On board sound vs firewire audio I/F

[Xenon20]

Hi all

I have a Presonus Firestudio audio I/F that I bought some time ago to connect via firewire to my iMac. I have recently sold the iMac and have built myself a new Windows 10 PC.

The motherboard does not have a Firewire port on it, so I am considering buying a firewire card to slot into the motherboard. My question may be a stupid one but here goes...

Rather than going down the route of buying a firewire card to be able to connect my Firestudio, is it worth considering using the On board audio that came with my new motherboard ? The model is ASRock X470 Taichi and the audio specs are as follows:

7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection (Realtek ALC1220 Audio Codec)
Premium Blu-ray Audio support
Supports Surge Protection
Supports Purity SoundTM 4
Nichicon Fine Gold Series Audio Caps
120dB SNR DAC with Differential Amplifier
NE5532 Premium Headset Amplifier for Front Panel
Audio Connector (Supports up to 600 Ohm headsets)
Pure Power-In
Direct Drive Technology
PCB Isolate Shielding
Impedance Sensing on Line Out port
Individual PCB Layers for R/L Audio Channel
RGB LED
Gold Audio Jacks
15μ Gold Audio Connector
Supports DTS Connect

As the I/F is now fairly old, I didn't want to spend money on a card to connect it if the onboard audio on my new MB is up to the task.
EDIT: My monitors were connected to the I/F with 1/4" TRS jacks, and the motherboard only has the typical 3.5mm connections. In this respect I'm guessing the Firewire I/F is the best option ??

Whichever route I choose, should I be using the ASIO4ALL v2 driver that was installed with FL Studio with either of these options ?

Thanks in advance

Paul

[BertKoor]

Gotta love that RGB led... Otherwise these specs don't really "spec" anything.
Seriously, try it out for some time. See how you like it.

[Xenon20]

Hi

Yes I thought that this was pretty much just the spiel that comes with the motherboard specs. I just wondered if the answer to this was a no-brainer / night and day / only one obvious route. Forgive my lack of knowledge !

Am I correct in saying that it is common to use a USB 3 external audio I/F with PC these days ? Has technology moved on a great deal since the Firestudio ?

[BertKoor]

It depends on your needs. For just plugging in a headphone and composing or basic mixing the onboard sound can be good enough.

There are some things to look out for while testing onboard sound.
* You might notice noises as you move the mouse or drag a window.
* It might sound a bit different at 44kHz or 48kHz, depending on how good it's sample rate conversion algorithm is and what it's default sample rate is.
* Connectivity. Line inputs only? Do you need them at all? The mic input will suck for sure.
* Latency. If you work in the box only with no midi controlller, this won't be an issue. Otherwise best shop for an external interface with ASIO drivers.