Conexant vs. VIA vs. Realtek: On Which Casual Audio Driver Is Better

Most motherboards being manufactured these days come with embedded audio chips which can reach as high as 7.1-channel configurations needed for HD multimedia. Nevertheless, a question arises: which manufacturer offers the best "stock" audio performance? Is there a real difference between these three major brands?

With Realtek comfortably positioned in the first place at least as far as the number of motherboards equipped with their chipsets is concerned, one would tend to believe that they are also providing the best quality, as well.

I was surprised to notice a detectable difference when I switched to a Conexant-loaded motherboard; the sound in my headphones was brighter and richer, while the same tracks played through the Realtek system were rather dull.

On the other hand, when it came to notebooks, the Realtek sound played through Asus' Sonic Focus Utility was simply amazing, despite the inherent low volume of the speakers. Now, it all comes down to the user experience: when leaving all the third-party software aside (plugins such as DMX, iZotopte and the like), which brand offers the best bang for the buck?

Gentlemen, box!