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Maximus x hero audio

originaldown
Level 7
Hello! I am in the process of buying a motherboard and was going to go with the ASUS ROG MAXIMUS X HERO, but I am reading reports that the audio is very bad on it? the main reason I wanted to go for it was because of the audio. I want something that is very good for audio as I listen to music a lot and plan on using FL Studio 12 to make some beats.

Some threads on the forum claim the audio is very distorted, flat, and makes weird noises. Can any MAXIMUS X HERO owners confirm this? Is there another motherboard that has good audio and great overclocking features that is maybe cheaper than the HERO?
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Korth
Level 14
https://us.hardware.info/product/413349/asus-rog-maximus-x-hero/testresults
https://www.bit-tech.net/reviews/tech/motherboards/asus-rog-maximus-x-hero-review/6/

https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?98717-How-is-the-audio-quality-on-rog-maximus-x-hero

I don't own this Maximus, but from what I've read (at above links and several other testing/review/comparison sites) it seems to me that it has good audio overall, a few excellent performances and some unimpressive ones, it generally places around the middle of the list when compared vs other Z370 motherboards. The ASUS SupremeFX (and other audio) softwares can apparently make things sound quite awful without some finicky tweaking.

I think it should be pretty decent for gaming and music listening, at least on the headset/headphone output. Not a lot better or worse than any other motherboard within the price range, those mobos which do have better integrated audio also have substantially higher pricetags. To be honest, I think that if (professional) audio quality is important to you then the smart choice would be to pair this board with dedicated audio hardware (either an internal soundcard or an external audio device, and my personal experience/opinion strongly favours external audio options).

Onboard-integrated audio is basically a fancy codec chip plus a handful of tiny components (usually some filter caps and one or two op-amps) stuffed into one corner of the mobo, while a dedicated audio device is basically a whole PCB (on a daughterboard or in a box) which is packed with many dedicated components (including more caps and op-amps and whole arrays of analog audio-grade parts) ... it's the audio equivalent of comparing a processor-embedded iGPU vs a dedicated full GPU card, the former is fine for lightweight use but the latter is used on any task which requires serious performance/quality.
"All opinions are not equal. Some are a very great deal more robust, sophisticated and well supported in logic and argument than others." - Douglas Adams

[/Korth]

Korth wrote:
https://us.hardware.info/product/413349/asus-rog-maximus-x-hero/testresults
https://www.bit-tech.net/reviews/tech/motherboards/asus-rog-maximus-x-hero-review/6/

https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?98717-How-is-the-audio-quality-on-rog-maximus-x-hero

I don't own this Maximus, but from what I've read (at above links and several other testing/review/comparison sites) it seems to me that it has good audio overall, a few excellent performances and some unimpressive ones, it generally places around the middle of the list when compared vs other Z370 motherboards. The ASUS SupremeFX (and other audio) softwares can apparently make things sound quite awful without some finicky tweaking.

I think it should be pretty decent for gaming and music listening, at least on the headset/headphone output. Not a lot better or worse than any other motherboard within the price range, those mobos which do have better integrated audio also have substantially higher pricetags. To be honest, I think that if (professional) audio quality is important to you then the smart choice would be to pair this board with dedicated audio hardware (either an internal soundcard or an external audio device, and my personal experience/opinion strongly favours external audio options).

Onboard-integrated audio is basically a fancy codec chip plus a handful of tiny components (usually some filter caps and one or two op-amps) stuffed into one corner of the mobo, while a dedicated audio device is basically a whole PCB (on a daughterboard or in a box) which is packed with many dedicated components (including more caps and op-amps and whole arrays of analog audio-grade parts) ... it's the audio equivalent of comparing a processor-embedded iGPU vs a dedicated full GPU card, the former is fine for lightweight use but the latter is used on any task which requires serious performance/quality.




With that being said then.. would this be worth the value over the z370-a?

originaldown wrote:
I want something that is very good for audio as I listen to music a lot and plan on using FL Studio 12 to make some beats.

Korth wrote:
... if (professional) audio quality is important to you then the smart choice would be to pair this board with dedicated audio hardware ...

originaldown wrote:
With that being said then.. would this be worth the value over the z370-a?

Judging the worth or value is your call.

MAXIMUS X HERO is the better board of the two (in my opinion) but I don't think you'd disappointed with a PRIME Z370-A ... they have different styles but similar specs and features with (overlooking user complaints) very much the same audio.

You could spend a lot more on a higher-end Z370 motherboard, ASUS or not-ASUS, to get a bunch of features you may or may not use alongside slightly improved audio which you want to be better. You may find the audio quality perfectly adequate for your needs ... and you can always buy audio hardware later on if you find the mobo audio isn't good enough (at a cost comparable to the price difference between low-end and high-end Z370 mobos).

Also take note that the vast majority of MAXIMUS X HERO users have never complained about their audio, indeed many have actually praised it strongly. It might even turn out to be an issue which affects a small percentage of "flawed" motherboards or which only becomes evident under very specific conditions with particular hardware combinations, etc ... basically, the sort of thing you could reasonably expect to be a non-issue over 99% of the time. I'm not flippantly handwaving the bad audio reports/complaints away - I'm sure they're legit and frustrating/annoying and probably not very exaggerated - I am pointing out that they seem to occur on only a tiny minority of these motherboards ... a total five unhappy audio users on these forums, so far, among the thousands who bought this popular motherboard.
"All opinions are not equal. Some are a very great deal more robust, sophisticated and well supported in logic and argument than others." - Douglas Adams

[/Korth]

Korth wrote:
Also take note that the vast majority of MAXIMUS X HERO users have never complained about their audio, indeed many have actually praised it strongly. It might even turn out to be an issue which affects a small percentage of "flawed" motherboards or which only becomes evident under very specific conditions with particular hardware combinations, etc ... basically, the sort of thing you could reasonably expect to be a non-issue over 99% of the time. I'm not flippantly handwaving the bad audio reports/complaints away - I'm sure they're legit and frustrating/annoying and probably not very exaggerated - I am pointing out that they seem to occur on only a tiny minority of these motherboards ... a total five unhappy audio users on these forums, so far, among the thousands who bought this popular motherboard.

I find this remarkable. I've had 3 MXH boards now and the same issue is present on all of them. Maybe customers that buy these boards aren't the enthusiasts they think they are and simply buy into the ROG hype/marketing. Maybe they don't hear it or they just don't care to hear audio crackles/popping every now and then. Or maybe they don't expect to get anything decent since its onboard audio after all. Who knows. But the problem is clearly there and it needs to be addressed by Asus.

no1yak
Level 8
I must agree with Korth with regard to external audio. I use a USB DAC plus a couple of decent open backed headphones. The sound is far better than any onboard audio but, unfortunately it comes at a price. I have my onboard audio turned off in the bios as I'm using USB it's not required.
So i've never had any unbalanced sound or pops or crackles that some are experiencing with the Hero X.