Best Sound Card

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Zetherin

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I'm looking for the best sound card money can buy within a ~150-200 price range.

I've heard that the Auzentech X-Fi Prelude is pretty good, but have also heard good things about the Xtreme Gamer.

If you had 200 dollars to spend on a sound card, which would you buy, and why?

PS: My speakers will be the Logitech 5500, and perhaps even something better than those in the future.

Thanks,
Z
 
Auzentech X-Fi Prelude is the best. It is built with better quaility components, can do Dolby Digital Live, and Auzentech keeps up with their drivers better. I traded my regular X-Fi Extreme Gamer for the Prelude and I'm very happy.
 
X-Fi Prelude is probably the best X-Fi card you can get. It uses better components than even the Elite Pro and I actually modded my Elite Pro to have better components and still ended up with the Prelude which still sounds better.
 
Wow, so the prelude really is THAT good.

Thanks guys...now all I have to do is find the best deal on one of these preludes :p
 
Prelude, awesome card.
One of the best upgrades I have ever done, I am still amazed (after 2 months) how good it is.
The better your hifi, the more you will get but it improves low end systems too.
The soundcard is something you buy once in many generations of your PC so is really one of the cheapest per year. Why not have the best!

The Xonar D2 doesnt sound enticing, this is a typical review
http://www.trustedreviews.com/multimedia/review/2007/08/02/Asus-Xonar-D2-Sound-Card/p1
All the reviews I have seen arent excited about it, a big contrast to the Prelude.
It also can only do up to EAX 2.0 in software whereas the X-Fi/Prelude can do EAX 5.0 in hardware.
EAX will matter less in time but it is damn good in some current games.

edit
note: only Creatives cards and the Prelude have hardware accelerated 3D sound up to EAX 5.0
Only the Prelude can send full 5.1 higher EAX sounds via digital, although analogue sounds even better on this card due to top class components!
 
Zetherin said:
It seems this card has one of the best reviews on newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829271002

Can anyone comment on this one? Thanks guys.
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Just another CMI8788 card. I've heard it sounds the same as the b-enspirer & sondigo inferno (that also use the CMI8788 chipset). This one just has a fancier implementation, front panel headers, solid caps, black/gold pcb, etc... I heard the claro++ uses better quality components and opamps though, which should set it a step above the inferno and b-enspirer.
The xonar and x-meridian is also a derivative of the CMI 8788 chipset. The xonar's the only one who has their own drivers for it, instead of the one provided by c-media. The x-meridian's supposed to be the best pci-based soundcard to exist based on SQ alone.
 
For music I've read the ESI Juli@ is the best, although that's would be all you can do with it is play music. It was compared to some $500 pro card, though I cannot remember the name of it. Prelude's probably in the line of what your looking for, since it's basically a well modded X-Fi.

GreenGoose said:
Auzentech X-Fi Prelude is the best. It is built with better quaility components, can do Dolby Digital Live, and Auzentech keeps up with their drivers better. I traded my regular X-Fi Extreme Gamer for the Prelude and I'm very happy.
Click to expand...

Does the Dolby Digital Live work now? Last I heard, they still were working on a set of drivers to support it.
 
Tipycol said:
Does the Dolby Digital Live work now? Last I heard, they still were working on a set of drivers to support it.
Click to expand...

Yes it works flawlessly and can be enabled alongside analogue, good for comparison testing.
The DDL isnt bad in any way, its as good as you will get but the analogue out of the Prelude is so good, it should be used if possible.
(Unless your amps DAC + preamp circuitry are really hot!)
 
Hehe well I have been contemplating getting a Proceed AVP2 pre to give you an idea, but I just can't bring myself to spend that kind of money when it has no hdmi. More likely I will get a temporary receiver till a good and maybe more affordable preprocessor comes out in a year or so.
 
Hey cool, if you do get a Prelude can you do some comparison tests?
It will be interesting to see how well the Preludes DAC/analogue stage compares to the AVP2.
 
lol I never thought of comparing the Proceed to anything considering it has the Mark Levinson parts in it. hdmi is still a big factor though for getting the lossless audio, but yea if I do ever get both I'll do a comparison ;)
 
Tipycol said:
Hehe well I have been contemplating getting a Proceed AVP2 pre to give you an idea, but I just can't bring myself to spend that kind of money when it has no hdmi. More likely I will get a temporary receiver till a good and maybe more affordable preprocessor comes out in a year or so.
Click to expand...

What is a proceed avp2 pre? Are you speaking about the prelude?

Either way, what does the hdmi allow one of these cards to do?
 
Nenu said:
Yes it works flawlessly and can be enabled alongside analogue, good for comparison testing.
The DDL isnt bad in any way, its as good as you will get but the analogue out of the Prelude is so good, it should be used if possible.
(Unless your amps DAC + preamp circuitry are really hot!)
Click to expand...



On the X-fi??? I thought I read just days ago that it still does not work with the X-fi. The X-plosion, Meridian, and other Auzentech cards do for sure.
 
yamahaSHO said:
On the X-fi??? I thought I read just days ago that it still does not work with the X-fi. The X-plosion, Meridian, and other Auzentech cards do for sure.
Click to expand...

See post #11, the discussion was about the Prelude.
 
I'm not sure what point you're trying to make. The Auzentech X-fi Prelude, to the latest of my knowledge, still does not have a driver to support DD Live/ DTS Connect. That's the point I made... The Prelude uses the X-fi and IS and "X-fi Prelude".

What is your point, really?

GreenGoose said:
Auzentech X-Fi Prelude is the best. It is built with better quaility components, can do Dolby Digital Live, and Auzentech keeps up with their drivers better. I traded my regular X-Fi Extreme Gamer for the Prelude and I'm very happy.


Tipycol said:
Does the Dolby Digital Live work now? Last I heard, they still were working on a set of drivers to support it.

Nenu said:
Yes it works flawlessly and can be enabled alongside analogue, good for comparison testing.
The DDL isnt bad in any way, its as good as you will get but the analogue out of the Prelude is so good, it should be used if possible.
(Unless your amps DAC + preamp circuitry are really hot!)

yamahaSHO said:
On the X-fi??? I thought I read just days ago that it still does not work with the X-fi. The X-plosion, Meridian, and other Auzentech cards do for sure.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...


Maybe this will help?
 
Sorry to ask again, but can someone please comment on what the significance of hdmi is on these sound cards. I was just about to go for the prelude but then someone mentioned that it doesn't support hdmi. Does this mean I wouldn't have high definition sound, if say, I watched a Blu-Ray movie?
 
THANKS. I SUPPOSE I'LL JUST GO WITH THE PRELUDE THEN.

Sorry for the caps, I pushed caps lock, and for some reason it's making me type in caps.
 
Yea sorry about confusing you and hijacking the thread earlier. The Proceed I was talking to Nenu about is not a sound card and really has nothing to do with computers. It is a preprocessor (like a receiver) for home theater setups. For what you are looking for the prelude will suit you well.
 
yamahaSHO said:
Yeah, it is great ass-tard. I never claimed I knew it, I asked for clarification and mentioned that the last I read said the opposite. The card has been out for sometime and up until recently, it did NOT included DD Live.
Click to expand...

Don't mean to interrupt the flamewar, but what exactly does DD Live even do?
 
I think you may be a little confused....

MOST cards do not encode to DD (many can DEcode though). All digital cards can pass DD... To explain, if you're watching a movie with DD, it can be passed through in untouched format to a receiver or the like. You would also be able to decode the DD and send it out analog (be it software or hardware).

DD Live will take ALL signals and turn it into DD. Meaning, that game you're playing that not only has EAX, but has surround sound that is not DD, DD Live will encode it to DD to send out digitally.

If you're running all analog connections, this won't be much of a motivation, however X-fi and great (and replaceable) op-amps will be.


My current main HTPC has a P6N Diamond with onboard X-fi. I run about 99% of my sound out through a digital connection (fiber optic). For movies and music, it'll send out stereo and DD/DTS/DD EX/DTS ES/ etc... I also have analog connections connected to my reciever for games that do not have DD encoding. I do plan to get an HDMI soundcard when they become available (or the Auzentech add-on) for TrueHD and DTS HD. I like to use my receiver to decode everything since I can send the signal untouched. A good sound card will have better processing capabilities, but programs like Power DVD (for my HD and BD movies) currently down-convert the audio before sending it on its way.
 
Zetherin said:
Sorry to ask again, but can someone please comment on what the significance of hdmi is on these sound cards. I was just about to go for the prelude but then someone mentioned that it doesn't support hdmi. Does this mean I wouldn't have high definition sound, if say, I watched a Blu-Ray movie?
Click to expand...
Tech just emailed me on Friday and said they'll be releasing an HDMI add-on for the Prelude soon.

"we are developing the our own X-Tension HDMI 1.3 board which is the extension board for Auzen X-Fi Prelude 7.1.
The Auzen X-Tension HDMI 1.3 has HDMI 1.3 Input and Output port.
The data from a graphic card go through the HDMI 1.3 Input port, then audio and video data come out through HDMI 1.3 Output port at the same time.
The extension board will decode Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD(by Blu-ray) and get real multi-ch high resolution Audio and Video signal. "
 
yamahaSHO said:
I think you may be a little confused....

MOST cards do not encode to DD (many can DEcode though). All digital cards can pass DD... To explain, if you're watching a movie with DD, it can be passed through in untouched format to a receiver or the like. You would also be able to decode the DD and send it out analog (be it software or hardware).

DD Live will take ALL signals and turn it into DD. Meaning, that game you're playing that not only has EAX, but has surround sound that is not DD, DD Live will encode it to DD to send out digitally.

If you're running all analog connections, this won't be much of a motivation, however X-fi and great (and replaceable) op-amps will be.


My current main HTPC has a P6N Diamond with onboard X-fi. I run about 99% of my sound out through a digital connection (fiber optic). For movies and music, it'll send out stereo and DD/DTS/DD EX/DTS ES/ etc... I also have analog connections connected to my reciever for games that do not have DD encoding. I do plan to get an HDMI soundcard when they become available (or the Auzentech add-on) for TrueHD and DTS HD. I like to use my receiver to decode everything since I can send the signal untouched. A good sound card will have better processing capabilities, but programs like Power DVD (for my HD and BD movies) currently down-convert the audio before sending it on its way.
Click to expand...

So, basically, if I run my system optically, I'll potentially have the best sound quality for those games/movies that had signals other than DD, as now I'll actually be able to utilize every signal I would have been missing had I not had DDL.... therefore making this something essential to the great audio experience I want with all my games/movies.

Am I following?
 
You mind linking me to the system you have? I can help you better if I know more about it.
 
Duh, I should have known that when you mentioned the "5500", that's the setup I'm getting for my dad.

Anyway, IIRC, this will handle analog and digital. With digital, your Logitech will have to do all the decoding and if it allows you to adjust the sound.

For better sound, I would actually suggest running analog in your case. With a good sound card, your computer will be used to make all the sound adjustments and it's "upgradeable" by driver updates and such. Running analog will demand a much better card for better sound since digital is all processed the same way regardless of card (with exception to DD Live). I would suggest a good Creative (X-fi?), Auzentech (w/upgradeable op-amps), or any other quality sound card.

Digital will allow a single cable, however, my last 5.1 (Klipsch GMX) digital setup had very limited adjutments making it hard to get the sound I wanted. Unless you have something that can post-process the sound very well, you're MUCH better off letting the sound card do the work.

You could always try both after getting a sound card to see what you really like.


(In my setup I mentioned above w/ the P6N diamond, my X-fi is doing almost NO work when running digital).
 
Asus has a new HDMI Xonar sound card coming by summertime: http://www.anandtech.com/tradeshows/showdoc.aspx?i=3252&p=6

"The sound card accepts a HDMI input from your graphics card, then outputs video combined with audio over a second HDMI port. The benefit of this approach is that you can enable passthrough of high definition codecs such as Dolby TrueHD, although it is a somewhat clumsy way of doing it. We would much prefer for the GPU to properly handle it in the first place but we'll have to wait for a while for that to happen."

This card natively supports DD Live, Dolby Headphone, Dolby Pro Logic2 and DTS Connect out of the box. It has excellent component, great sound quality, and there are rumors that this card (as well as one or more of their other cards) will also be updated to be able to utilize EAX 5.0 in Vista as well. I guess I'll believe that when I see a real review. That would be great though... :)
 
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