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I am on the market for a decent sound card. I don't want to spend too much on it (I would prefer to put that money towards other PC parts!), but wouldn't mind something around the lines of $50- $75. Can I get a decent card for that? Am I underspending (or overspending, for that matter)? I don't know enough about sound cards, I have always been satisfied with using on-board.
You can see my specs in my sig. Thanks!
You can get a Creative Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 for $29 or an Audigy for less than $75:
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduc...ound%2Cblaster
I have one of each in my 2 PC's and they're as good as you can get as far as I'm concerned. If you are particularly interested in creating music then Terratec cards are considered marginally better for musicians.
First thought is that you are satisfied with the onboard sound? If all is good why spend any $$$ on it at all? Are you having issues with your on-board sound now ?
Here are some good articles on soundcards:
http://www17.tomshardware.com/search...ds=sound+cards
While I am not experiencing any troubles with my onboard sound, I just wanted something better. I want to find somethign that has 5.1 Dolby or similar so that my DVD player is worth using, as well as some games use that now. I guess I just wanted something different, and don't think my current sound is performing up to par.
I will check out Tom's hardware, I had forgotten their website! Thanks for the suggestions.
You can get the audigy 2 for around 75 if you do your shopping....
Ok,,i can't just ignore this thread.:) I left the world of 'Creative' far behind after i purchased my first Voyetra-Turtle Beach-Santa Cruz card. It's 'much' less intrusive and the driver install is a no-brainer. I just purchased a set of Logitech 6.1 speakers to replace my Altec-Lansing 3 piece set and the sound quality is amazing!
Check it out and read the reviews at Newegg.
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...tby=14&order=1
And the original card(which i have)can be had for us$45.00 with free Fed Ex shipping!
Very happy camper here...:D
my gametheatre xp is running like a champ and the breakout box is a nice addition
www.hercules.com
Job Ridgerunr.... was waiting for that vote! That's the sound card I'm running. Quite good... I too left Creative in the dust years back for much the same reasons.
Well, I think I finally decided to go with an Audigy 2. I read a number (close to 100) reviews, and I think that the Audigy will do best for gaming. Thanks everyone for pointing me towards quality!
Hi jslater25
It depends on what you want. If you want just a basic sound card like Creative's Soundblaster Live or Vibra 128. However I heard the Hercules sound cards are not too bad either http://www.hercules.com/
For me, I use the Soundblaster Audigy 2 Platinum Edition and I will admit it rocks and the sound is unreal :cool:
Ridge has the right of it. Sounds better than any Creative I have heard. PLUS no DOS drivers to get in the way and mess things up!
Seen them advertised for about $40 lately.
Voyetra-Turtle Beach-Santa Cruz make great cards. I like the prices best. As far as the sound being so much better than an Audigy card I can't attest to that I would say they are equal in that regard. Perhaps I attended too many Led Zepplin concerts for my hearing to pickup the subtle differences. :)
Resurrecting an ancient thread. So these two are still fairly decent cards?
CREATIVE SOUND BLASTER SB0400 AUDIGY 2 PCI SOUND CARD
Creative Sound Blaster SB0570 Audigy SE 7.1 3D PCI Card
http://cgi.ebay.com/Creative-Sound-B...QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/CREATIVE-SOUND-B...QQcmdZViewItem
Yes they are. They aren't in the same league as the X-Fi cards, but are excellent cards nonetheless. The Audigy 2 is the better of the two.