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Chaintech or High end

Im on the chaintech 710 right now. Its borrowed until my xfi preorder comes in. I can say that i dont see why its so popular. It sounds worse than onboard audio. I wish creative would hurry the F up with the preorders.
 
For 2 channel music, AV-710 is awesome. Switch to high sample rate and enjoy the Wolfsonn DAC or SPDIF goodness. I use it as such. For 5.1, it's not so great, but I have SoundStorm to Yamaha RX-V1400 for that :D M-Audio Revo 5.1/7.1 or an Audigy 2 variant are probably better choices for 5.1 work.
 
If your going to spend up to 150 for a sound card go with the Sound Blaster X-FI Xtreme Music. You can pick one up at best buy for $130. Its the best damn sound card for gaming ever made... hands down.
 
HybridHB said:
Im on the chaintech 710 right now. Its borrowed until my xfi preorder comes in. I can say that i dont see why its so popular. It sounds worse than onboard audio. I wish creative would hurry the F up with the preorders.
Click to expand...

It's one of the best of the low budget cards for music listening out there. You just know how to set it up to take advantage of it which is super easy and takes 5 min.
 
If you set up the Chaintech properly and use it in a 2 channel setup with a headphone amp, speaker amp or powered speakers it sounds quite nice. Gaming with my AV710/T-amp/Polk Audio RTi4 combo is quite the experience. You don't need a surround sound setup to have good imaging. Sure, you loose the EAX features and all that stuff, but with good stereo speakers you don't need it.
 
Does the chaintech really sound that bad when using all the channels?

I have a pair of Sony MDR-V600s that I use sometimes too.

I barely play games. Last games I played were Deus Ex and Giants.

I'm looking for something cheap to replace an audigy 1. The plastic inside the jacks (part of the jack casing) that separates the contacts is all warped/tweaked causing the connections to be shitty. Basically all the jacks are shot. I wore them out. (cuz they're cheap)

I'm using a Diamond Sonic S90 (Aureal 8220) 2ch right now . Had this card for long time and its jacks have never worn out. I think this card sounds a hell of a lot better than the audigy in any configuration, but I like the different effects etc. of the audigy.

Does the chaintech software/drivers come with any options for effects like the audigy or would I have to use directx filters etc.?

I don't think the audigy 1 sounds all that great compared to the s90 and I don't want another creative card with shitty jacks.

What about the Turtle Beach Riviera. Is that better than the chaintech?
 
as many members have said, the chaintech is great low budget audio card. however, for gaming you are better off with an a2zs or higher.
 
shadow2531 said:
I'm looking for something cheap to replace an audigy 1. The plastic inside the jacks (part of the jack casing) that separates the contacts is all warped/tweaked causing the connections to be shitty. Basically all the jacks are shot. I wore them out. (cuz they're cheap)
Click to expand...

I ordered replacement jacks for the audigy. (Got 10 of them just for the hell of it).

Got the old ones out and the new ones in; just have to solder them. Getting the old ones out was pain. Hopefully it all works, but if not, no matter. I was just going to trash the card anyway before I found the jacks online.

The only differences between those jacks and the originals is these ones are not gold plated and these ones have threads on them (come with nuts on washers) for if you want to mount them to a panel etc.
 
Shadow2531 said:
Does the chaintech really sound that bad when using all the channels?

I have a pair of Sony MDR-V600s that I use sometimes too.

I barely play games. Last games I played were Deus Ex and Giants.

I'm looking for something cheap to replace an audigy 1. The plastic inside the jacks (part of the jack casing) that separates the contacts is all warped/tweaked causing the connections to be shitty. Basically all the jacks are shot. I wore them out. (cuz they're cheap)

I'm using a Diamond Sonic S90 (Aureal 8220) 2ch right now . Had this card for long time and its jacks have never worn out. I think this card sounds a hell of a lot better than the audigy in any configuration, but I like the different effects etc. of the audigy.

Does the chaintech software/drivers come with any options for effects like the audigy or would I have to use directx filters etc.?

I don't think the audigy 1 sounds all that great compared to the s90 and I don't want another creative card with shitty jacks.

What about the Turtle Beach Riviera. Is that better than the chaintech?
Click to expand...


First of all, replace your headphones. Some $20 Sennheiser HD201's will be a GREAT upgrade. Yes, they are an UPGRADE. Second, if gaming is your main thing, get a used or B-stock Audigy 2 ZS. get it the cheapest you can, and you'll be good to go.
 
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