Sound card

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Fozzymuphet

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Nov 9, 2006
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I've been upgrading my sound system lately and doing lots to improve various things in my rig. Right now I've settled on sound.

Use:
I will probably use my computer mostly for gaming but that's not really where I want the high point to be. I would actually like to have a sound card geared more towards music listening and fidelity. Preferably one that will be half decent with HT stuff too.

Accessories/options:
The card should have an optical out, and analogue 5.1/7.1 sound (5.1 is good enough but no need to downplay if I can get 7.1 for close to the same price) A remote would be nice for watching movies and such. And I really like the idea of a breakout box.

The Setup:
I have a RCA 5.1 receiver connected to 2 SDAT LEB-404's (I'm a poor college student and I personally don't think you can do better for $80 shipped) and a KLH 10in 120w Subwoofer (I've owned one before and it's not very punch but it is really clean for $100). I'm planning on adding in 3 more speakers for 5.1 but I want to wait until I hear the speakers so I know weather or not to invest a ton in surround. I also have a pair of Zalman 5.1 surround sound headphones that I use for gaming. The quality is pretty good for how cheap they are and they are definatly good enough for midnight sessions.

Questions/Ideas:
I used to own an audigy 2 zs and I liked the quality of it. The quality was good enough to where I didn't feel like I needed any better but of course I also didn't really know better either. I also heard that unless I get the X-fi elite pro or the Fatal1ty I'm not really getting an x-fi chip but rather something else. I've looked into the meridian and it seems pretty good and well-liked but I really have no Idea what to buy.

Another question- Since I am using a receiver is the sound only going to be as good as my receiver? So in that case should I just buy an optical out card?

Thanks
 
Well if your into gaming then you may want EAX effects etc. then you may be better off with a X-fi. On the topic of the X-fi chip the ONLY X-fi that doesn't have a X-fI chip is the Extreme AUDIO. It is a software solution. You can just get a digital out card and got to your receiver this is common in the headphones circles. Getting a Cheap AV710 or such and using a High quality DAC. The X-Meridian is a top quality card and it sounds amazing. I would say read some more reviews adn talk to differnt owners of the cards your interested in.;)
 
If your receiver has analog inputs, I would just get the X-Fi Extreme Music. Then use the setup similar to mine in my signature.
 
It is hard for me to answer your question because I don't know which is your priority, gaming or musics. All X-Fi use the same chip except for the XtremeAudio. Elite Pro uses a different DAC and OPAMPs. Some X-Fi is cheaper than X-Meridian and they are better for games but for musics I like X-Meridian much more than X-Fi. Since I don't play much games and the games that I play don't support EAX, X-Meridian is my choice. You can also buy the XtremeGamer which is very cheap compared to the X-Meridian. It depends on how much you are willing to pay and how you use the card, you can't go wrong with both cards.
 
Ok so it seems that x-fi is a good solution. I really would love to have optical out though. Would I be better off getting a Audigy 2 zs platinum pro? or is there some kind of extension for Optical audio? I could always go with the Fatal1ty and have the internal box but that puts a optical wire coming from the front of my computer.....

And to answer the question, music is like a 6/10 priority and gaming is a 4/10 priority. So I'd like something that can do games but have good music qualities.

How would replacing the oamps be? Say I got a audigy 2 zs platinum pro or an audigy 4 pro and decided I wanted slightly better sound would new oamps make a huge difference?

Another consideration. I read somewhere that creative cards can't do DTS/DD or something which is the surround code when outputting optical audio. Is this a factor for me since I'm running a receiver that DOES do all of this? I know my DVD's will work because they are already encoded but will this affect games? I could always run analogue inputs for gaming I just really don't want the cable mess.
 
Creative's card can't encode DD/DTS so you can't get a surround sound through optical. You need to use analogue connection. Changing the OPAMPs will just change the sound if you use analogue connection, Auzentech's cards use DIY socket for the OPAMPs so it is easy to change them, you need to do some soldering to change them on a Creative's card. If you want to use digital connection, I think that you can also buy the sondigo Inferno, at newegg the price is only $90+ and it uses the same chip like the X-Meridian. If you don't want to use analogue connection, sondigo inferno will do a same job like X-Meridian at a much lower price. I don't really recommend Creative's cards for digital connection.
 
Fozzymuphet said:
Ok so it seems that x-fi is a good solution. I really would love to have optical out though. Would I be better off getting a Audigy 2 zs platinum pro? or is there some kind of extension for Optical audio? I could always go with the Fatal1ty and have the internal box but that puts a optical wire coming from the front of my computer.....

And to answer the question, music is like a 6/10 priority and gaming is a 4/10 priority. So I'd like something that can do games but have good music qualities.

How would replacing the oamps be? Say I got a audigy 2 zs platinum pro or an audigy 4 pro and decided I wanted slightly better sound would new oamps make a huge difference?

Another consideration. I read somewhere that creative cards can't do DTS/DD or something which is the surround code when outputting optical audio. Is this a factor for me since I'm running a receiver that DOES do all of this? I know my DVD's will work because they are already encoded but will this affect games? I could always run analogue inputs for gaming I just really don't want the cable mess.
Click to expand...

you can buy a $15 adapter that will convert coax digital to optical digital. http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=16&product=1780 They were OOS at creative when I went to buy it but I ended up with a m-audio co2 instead. As far as decoding DTS/DD... couldn't you just enable DTS/DD pass through to get this? From what I understand is that you won't get DTS/DD natively in games but can enable pass through to get it if you are just feeding from a source that has a built in decoder.
 
Worse from a "pure source" position? Yes, probably.

It depends on whether or not the device you're feeding digitally has converters and an output stage of better quality than the sound card. This isn't atypical.

Overall, I think your bet from a single card is to get an X-Fi and use both analog and digital. The Elite Pro is the pinnacle in terms of analog output quality (from Creative, anyway), and offers the same basic functions as any other X-Fi in the digital realm. Multichannel surround from the analog outs entails multichannel analog ins, which your receiver probably lacks.

Use analog when you're pushing an un-encoded surround source (i.e., games, surround audio such as DVD-Audio, WMA Surround). Use digital when you switch to DVD playback and for stereo listening (stereo music, non-surround games).

You can also add another sound card, like an X-Meridian, and be able to leverage the distinct capabilities of that card when you need to.

The possibilities are pretty far-reaching. It all depends on your budget (and your patience).

I think the X-Fi Extreme Music is probably the overall best buy if you're on a budget, but also take a look at the Sondigo Inferno 7.1.
 
Is the xtreme music better than the audigy 4 pro? The audigy 4 seems to have all the options I want at an affordable price. It's a little more than the audigy 2 zs plat pro but has a better remote and I think slightly better oamps.

I think the meridian is out of my budget and i'm definitely thinking I'll want EAX for games. I do lots of FPS games which really like surround sound. I like the dual sound card Idea too. Also if I do end up going x-fi I'll want a card with the x-fi chip for less CPU stress. Hmmm decisions .
 
Fozzymuphet said:
Is the xtreme music better than the audigy 4 pro? The audigy 4 seems to have all the options I want at an affordable price. It's a little more than the audigy 2 zs plat pro but has a better remote and I think slightly better oamps.

I think the meridian is out of my budget and i'm definitely thinking I'll want EAX for games. I do lots of FPS games which really like surround sound. I like the dual sound card Idea too. Also if I do end up going x-fi I'll want a card with the x-fi chip for less CPU stress. Hmmm decisions .
Click to expand...

I own all 3 Creative cards mentioned and have tested the others. X-Fi is better than both of the Audigys including the Aduigy 4 Pro for Games. The Audigy 4 Pro has better DAC's and ADC's so it still sounds pretty good for music playback. For now, you might get the very affordable X-Fi Xtreme Gamer since it still has the best Game Support. You can connect both Digital and Analog do Digital out for Music and Analog for Games, Movies or etc...
 
Alright. I'll probably pick one up at best buy when I go back home since I have a friend who gets a heavy discount : )
 
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