new motherboards too. Even ones that advertise their sound capabilities. Maybe it was a more common problem before, but it's certainly not gone.

huh, I've heard it on modern laptops, but not on any new motherboards recently.

@Wanderer, that's pretty neat :3

The combination of PSU and motherboard seems to be very important in not having interference of some kind in custom PCs, if I go by the discussions on a local synthesizer forum.

Creative Sound Blaster Zx. It's nothing particularly special, but it gets the job done.

yawetaG wrote on 2020-04-19, 09:24:

The combination of PSU and motherboard seems to be very important in not having interference of some kind in custom PCs, if I go by the discussions on a local synthesizer forum.

The motherboard and having proper ground wiring on the wall electricity is what I find to be a lot more important than the PSU.

Creative Soundblaster Z. My onboard audio on my B450 Tomahawk Max wont output anything from the back panel connectors, was an Open Box purchase that sat for a few months before utilizing it, so it was a neccesary purchase. Leaps and bounds nicer than anything iv ever used before.

I've been using an Audient ID4, initially bought for recording but now the main device for sound output. Sure it's no Audigy 2 but turns out it's really good at playing audio as well as recording it!

The only issue is that it automatically mutes itself every time power is lost, meaning that if you turn the machine off by the plug, you'll have to turn everything up again.

My sound card is a marantz PM7005 ^^

Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro

I'm still using a Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium in my current system. Sounds great, has really good compatibility with both older games and newer ones, and it has solid Windows 10 drivers. I haven't had a single issue with it since I got it back in 2008 and have used it across 3 separate builds. I tried a Z for a couple weeks back in 2012, but quickly switched back. Everything, from the sound to the feature set, felt like a step backwards. Same with every onboard audio solution I've tried. Not bad, just lacking in either features or sound quality.

sunaiac wrote on 2020-04-21, 08:11:

My sound card is a marantz PM7005 ^^

ALC889A and a Denon AVR3806 linked by SPDIF here.

gdjacobs wrote on 2020-04-23, 02:30:

sunaiac wrote on 2020-04-21, 08:11:

My sound card is a marantz PM7005 ^^

ALC889A and a Denon AVR3806 linked by SPDIF here.

Oh yeah, forgot to say, I use it through the USB connector and have disabled all integrated sound on my Taichi x470.
This amp is where everything comes : main PC through USB, Megadrive and saturn through RCA, old PC through optic or RCA depending on age ...
Very practical.