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Sound card Recommendation?

D

deadman_uk

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jun 30, 2003
Messages
2,036
I have a Creative Sound Blaster Live 5.1 sound card, and I want something better than this.

What sound card would you recommend I buy? I want a good one for music and gaming but dont want to spend more than £100 if i can help it.
 
I struggled for years with a CL SB Live card. I recently upgraded to a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz and the difference is significant. No more background static in speakers and the random pops have become a thing of the past. I picked mine up for $30-$35 on sale.

Good luck
 
I want something better than that, that isnt much better than what i have now.

Whats the difference between these card...

[size=+1]Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS 7.1 THX Sound Card

[/size][size=+1]Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Sound Card

[/size][size=+1]Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 4 Pro 7.1 Sound Card


[/size]
 
i think that the two first two are identical except the platinum has more features including a breakout box (box with additional inputs and outputs that you install into a 5.25 drive bay). the audigy 4 is the newest and has the best sound quality out of all the creative labs soundcards.
seeing as you've had your SB Live card for some time I think that the Audigy 2 ZS (the first one) would be sufficient for your needs. You'd be wasting your money on the other two.
 
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Value Sound Card, Model "SB0400" -OEM

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProdu...-102-179&depa=0

Save the difference for your speaker upgrade.
Click to expand...
Im from UK so It's not a good idea to buy from the US, but I found this card on a UK site I buy from sometimes.

The price of this card and the card I already have now is virtually the same... why would anyone buy a SB Live when they can get this for a tiny bit more cash?

Also whats the difference between Retail and OEM?
 
The retail pack includes more software, cables and junk like that. The card is just the same. I also have no idea why anyone would buy a SB Live!.
 
Heh, I bought an Audigy2 Value OEM to help troubleshoot a problem, and there wasn't even a box, it was just an antistatic bag with the card and the driver cd in it.

Yeah anyway, th A2 zs is the basic card, the platinum is the same card just with a breakout box that you stick ib a 5.25 inch bay.

The A4 pro is basically the same card again, just with pro quality DACs and a fully external I/O unit.
 
M-audio Revo 7.1 card here. Much love for it. Astounding in Movies/Music, and pretty damn good for games

Lots of people slag the revo for gaming, but I've never had an issue with it and gaming.
 
i say chaintech av710, if you are looking into pure audio quality. for $25, it doesnt get much better than this. pm me for how to tweak it. :D
 
EAX is old skool. We're now into EAX 3 and higher. Where have you guys been? ;)
 
and if you're one of those people that dont like to use EAX, the Revo will suit you just fine. I love it - the lack of internal connections is a boner though (line in to my AIW)
 
...and even though the Envy cards *support* some form of EAX, they do it in software, which means the CPU is spending some of its time calculating positional audio and not making your framerates higher. Audigy cards do EAX in hardware, which is why they're generally recommended for gaming.
 
this is true, i experienced about a 5 fps drop when i used my av710 for gaming. i put my audigy back into my case and i force my media player to use the av710 while the rest of windows uses the audigy. the best of both worlds! :D
 
ericlikeseatin said:
this is true, i experienced about a 5 fps drop when i used my av710 for gaming. i put my audigy back into my case and i force my media player to use the av710 while the rest of windows uses the audigy. the best of both worlds! :D
Click to expand...
really how did you force your av710 to use the media player?
 
mc_P said:
really how did you force your av710 to use the media player?
Click to expand...
We talking about Windows Media Player or?

For windows media player just go to tools/options/devices/speakers and then select the sound card from the list
 
If you want sound quality: Use M-Audio, Terratec (the bigger cards) or something like that
If you want EAX 3/4: Use Creative
 
love my m-audio revo 7.1 with my new altec mx5021's.

add a vote for m-audio
 
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