What sound card should I get?

A

Araanor

Limp Gawd
Joined
May 28, 2005
Messages
207
Uses: Just listening to music or playing games. I use headphones. I'm not planning to hook up anything fancy.

I've grown really tired of this onboard sound card. Low sound quality can be ignored to some degree, but the interference, the slithering beeping background annoyances.. I somehow, naively, thought there was no need for discrete sound cards anymore when I built this comp.

Anyway, I figure that when I'm going to buy a card, I might as well get a good quality one. X-Fi is the series I've heard the most noises about. I notice an online store I frequent is getting in the "X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty Professional" soon, which looks to be the physically big version, at an acceptable price. At the same time, I have this impression that EAX is horrible from older games so I don't see much of a reason to care about that part. I don't play many newer games. (Mostly doing strategy or classics these days.) What say you?
 
Don't waste your time with the X-Fi stuff. It's nausiatingly over-hyped, and there are so many variations, all called X-Fi-Something, but some are hardware based, some are software based...and you can't rely on Creative's descriptions. Nor can you rely on a lot of opinions people say, because so much of what you see will be dead wrong.
To get terrific sound, low CPU utilization, and not cost a lot, get an Audigy2 or Audigy2ZS off eBay. Don't go for the Audigy2LE or any other variation, stick with Audigy2 or Audigy2ZS. Since you want to use head phones, make sure the card you are getting has a little white bracket near the top, like this: [URL=http://img126.imageshack.us/my.php?image=audigy29kt.png][/URL], so you can connect it to the front ports of your computer case (if you don't use the front ports, and just plug your headphones into the back, don't worry about it). These cards are going for about $30 on ebay now, they can do EAX 1, 2, 3, and 4 (the EAX HD stuff), and you can't go wrong.
 
and another piece of information that might interest you if you're looking at vista is

preview.creativelabs.com/alchemy
 
Araanor said:
Uses: Just listening to music or playing games. I use headphones. I'm not planning to hook up anything fancy.

I've grown really tired of this onboard sound card. Low sound quality can be ignored to some degree, but the interference, the slithering beeping background annoyances.. I somehow, naively, thought there was no need for discrete sound cards anymore when I built this comp.

Anyway, I figure that when I'm going to buy a card, I might as well get a good quality one. X-Fi is the series I've heard the most noises about. I notice an online store I frequent is getting in the "X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty Professional" soon, which looks to be the physically big version, at an acceptable price. At the same time, I have this impression that EAX is horrible from older games so I don't see much of a reason to care about that part. I don't play many newer games. (Mostly doing strategy or classics these days.) What say you?
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X-Fi Xtreme Music, Audigy 2ZS and or X-Fi Gamer Pro will give you the best all around game support. If you need truly good Music Playback, save a lot of money and get a cheap DVD Player that can playback most Formats:) It's amazing how much a DVD-MP3 disc can hold LOL!
 
Audigy2, X-Fi or Auzentech. Gee, that made things clear. ;)

I don't like the thought of ebaying for computer wares. The XMeridian comes at a bit of a premium... I'm leaning towards the X-Fi Music. The bulk version is cheaper than the Gamer they have at this store I'm looking at.
 
The X-Fi's music quality is said to be good, while its capabilities in games are fairly unsurpassed. EAX has matured since you've last used it (to certain degrees), no doubt, and some games use those effects sparingly (convincingly). The quality of EAX is very dependent upon how games utilize EAX.

Try to figure out which particular X-Fi fits your needs and go with that. You can also grab an Auzentech card, which you may prefer the sound of. The X-Plosion and X-Mystique have been described as being very well-rounded. However, the future of these cards are on somewhat shaky ground and they all lack full hardware acceleration. You can read more about that in the thread alg7 linked to.

Unless you have excellent speakers, the X-Fi is pretty much the card to have.

What Servant failed to mention is that the Audigy 2 cards, though delivering nearly the audio quality of the X-Fi, have an uncertain future with Vista. The ALchemy audio wrapper may never support those older cards.
 
Araanor said:
Audigy2, X-Fi or Auzentech. Gee, that made things clear. ;)

I don't like the thought of ebaying for computer wares. The XMeridian comes at a bit of a premium... I'm leaning towards the X-Fi Music. The bulk version is cheaper than the Gamer they have at this store I'm looking at.
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Aweee but the only one of the Auzentech cards (X-Meridian) really plays back music better than X-Fi, even that is SLIGHTLY better. THE XPlosion or the XMystique aren't in the same class. Those two are out done and gunned by the X-Fi XM. Hell, Audigy 2 ZS gives both a run for the money LOL.But that's just IMHO! Yes, look for the Bulk and OEM Xtreme Music Models. X-Fi 2 can't be that far off as Creative Price Cuts give hints to.
 
I see. Well, thanks for the answers. X-Fi Music is where it's at, I suppose. A lot of sound cards seem to have uncertain futures. Most of all, I want something that won't create problems for me. Over the years I've cultivated a certain disgust towards troubleshooting hardware. ;)
 
Araanor said:
I see. Well, thanks for the answers. X-Fi Music is where it's at, I suppose. A lot of sound cards seem to have uncertain futures. Most of all, I want something that won't create problems for me. Over the years I've cultivated a certain disgust towards troubleshooting hardware. ;)
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If you want something that won't create a problem, X-Meridian is a better choice than X-Fi. IMO, I like the sound of my X-Meridian much more than my X-Fi and for me X-Fi is SLIGHTLY better in games because it has the EAX >2.0 effects, since you are playing older games, X-Meridian also supports the older EAX effects but the price is much higher than the XtremeMusic. For me the price difference is worth it, that is my opinion.
 
How are X-Meridians less problematic than X-Fis, exactly? Creative doesn't have a solid driver track record, but nor does C-Media.
 
:D I'll let Donnie27 to answer that:
Donnie27 said:
Other sound cards don't feature Hardware acceleration like X-Fi. So you have no MLP, OpenAL or etc... clearly not the same. They require fewer Drivers so less of a chance to cause a problem in the first place.
Click to expand...
 
You are aware, of course, that his statement doesn't really mean anything. While there may a greater chance of encountering problems with hardware that performs a multitude of things, it doesn't necessarily mean that the device will be any less stable than a lesser, less capable device.

I think the X-Meridian has the potential to be the least problematic in XP and the most problematic in Vista, but that's more-or-less just an assumption and a prediction. I don't think there are any large margins of observed problematicness (new word) in XP between the two cards.

I haven't seen anyone that has used an X-Meridian in Vista, either. It may be perfect, but it's extremely early to tell at this point.

Of course, if the OP is on an nForce 4 platform, I'd probably suggest an Oxygen-based card for obvious reasons.
 
How important is each (music and gaming)?

I also use my sound card for both music and gaming but I'm a light gamer and don't care much for game audio. I recently upgraded from an Audigy 2 ZS to a M-Audio 2496 and the audio quality in music blows me away. I don't think M-Audios have much support for game sound effects but if you don't need or care much for them then this is a great card. Affordable at about $100 new.

Drivers are clean and small too.
 
phide: Yes, I have an nforce4. Both nforce4 and X-Fi are common setups, they can't be that likely to conflict?

puffcap: When I think about it, I probabably lean more to "music", most games I play do not do fancy stuff with sound, mostly it's just background music with some sound effects.
 
If you lean more towards music and are willing to spend your money, get the X-meridian and I think that you wouldn't regret it. B-Enspirer is cheaper and has the same feature like the X-Meridian, but some said that it doesn't sound as good as the X-Meridian but still a better choice for musics than the X-Fi.
 
phide said:
You are aware, of course, that his statement doesn't really mean anything. While there may a greater chance of encountering problems with hardware that performs a multitude of things, it doesn't necessarily mean that the device will be any less stable than a lesser, less capable device.

I think the X-Meridian has the potential to be the least problematic in XP and the most problematic in Vista, but that's more-or-less just an assumption and a prediction. I don't think there are any large margins of observed problematicness (new word) in XP between the two cards.

I haven't seen anyone that has used an X-Meridian in Vista, either. It may be perfect, but it's extremely early to tell at this point.

Of course, if the OP is on an nForce 4 platform, I'd probably suggest an Oxygen-based card for obvious reasons.
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Note, I did say Opinion:) But you clearly prove my point.--->While there may a greater chance of encountering problems with hardware that performs a multitude of things, it doesn't necessarily mean that the device will be any less stable than a lesser, less capable device. just odds and common sense. But we can't prove it either way since no other sound card folks are using that much Hardware on a Sound card.
 
Araanor said:
phide: Yes, I have an nforce4. Both nforce4 and X-Fi are common setups, they can't be that likely to conflict?

puffcap: When I think about it, I probabably lean more to "music", most games I play do not do fancy stuff with sound, mostly it's just background music with some sound effects.
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Don't overlook the b-Enspirer, IMHO, XMeridian didn't justify its higher price, but that's just IMO only.
 
In a nutshell, there are ongoing conflicts between nForce 4 motherboards and X-Fis. Not everyone encounters the issue (which is now affectionately known as "SCP"), but the majority of people that experience the issue (that we are aware of) are on nForce 4 boards. The issue does occasionally happen on other platforms, of course, and it is mostly attributed to the NVIDIA chipset, though it is also potentially an X-Fi driver issue.

That being said, my advice is to do some research on BIOSes for your particular board. Many board manufacturers have released BIOS updates that essentially try to accommodate the needs of X-Fi cards, though some have not.

I don't know the odds that you'll experience an issue if your motherboard doesn't have a BIOS update that fixes the X-Fi SCP issue, but if you really want to avoid problems, you might want to consider one of the Oxygen-based cards (Auzentech X-Plosion, X-Meridian, Sondigo Inferno 7.1, Bluegears B-Enspirer, etc.) over the X-Fi.

I think the Sondigo Inferno 7.1 is actually one of the better buys among the Oxygen HD cards. It uses AKM's AK3496 DACs, so it's no slouch.
 
Avoid X-Plosion, it uses another chip, not the Oxygen HD chip and the chip also has stability issues. Btw, IMO Sondigo Inferno, Club3D Theatron DTS and B-Enspirer are the same card, all of them use the same DAC, the same OPAMPs, the same chip and also the same circuit design. Someone has confirmed that Theatron DTS uses the same DAC and OPAMPs like the b-Enspirer before.
 
Yeah, that's what I thought.

All of these companies are real no-name deals, of course, so proceed with caution. In my opinion, Creative Labs may be one of the largest anti-consumer corporations in the world, but it's very unlikely they will vanish any time soon. The future of some of these smaller manufacturers/vendors is very uncertain.
 
phide said:
Yeah, that's what I thought.

All of these companies are real no-name deals, of course, so proceed with caution. In my opinion, Creative Labs may be one of the largest anti-consumer corporations in the world, but it's very unlikely they will vanish any time soon. The future of some of these smaller manufacturers/vendors is very uncertain.
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Sure but they have one thing in common with all companies. They're in it to make money and not friends, unless friends mean more money. I wish there was a MX-300 to AWE 64, TB Santa Cruz to Audigy 1 or even a SQ -2500 to SBLive competitor to the X-Fi. IMHO there's none LOL! I had all 3 of those cards and still kept that SQ-2500 for a Keepsake. Those old cards battled Creative by beating it on price, with Games and Music. They had better hardware, not Hard-Gimmicks or were one trick ponies.
 
Alot of people have bought these X-Meridians and are very happy with them. I think it really depends on what you do with your PC in terms of audio. It's up to you as it is your money.
 
My personal vote would be for an M-Audio Audiophile 2496. I have one and it is awesome for music and recording. Doesn't support EAX though, but I'm not that big of a gamer so I don't really care. I used to have an X-Fi ExtremeMusic and I like the M-Audio better.
 
I don't like the thought of spending nearly three times as much at the Meridian when I don't know how long I can make use of it. As for nonames, I'm a bit averse...

There's no BIOS update directed at the X-Fi, but my Abit KN8-sli nforce4 was one of the later nforce4-boards so I figure it's already included.
 
phide said:
What Servant failed to mention is that the Audigy 2 cards, though delivering nearly the audio quality of the X-Fi, have an uncertain future with Vista. The ALchemy audio wrapper may never support those older cards.
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Good call. I didn't even think about Vista compatibility, and considering Creative's poor track record for driver support for last-generation products, this is an issue.
The more I learn about Vista, the less inclined I am to upgrade to it. I am actually exploring moving to Linux permanently, and apparently, Creative will be releasing closed-source linux drivers for their X-Fi cards in Q2 2007 http://opensource.creative.com/. Looks interesting.
 
Linux drivers eh? Good. I'm also leery of Vista.

My patience just dried up, so I ordered an X-Fi Music bulk.
 
Forget about sound; it's over-rated.

:) sound blaster x-fi fatal1ty extreme gamer pro
 
I had a audigy 2ZS now I'm back to audigy since that board would always go to 2 channel and half the time my right speaker would inexplicably not work (sometimes work after a reboot...or if I reinstalled drivers, then just that speaker in a 5.1 system wouldn't work!)

After much frustration I gave my card away, using older audigy card now which doesn't sound as good, but I'm reluctant to ever buy creative card again since this ghost speaker issue is not just me (I've read others complain about it) plus the thing is the card still goes to 2-channel mode so I have to check for that every now and then...really a pain in the butt.

I'd try a totally new manufacturer if I could find one cheap enough.
 
oozish said:
I had a audigy 2ZS now I'm back to audigy since that board would always go to 2 channel and half the time my right speaker would inexplicably not work (sometimes work after a reboot...or if I reinstalled drivers, then just that speaker in a 5.1 system wouldn't work!)

After much frustration I gave my card away, using older audigy card now which doesn't sound as good, but I'm reluctant to ever buy creative card again since this ghost speaker issue is not just me (I've read others complain about it) plus the thing is the card still goes to 2-channel mode so I have to check for that every now and then...really a pain in the butt.

I'd try a totally new manufacturer if I could find one cheap enough.
Click to expand...

I found a perfectly working Audigy 4 from EBay for $27.95 shipped. At first I though it was bad. Then I use the an ISO of the card's install disc and then upgraded it on a different computer and wa-la. better than my Audigy 2 ZS. Just as it should have been. It is a Audigy 2 with EAX 4 support, hence the name, Audigy 4. The card worked in the old AM37 VIA board but didn't it. It is now installed on the rig that using a i875 chipset.

The other cards can do well playing back music and making use of DTS. Yet, they get their asses handed to them with Games. The better your sound system, the more this is noticed.

The smaller companies need HARDWARE not slick BS! Creative Labs doesn't own MLP so there's NO FRACKIN' reason a card call X-Meridian would have the Chip on board.
 
Audigy 2 supports EAX 4. Not only the Audigy 4.- I may be misunderstanding you. It all depends on what you want out of your card. If your into gaming and such sure look at those card if your into other things such as Music listening, Recording, Mixing, mastering, Movies. etc, you may have better luck looking other places.
 
Audioguy said:
Audigy 2 supports EAX 4. Not only the Audigy 4.- I may be misunderstanding you. It all depends on what you want out of your card. If your into gaming and such sure look at those card if your into other things such as Music listening, Recording, Mixing, mastering, Movies. etc, you may have better luck looking other places.
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That this was a $19.95 Card that supports EAX 4.0. and it shiped with EAX 4 right from the start, the others had to haved it added later. If you're gaming it kicks the crap out of the others. If you're mixing and masters sound, then EMU has something that kicks the crap out whatever's left, including M-Audio or X-Meridian. Besides that, the X-Fi is not bad at recording either.

http://www.soundblaster.com/resources/read.asp?articleid=53831&cat=3
 
He could always go the EMU way. Then he is limited once again to a card that is really only good for one thing. I thought you were saying the Audigy 2 doesn't support EAX4HD. -I misunderstood. He just needs to evaluate his needs and see which card give him what he wants. There are lots of great cards out there now. M-Audio is said to have some of the best recording cards in the business. Such as the Delta line.
 
the auzentech xplosion has gotten some pretty good reviews, i might be grabbing on this week.
 
Audioguy said:
He could always go the EMU way. Then he is limited once again to a card that is really only good for one thing. I thought you were saying the Audigy 2 doesn't support EAX4HD. -I misunderstood. He just needs to evaluate his needs and see which card give him what he wants. There are lots of great cards out there now. M-Audio is said to have some of the best recording cards in the business. Such as the Delta line.
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Sorry, EMU records better than M-Audio in this price range and has better drivers.

http://www.shentech.com/emu1212m.html

Creative Labs 70EM881006000 EMU 1212 Digital Audio System
Code: DH-EMU1212M
$139.00

MODEL- EMU1212M VENDOR- CREATIVE LABS

FEATURES- Digital Audio System
Features mastering grade 24-bit, 192 kHz converters- the same A/D
converters used in Digidesigns flagship pro tools, HD I/O
interface. Flexible connectivity with 1/4" balanced analog I/O,
24/192 ADAT I/O, 26/96 S/PDIF, MIDI I/O plus a firewire port.
E-DSP 32 bit Multi-effects Processor with over 500 presets. 32
Channels of zero latency Hardware Mixing. Monitoring with super-
flexible virtual patch bay. Ultra-Low Latency WEM, Directsound
and ASIO 2.0 drivers. Powerful software studio bundle.
Click to expand...

One other place has it for $122 see Froogle.com?
 
My personal choice of recording devices is anything that is not a card, but I digress.

I don't think getting a music production-tailored sound card is the way to go for someone looking for typical usage, especially for anyone who does any gaming. The Creative cards are purpose built for gaming, so if that's the priority, that's probably the best choice. If music is the main priority, I think the X-Meridian (or perhaps some of the lesser HD cards, such as the Inferno) are the way to go.

If C-Media manages to get solid Vista and OpenAL drivers going with the HD cards, I think they're going to end up being the cards to have for most situations. My prediction is that EAX adoption will become a downward trend within the next two to three years. We aren't there yet, however, so the X-Fis are probably the best bet for most.
 
wow, I just got the Xi-fi music for 75 bucks at Best buy (I had the ZS that card died...couldn't keep it in line....went back to audigy which sucked compared to CMSS ZS).

with the XI FI I can tell you right now this card is the best I've had/heard. I love the crystallizer; yes, I'm a musician too, I'm not an idiot, I know the crystallizer is basically a loudness tweak but it works and it sounds better on.

Music is back to delicious and balanced, thank the Morgoroth Slime Pits!
 
phide said:
My personal choice of recording devices is anything that is not a card, but I digress.

I don't think getting a music production-tailored sound card is the way to go for someone looking for typical usage, especially for anyone who does any gaming. The Creative cards are purpose built for gaming, so if that's the priority, that's probably the best choice. If music is the main priority, I think the X-Meridian (or perhaps some of the lesser HD cards, such as the Inferno) are the way to go.

If C-Media manages to get solid Vista and OpenAL drivers going with the HD cards, I think they're going to end up being the cards to have for most situations. My prediction is that EAX adoption will become a downward trend within the next two to three years. We aren't there yet, however, so the X-Fis are probably the best bet for most.
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Big deal, I listen to music and watch movies downstairs in my Den. Both provided via a set top and 55" HD TV. NOT something like dinky assed Logitech 5500's but that's for another thread.

My computer is for entertainment such as games, information, some work, Picture archives and etc..... I wouldn't dream of using the other Cards, including the XMeridian for Gaming. More power to those who do, I'd want BETTER from something that costs that much. Anyone doing an AB with games will never pick X-Meridian over an X-Fi=P That has nothing to do with tastes or opinion. We tested this card on at least 6 different set ups. Slightly better music playback was all it could muster. It didn't record as well, it got crushed on Games and too many questions for Vista so far. The biggest shock was it didn't even sound better with Halflife 2 since it has no EAX.
 
Donnie27 said:
Anyone doing an AB with games will never pick X-Meridian over an X-Fi=P That has nothing to do with tastes or opinion. We tested this card on at least 6 different set ups
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I did AB with my X-Fi and X-Meridian when playing GTR2, Carbon, Oblivion, and Rise of Legend. I'll never ever pick X-Fi for those games, sorry but not a FPS fan. These are the games that I play now.
 
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