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Good $30 soundcard

M

Mushroom Prince

Gawd
Joined
Feb 20, 2004
Messages
532
I'm looking for a basic soundcard because my onboard sound does not work at all. I'm really more concerned about sound quality rather than how many speakers I can hook up to it.


It sort of has to be under $30.


Please any suggestions would be appreciated
 
Go get a SoundBlaster Live card from newegg

its one of the best for that price
 
IMO, the Chaintech AV710 is the best card for under $99. The sound quality is great, it supports 7.1 surround and EAX, and it only costs ~$25 at newegg.
 
i never used the chaintech so i cant say much about it, but creative cards have the greatest compatibility it seems.
 
The Mad Dog Predator 5.1 DSP 6-channel PCI sound card costs $22.98 at OfficeMax.com. A $20 mail-in rebate chops the net price to $2.98.

search for item # 20329985

[edit]

nm, this isn't the one with the Envy HT. grr... Sorry.

Go for the Chaintech. Forget about Creative.
 
I havent used the new audigy cards at all, since i stoped putting creative cards into systems when the live! came out.

It had aweful drivers, bad compatability, and the software was bloat all around. Id go with the non creative cards listed in this thread.
 
The Creative SBLive is an awesome card for that price. I've seen people bitch about the company, but I have decided it's mostly sheep following a misguided herder. I've built hundreds of machines with Creative cards in it, of various system specs, and never ONCE had any problem related to the card or some sort of incompatibility. The SBLive has built in drivers for XP, that only need to be updated from the Creative site. No bloatware, no problems, etc. I never could figure out why people struggled with the install of Creative cards. I've always found them as easy as everything else. Also, coming from a engineering background, they usually offer the best hardware around when compared to it's same price levels. So, for the $30 and under crowd, nothing really stacks up to the SBLive.
 
djnes said:
The Creative SBLive is an ...
Click to expand...

...outdated, POS shoundcard.

Sorry. It just is. If you want cheap, easy to configure sound just go with whatever is onboard w/ your MB. If you want decent sound quality, you really should look away from the SB Live. Forget about the drivers, the Live just sounds like crap.
 
djnes said:
The Creative SBLive is an awesome card for that price. I've seen people bitch about the company, but I have decided it's mostly sheep following a misguided herder. I've built hundreds of machines with Creative cards in it, of various system specs, and never ONCE had any problem related to the card or some sort of incompatibility. The SBLive has built in drivers for XP, that only need to be updated from the Creative site. No bloatware, no problems, etc. I never could figure out why people struggled with the install of Creative cards. I've always found them as easy as everything else. Also, coming from a engineering background, they usually offer the best hardware around when compared to it's same price levels. So, for the $30 and under crowd, nothing really stacks up to the SBLive.
Click to expand...

Were those AMD based or intel based systems? The compatability issues are well known. And infact ive seen it in quite a few systems with my own eyes which is why i stoped using them. Im not a "sheep following a misuiged herder" (although witty, it doesnt apply)

Those "hundreds of systems" Must have been intel based ones.
 
Nope, actually they were both platforms. In fact, one was an Athlon XP 1700+ on a Via 266A based Abit board that everyone seemed to say it was impossible to get working on. That was one of my own systems I used for quite sometime, without issue. It was a KR7A-133 board.
 
I've never heard anyone say it was impossible to get a sb live! working on a kt266, (i used one also) However, given the common, well publicized compatability issues i couldnt justify advising someone to get it. Or for that matter putting it into a system that i would need to warrenty. It worked on 3 boards, but not without issue in games. (or Data corruption for that matter)

On one machine, it would randomly cause sounds to scramble(KT400) (in games, the scramble would be mixed with static), on another, it would cause data corruption(KT133), and on another, As odd as it sounds, would randomly cause the ps2 keyboard to stop functioning(KT266a, which expierienced all of the above). On 3 seperate machines. All via chipsets, the NF/2 and SiS ones may be immune to this.

The software included with the live! was very bloated. Including utilities your average person would not want while booting, and some of them were intrusive.

The original EAX also appears to be extrmemly buggy (may have been fixed with the newer audigy cards, and it may not be creatives fault)

Driver support for the original live was also slow coming, and subpar.
 
GodsMadClown said:
The Mad Dog Predator 5.1 DSP 6-channel PCI sound card costs $22.98 at OfficeMax.com. A $20 mail-in rebate chops the net price to $2.98.

search for item # 20329985

[edit]

nm, this isn't the one with the Envy HT. grr... Sorry.

Go for the Chaintech. Forget about Creative.
Click to expand...


that is a great sound card for 25 bucks, tax included, that is the sound card i have and it works great with my creative 5.1 speakers.
i did not buy it online i bought it from office max about 2 months ago, just make sure you get the latest drivers from the site, the ones on the cd that comes with it are old.
 
You could probably get an Audigy ES or LS off of ebay for about $30.
 
whats so different about the es and ls audigies compared to the standard audigy?
 
Let me put this whole question about the Live cards to rest with one simple analogy.
Would you pay $35 for a 4 year old Riva 128 card for the same machine?

Also, coming from a engineering background, they usually offer the best hardware around when compared to it's same price levels.
Click to expand...
What specific part are you referring to here?
The crappy DAC?
The sub par opamps?
The obsolete DSP?
The obsolete AC97 interface?
The proprietary SPDIF jack?
 
Mister X said:
Let me put this whole question about the Live cards to rest with one simple analogy.
Would you pay $35 for a 4 year old Riva 128 card for the same machine?


What specific part are you referring to here?
The crappy DAC?
The sub par opamps?
The obsolete DSP?
The obsolete AC97 interface?
The proprietary SPDIF jack?
Click to expand...


At the time, I said. Common sense tells you that for most people, the SBLive is just fine for music playback, basic gaming, etc. Notice, I don't have one in my main machine, but I have no problems using it in a secondary or basic machine. Not everyone needs the top of the line sound card. A little common sense goes a long way.
 
Every single MB I have bought since my socket 7 w/ the K2-500 has had integrated sound. For this average user, this integrated sound will serve the purpose you're discussing. If one is spending money on upgrading or replacing integrated sound, as the original poster indicates that he is doing, then there are much better choices than the SB live. Either way you slice it, there's no reason to buy a SB Live card today.
 
GodsMadClown said:
Every single MB I have bought since my socket 7 w/ the K2-500 has had integrated sound. For this average user, this integrated sound will serve the purpose you're discussing. If one is spending money on upgrading or replacing integrated sound, as the original poster indicates that he is doing, then there are much better choices than the SB live. Either way you slice it, there's no reason to buy a SB Live card today.
Click to expand...

What if you've had one for the last 5 years?
:p

runs and hides from Mr X and GodsMadClown.
 
djnes said:
A little common sense goes a long way.
Click to expand...
Yes, it does ... if YOU were to apply common sense to your replies and less argumentative rhetoric you might see what other people in this thread have been trying to point out.
There are much better products in this price range then the Live card you are recommending.

TechHead said:
What if you've had one for the last 5 years?
Click to expand...
I feel for your hearing my friend. :D
 
bump for the chaintechs, heard many good reviews from audiofile sites
 
Mister X said:
Yes, it does ... if YOU were to apply common sense to your replies and less argumentative rhetoric you might see what other people in this thread have been trying to point out.
There are much better products in this price range then the Live card you are recommending.


I feel for your hearing my friend. :D
Click to expand...
I can't hear you.. :(
:p
 
If you're just doing some gaming and tunes...for 30 bucks I'm also down with the SBLive...newegg.com.
 
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