My Audigy 2 ZS died this weekend (at least I think it's dead, i get horrible crackling audio and very high dpc latency when it's plugged in, uninstalling and reinstalling the drivers did not help) I haven't looked at sound cards in years. What is a good replacement for this card? I would be using it for 90% gaming 5% movies and 5% music. One of the biggest problems I had with the Audigy 2 ZS was a problem with using the microphone, I think it was related to having 4GB of RAM, which caused my microphone to sound like I was talking through a fan so I ended up using the onboard sound card for my microphone input. Does anyone know if this bug is still present in creative's newer cards?
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New sound card
- Thread starter Nateious
- Start date
How are you using it? Headphones, speakers, receiver, etc - if headphones, which ones? Makes a difference in recommendations.
Sorry I should have included this in the first place. 80% of the time I'm using speakers (through a receiver, Yamaha RX-A700 if that matters) the other 20% of time I'm using headphones.
Nice deal on Newegg today: http://www.newegg.com/Special/ShellShocker.aspx?cm_sp=ShellShocker-_-29-102-019-_-01232012_3
Optical/coax to the receiver? If so, I'd get the cheapest card I could find that does DD Live or DTS:Connect and just go that way. I know the Xonar cards (D1/DS and DX, but not the DG) do one or the other.
Can you pass HDMI audio through your video card?
Can you pass HDMI audio through your video card?
Optical/coax to the receiver? If so, I'd get the cheapest card I could find that does DD Live or DTS:Connect and just go that way. I know the Xonar cards (D1/DS and DX, but not the DG) do one or the other.
Can you pass HDMI audio through your video card?
I think i read nvidia cards had issues with that, I don't remember and I've never tried it. I'm using analog to the reciever. If it matters for sound-card selection, the speakers are a 5.1 setup.
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nVidia cards from the GT 240 and up pass audio signals just fine via HDMI, so if you can, just skip using a sound card and go HDMI.
if not, since you play games 90% of the time, get a Creative something-or-other sound card as these are the "gamers" cards and have EAX and all that b.s.
if not, since you play games 90% of the time, get a Creative something-or-other sound card as these are the "gamers" cards and have EAX and all that b.s.
if not, since you play games 90% of the time, get a Creative something-or-other sound card as these are the "gamers" cards and have EAX and all that b.s.
EAX and all that b.s. aren't really used anymore by modern games, so getting a Creative card to support them isn't needed.
If you are just pushing 5.1 analog to the receiver (and can't/don't want to go with HDMI or onboard) then even the Xonar DG at ~$25 would be fine for your purposes. If you would rather send a digital signal you'll need a card that does DDLive/DTS, which is a higher price point.
EAX and all that b.s. aren't really used anymore by modern games, so getting a Creative card to support them isn't needed.
If you are just pushing 5.1 analog to the receiver (and can't/don't want to go with HDMI or onboard) then even the Xonar DG at ~$25 would be fine for your purposes. If you would rather send a digital signal you'll need a card that does DDLive/DTS, which is a higher price point.
I do play a few older games currently use creative alchemy, would a Xonar have any support for something similar, it's not a huge concern but I'd like to know before I grab anything.
I do play a few older games currently use creative alchemy, would a Xonar have any support for something similar, it's not a huge concern but I'd like to know before I grab anything.
The Xonar cards do support some versions of EAX through their own version of Alchemy, but I'm not positive which versions (I think up to 4.0).
The Xonar cards do support some versions of EAX through their own version of Alchemy, but I'm not positive which versions (I think up to 4.0).
Thanks, I'll look into them.
Asus cards use software emulated EAX 5 and have no support for EAX 3 and EAX 4:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/275350-28-auzentech-prelude-asus-xonar-essence-omega-claro
"Our implementation is not a 1:1 reproduction of EAX 5.0."
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1032282961
The following linked thread discusses the software emulated EAX of Asus:
http://www.overclock.net/t/699596/xtremegamer-vs-x-fi-forte
The following linked article shows the performance difference between a Prelude and an STX:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/asus-xonar-essence-stx-review/14
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/275350-28-auzentech-prelude-asus-xonar-essence-omega-claro
"Our implementation is not a 1:1 reproduction of EAX 5.0."
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1032282961
The following linked thread discusses the software emulated EAX of Asus:
http://www.overclock.net/t/699596/xtremegamer-vs-x-fi-forte
The following linked article shows the performance difference between a Prelude and an STX:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/asus-xonar-essence-stx-review/14