Sound Cards

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n00dlejester

n00b
Joined
Dec 19, 2007
Messages
43
Hey Everyone,

So I was looking into getting some new parts for my PC, and one of them is a soundcard. I have no clue what's good and what's not, so you tell me. What do you have? Is it good? Would you upgrade it if you had the choice?

I have just a 4 year old 2.1 Altec Lansing speaker set I love and I'm just wondering how much of a difference for movies/music and some light gaming a new sound card would make.

Thanks!
 
You might not even need a sound card. Most onboard nowadays aren't half bad. What motherboard do you have?
 
You might wanna repost in the Computer Audio section of this forum, they usually have a lot of good suggestions. For myself, I have a Creative X-Fi XtremeGamer that has served me well over the last year, but you might wanna look into the Asus Xonar DX, supposedly a lot better for around the same price, $90.
 
If you have basic speakers, upgrading your sound card isn't going to do much for you.
 
If you want to spend that much on X-fi, you might as well look at Swans M10. They are available on http://theaudioinsider.com. There should be a deal for them soon.. keep on the lookout.

As bigdogchris said, you will need new speakers to hear a difference.
 
I don't even know what motherboard I've got, lol. My guess is it's pretty generic.

I used to own an Audigy back in the day, and then I gave it away. I noticed that the clarity at louder volumes is roughly the same between Audigy and onboard, but the range of frequencies I hear is drastically reduced with onboard. I remember that the lows were bombastic, and the highs were crystal clear. And above all else, the sound was a lot more rich and organic. So I was just wondering what you guys all think would be good.

Xonar, I like that name, haha. Maybe I'll give Asus a shot - they've been good to me in the past with motherboards.
 
If you're looking for an "organic" sound, the DX is probably what you'll want. The X-Fis tend to be fairly neutral and stale in comparison to the DX and other Oxygen HD-based cards, which are less neutral and and generally "hotter".
 
What Altec's do you have?

Depending on the set you own, you might be better off getting a different set and then running it off motherboard SPDIF.
 
I can't personally vouch for the Xonar DX although I've heard lots of good things about them. I personally have an HT Omega Claro. It's a bit more expensive, but I'm a big fan of the sound quality.
 
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