Since my new KT600 mobo has an onboard codec (alc655) and I can't find any review for it, I had a doubt.

alc655 or sb live value (4.1)? Which one gives the best performance + best sound quality on a 4.1 speakers setup? If the alc655 is better I'm trashing my live

I would take the live .... use hacked audigy drivers ... and perfect

ALC 655 is from realtek if i am not mistaken. I would use the Sb live cause it is better ( i think ). You shouldn't stop using it. If you are running some isues in game or anything and a driver can't help in the meantime, you can always switch to the realtek and give it a try while waiting for the driver updates or patches. The ALC 655 can support 6.1 speaker while your sb live can only go 4.1, so if you are not using 6.1 it is always good to use the sb live, and i believe it provides better sound performance in game and do not forget the Youp PAX III driver for your sblive to audigy. And sblive do have EAX, but the ALC 655 doesn't. :wink:

The acl655 does have EAX 1.0 and 2.0 support. Read the specs It even has A3D support. Anyway, seems the chip runs the codec on software mode, makes the games run slower, sticking with the live until I get my nforce2 mobo with nforce APU.

acl655 kills the PCI bus, do not use it

Yeach - Live! has got 32 DS3D, EAX 2.0, very good double DACs and good software to control all this. ALC655 is newer but it takes a lot of CPU power to generate positional sound. I used ALC650 for a while and for a int. codec is good , but to use it for longer time ( I before had Live! ) - blah... I would choose Sound Blaster.