DJDishwateR
Gawd
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- Jul 12, 2003
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- 633
Whats the best bang for my buck around 50$ for a sound card? Future upgradeablity would be nice as I only have 4.1 speakers now. 6.1's or 7.1's if its possible for that price range?
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Sound card under 50$ ???
- Thread starter DJDishwateR
- Start date
You know if i had to do it all over again for my personal system, the best low budget sound card ive ever seen is the aopen 850 6 channel. Like 10 bucks, sounds better than my sound blaster. Im not sure what audio chip it uses, havent actually looked, but ive put it in a couple systems and its worked like a charm. Never a complaint. Dont notice a hit on games, so cpu utilization should be pretty low. It also doesnt have as many pci issues as sb live.
It does support EAX, direct sound and the rest of the rat pack, but personally i never enable EAX anyways.
Although my exp with sound cards is generally only low end, and high end. The middle of the road stuff im not to familier with. People either want as cheap as possible, or the best money can buy.
It does support EAX, direct sound and the rest of the rat pack, but personally i never enable EAX anyways.
Although my exp with sound cards is generally only low end, and high end. The middle of the road stuff im not to familier with. People either want as cheap as possible, or the best money can buy.
BillLeeLee
[H]F Junkie
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- Jul 2, 2003
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- 13,486
I like the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz.
DJDishwateR
Gawd
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2003
- Messages
- 633
I'd use the onboard, but its all crackly because the SB is overheating or something and I would like to keep the mobo stock.
so you could just add a $5 heatsink thatd look like it was meant to be there and be done with it, but instead youre wasting time and money buying an external card, because you want it to look unaltered?
uhh sorry man but that lacks the logic. if youre worried about RMAing use frag tape and you can just pull it off if you absolutly have to without any damage.
My current computer has a Creative Labs Audigy. With my Sennheiser HD590's, im in HEAVEN!
The sound quality is great for me. It won't use as much CPU clock cycles as an onboard sound also, so that's a plus.
check this out. its less then 50$US. http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProdu...-102-166&catalog=57&manufactory=BROWSE&depa=1
Granted, it does'nt have firewire....... but if you don't need that 1 firewire port.... this if for you. It also supports EAX, but i never use it with headphones.
I would get this over a Turtle Beach santa cruze. And the audigy is cheaper. ^_^
~Hope this helps
The sound quality is great for me. It won't use as much CPU clock cycles as an onboard sound also, so that's a plus.
check this out. its less then 50$US. http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProdu...-102-166&catalog=57&manufactory=BROWSE&depa=1
Granted, it does'nt have firewire....... but if you don't need that 1 firewire port.... this if for you. It also supports EAX, but i never use it with headphones.
I would get this over a Turtle Beach santa cruze. And the audigy is cheaper. ^_^
~Hope this helps
Wow!
I never seen a bigger load of bullshit in any thread....ever.
Certainly not the one I live on.
I will get back to this later.
He needs to sort out the PCI latency problems these card have with VIA chipsets. But that is only a guess because some one forgot to tell us WTF kinda motherboard they are using.
Those kind of details have been know to help if he wants to solve this.
I would rather stick my head in a trash can and have Hark beat on it witha lead pipe then listen to that sorry combo for more then ten seconds.
That tinny DAC along with those overdriven opamps and those horrid headphones equal a match made in hell.
I have to admit that is one of the least nonsensical replies to this thread though.
My vote is for the Audigy2. I know it sells for a little more then 50$ but it kicks the crap out the other cards mentioned in this thread.
Last thing... It's back!
Figure out what it means by yourselves.
I never seen a bigger load of bullshit in any thread....ever.
On what planet?
Certainly not the one I live on.
I will get back to this later.
Xonik already said it well enough that I don't need to add any further commentary about this.
Ummm no. These card do not have heatsinks for a reason. They don't run hot enought to experiance problems due to overheating.
He needs to sort out the PCI latency problems these card have with VIA chipsets. But that is only a guess because some one forgot to tell us WTF kinda motherboard they are using.
Those kind of details have been know to help if he wants to solve this.
I really feel for you.
I would rather stick my head in a trash can and have Hark beat on it witha lead pipe then listen to that sorry combo for more then ten seconds.
That tinny DAC along with those overdriven opamps and those horrid headphones equal a match made in hell.
strid3r dont make me send those gremlins back to attack your amp again.
I have to admit that is one of the least nonsensical replies to this thread though.
My vote is for the Audigy2. I know it sells for a little more then 50$ but it kicks the crap out the other cards mentioned in this thread.
Last thing... It's back!
Figure out what it means by yourselves.
first off x86 dude, do you own this set-up? or are you talking about something you have no experience with....... and are just baseing it on the specs? For i have this equipment, and i can vouch for them 100%.
See what i mean DJDishwateR. Sound is totally dependent on the person. Obviously this guy does not like it.... for some reason, though he does not state why...... (Heck, i wonder if he has them). Anyway, my recommendation stands. Probably the best card for under 50$!
~Hope this helps
Umm, let me make this very clear to you (in case you missed it any of the 4000 times I have said the same thing).
I do not offer comments about equipment that I don't have first hand experience with.
I bought a pair of HD590s and they lasted all of four days before I returned them. They were to bright and the mids were to recessed. Lets not even get into the boomy bass or that oddly distorted sound stage.
As far as an Audigy goes.
I have owned one for close to three years now.
The one that currently resides on my junk parts box has been extensively modified and the tinny fatiguing sound from the poor quality DAC they used is still there. Furthermore I have had the chance to compare the Audigy to many of the other cards mentioned in this thread and even the lowly Fort. III offers flatter more accurate frequency response then the Audigy does.
Do you have any more stupid questions to ask me or does that answer them?
OK, now that you know what making assumptions about people you don't know brings you.... Lets turn this around.
You are recommending a product but you have offered nothing but baseless rhetoric to support it. Something other then the Typical fan boy audio tard response.... "I own one so go buy it." Pft.
How about you offer up some subjective comparisons to the other cards mentioned in this thread instead of offering baseless comments about me and what I have and have not owned?
towert7: Because your mailbox was full I could not send a reply to the PM you sent me. So you get to read it here.
According to most?
WTF kinda crap is that?
Did you ever stop to think that "they" are wrong?
Let me give you a small tip here.
Think for yourself, question authority.
Make up your own mind about those types of things and don't be a sheep your whole life.
BTW, the HD590s I bought were "burned in " for three days straight.
I had just finished a headphone amp for a client and killed two birds with one stone.
It didn't help matters much but it did help loosen up the bass a tad.
To offer up the kind of answer you did is little more then a waste of the person asking the question's time.
But you are not the only one that did that so...
As far as your assertion that you can't afford to try other products goes.
Maybe you should make that clear in your posts.
"I have never tried a Santa Cruz but own an Audigy and am very happy with the way it sounds" is much more helpful then the kinda BS you posted. But that is only my opinion so file it accordingly.
The same thing applies to the comments you are making about these headphones.
Offer up a foundation sometime and people will get the chance to see how baseless your opinions are for themselves.
The day you start adding the "I compared these to ..."
Line to your replies is the day they become something more then another useless post from a perceived fan boy audio tard.
I do not live my life caring about what other people "are" or "are not."
That is something that is beyond my control.
If you read what I said before I would think you had learned a lesson concerning making assumptions about people that you don't know based on what you have read in a text based forum.
In case that is not clear to you.... YOU DO NOT KNOW ME so I strongly suggest you keep the ignorant self serving advice to yourself.
BTW, I am not some teenage kid that needs to be told how to live my life... thank you very much.
Do you have any other nonsense to offer me me or are we done now?
Edit: removed the personal information and the F word.
According to most?
WTF kinda crap is that?
Did you ever stop to think that "they" are wrong?
Let me give you a small tip here.
Think for yourself, question authority.
Make up your own mind about those types of things and don't be a sheep your whole life.
BTW, the HD590s I bought were "burned in " for three days straight.
I had just finished a headphone amp for a client and killed two birds with one stone.
It didn't help matters much but it did help loosen up the bass a tad.
Well, see here is the point you may have missed ... people spend their money on the recommendations they read in threads like this.
To offer up the kind of answer you did is little more then a waste of the person asking the question's time.
But you are not the only one that did that so...
As far as your assertion that you can't afford to try other products goes.
Maybe you should make that clear in your posts.
"I have never tried a Santa Cruz but own an Audigy and am very happy with the way it sounds" is much more helpful then the kinda BS you posted. But that is only my opinion so file it accordingly.
The same thing applies to the comments you are making about these headphones.
Offer up a foundation sometime and people will get the chance to see how baseless your opinions are for themselves.
The day you start adding the "I compared these to ..."
Line to your replies is the day they become something more then another useless post from a perceived fan boy audio tard.
You know, I could not care any less about weather other people are or are not as "picky" as me.
I do not live my life caring about what other people "are" or "are not."
That is something that is beyond my control.
You should have quit when you was ahead and left that part out.
If you read what I said before I would think you had learned a lesson concerning making assumptions about people that you don't know based on what you have read in a text based forum.
In case that is not clear to you.... YOU DO NOT KNOW ME so I strongly suggest you keep the ignorant self serving advice to yourself.
BTW, I am not some teenage kid that needs to be told how to live my life... thank you very much.
Do you have any other nonsense to offer me me or are we done now?
Edit: removed the personal information and the F word.
I'm in the same boat. I did some pricing on these cards mentioned. All prices are shipped anywhere in US @ Newegg.com.
Hercules 7.1 Channel PCI Sound Card - $45 (Retail)
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy Sound Card - $55 (OEM)
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Sound Card - $74 (OEM)
Turtle Beach "Santa Cruz" - $49 (OEM) (anyone think retail is worth it on this? I don't see anything other than a box)
So, vote with your wallet, man.
Hercules 7.1 Channel PCI Sound Card - $45 (Retail)
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy Sound Card - $55 (OEM)
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Sound Card - $74 (OEM)
Turtle Beach "Santa Cruz" - $49 (OEM) (anyone think retail is worth it on this? I don't see anything other than a box)
So, vote with your wallet, man.
You go X86!!!
My $0.02 - Don't make statements as general and sweeping as have been made here unless you've really listened to all the pertinent options....i.e. I can say with 100% certainty that My Echo Miamidi EASILY out performs my old SB Audigy 2 Platinum, wich outperforms my onboard nf2. Beyond that, I cannot say.
My $0.02 - Don't make statements as general and sweeping as have been made here unless you've really listened to all the pertinent options....i.e. I can say with 100% certainty that My Echo Miamidi EASILY out performs my old SB Audigy 2 Platinum, wich outperforms my onboard nf2. Beyond that, I cannot say.
It would be a very once sided thrashing.
Point taken.... sorry about the thread jacking.
I hope so to.
That was not my intent when I posted a reply to this thread.
I was just trying to demonstrate what I thought were some rather silly viewpoints.
We will see.
Why did you edit that part of your reply?
Nope.
I didn't want you to get pissed off and beat the hell out of me (a verbal smackdown, if you will). Even worse, I didn't want both you and towert7 to finally agree on something, and come 'round my house with a nine-iron .
I was looking at the NewEgg images for the Santa Cruz, and the only difference is the box. Can anyone tell me whats in the retail container, besides a driver disc, the card, and the game out bracket? That would be an absolutely huge ripoff, because the difference is like 20 bucks.
How did you see what I edited out? It wasn't up more than 2 minutes.
.I was looking at the NewEgg images for the Santa Cruz, and the only difference is the box. Can anyone tell me whats in the retail container, besides a driver disc, the card, and the game out bracket? That would be an absolutely huge ripoff, because the difference is like 20 bucks.
How did you see what I edited out? It wasn't up more than 2 minutes.
leukotriene
2[H]4U
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2002
- Messages
- 2,664
That is the finest collection of single line advisories I've seen in ages X, I think you deserve a beer
It's a CMI 8738 but Aopen sometimes puts a sticker on it. Not bad, but not great. Of course if you're comparing it with a Live! and the original CD drivers, it might sound pretty great.
CPU utilization does tend to be lower than with a plain-jane AC'97 CODEC and Aopen probably puts some okay DACs on there, but it's not of the same quality as better cards.
The 8738 has pretty good drivers and C-Media updated them constantly.
For under $50 you don't have a lot of 7.1 options other than the FortIII if you want hardware acceleration. The TBSC sounds slightly better to my ears, but it is limited to 5.1.
An Audigy 2 would be ideal if you game heavily, but you'd have to save up an additional $20 or so. The Audigy LS might be an option, but since I havent heard it and wasn't impressed with the original Audigy, it may suck.
If you don't game with EAX much, you can save some money and give the Chaintech AV-710
a shot.
There also may be a "Digital audio connector" to connect an optical drive to the card, but that's pointless to use if you run XP.
Note that there is no "game out bracket" because the gameport/MIDI is on the back of the card.
If you buy a TBSC buy the OEM version.
It's a CMI 8738 but Aopen sometimes puts a sticker on it. Not bad, but not great. Of course if you're comparing it with a Live! and the original CD drivers, it might sound pretty great.
CPU utilization does tend to be lower than with a plain-jane AC'97 CODEC and Aopen probably puts some okay DACs on there, but it's not of the same quality as better cards.
The 8738 has pretty good drivers and C-Media updated them constantly.
For under $50 you don't have a lot of 7.1 options other than the FortIII if you want hardware acceleration. The TBSC sounds slightly better to my ears, but it is limited to 5.1.
An Audigy 2 would be ideal if you game heavily, but you'd have to save up an additional $20 or so. The Audigy LS might be an option, but since I havent heard it and wasn't impressed with the original Audigy, it may suck.
If you don't game with EAX much, you can save some money and give the Chaintech AV-710
a shot.
I bought the retail box when it first came out, and the only thing I can recall is a registration card, a quickstart manual and a little slip of paper telling me to install the driver manually rather than thru autodetect.
There also may be a "Digital audio connector" to connect an optical drive to the card, but that's pointless to use if you run XP.
Note that there is no "game out bracket" because the gameport/MIDI is on the back of the card.
If you buy a TBSC buy the OEM version.
Like i said before, the audigy sound card can be picked up at newegg.com for 45$US. It just does'nt have a Firewire Port.
Oh, and this is what you get with the retail version of the Santa Cruz. http://www.turtlebeach.com/site/products/santacruz/whatdoiget.asp
Edit: I would say just get an OEM
The software and drivers that usually ship with the sound cards are eaither pointless, or outdated.
That's the only thing i did'nt like about the retail version of the audigy, it came with a lot of CRAP software.
leukotriene
2[H]4U
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2002
- Messages
- 2,664
That's just the throwaway software they put on the CD.
I'm not sure if the OEM CD includes any of them besides the control panel, but it does ship with a CD and those programs aren't anything special since they're mostly demos.
If you're talking about the Audigy LS you'd better buy it just for gaming or music, because they've cut hardware midi support, the firewire port, and the chip is actually a variation of the EMU10k1 and not the EMU10K2 according to a review I read. As well, 98se is really, really not recommended for it (making me assume there are no vxd drivers for it) and in their advertising they mention the 24/96 *DAC's*, making me wonder whether it has the same problems as the Audigy.
Thank you.Originally posted by leukotriene
That is the finest collection of single line advisories I've seen in ages X, I think you deserve a beer
Unfortunately I am out of beer and it's to late.
Hmm, I have a 12 year old bottle of Quervo 1800.
Care for a shot?
Either way back to the point...
I was bored, tired (28 hours of soldering will do that), and getting real sick of the mamby pamby attitude that we are seeing around here of late. This is the [H]ard forum after all.
It was time for a good old fashion flame war and the Titan was nowhere to be found.