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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.
I must have subscribed to this thread back in the day when I was doing a new build. (Gosh, has it been 4 years since many of you held my hand and walked me through that one !?!?). Anyway, came to check out the thread.
I have the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz, really like it, I get great sound between that and my Altec Lansing speakers. Remembered I paid a pretty penny 4 years ago to get good hardware. Just checked ebay out of curiosity. The TB Santa Cruz are going for not much at all. :rolleyes:
Ain't that the way of technology, tho? :p :)
I thought the onboard sound was good on my system until I bought a Creative Labs audigy sound card. Now I have a Xfi and its simply awsome.Quote:
First thought is that you are satisfied with the onboard sound?
Good SS speakers help. Its hard for me to believe my computer sounds as good or perhaps better than my Kenwood amp and Denon CD player topped off with Polks best. The Kenwood&Polks ability the blast the windows out are their only advantage.
It's pretty amazing when you think about it. I remember gazing longingly at hi-fi equipment that I couldn't afford when I was a teenager in the 70's, now I get better quality on a £100 sound card along with a synthesiser that's far better than a Fairlight which cost a cool quarter of a mil back in the early 80's :eek:
And on top of that you can listen to music in a way that you never could with the old hi-fi systems, such as listening to music with EAX effects on - it turns it into a whole different experience! I just love my X-Fi Fatal1ty and my Sennheiser headphones :)
I am running Creative labs Z-5500 ss speakers on my computer and along with the new Xfi card the sound is amazing. I spend a large amount of money for my home stereo system only to be in awe of these tiny little computer speakers. All for the price of the tax on my home system.
Here's a silly little question for you guys ;)
I have a friend who is heavy into music, and he just built an entire new sound system (again) only this time it seems he went backwards with some components. He bought those giant speakers from the 70's on eBay. Remember those?! The tall ones with the big cone subwoofers, etc.? He's got speakers all around the room, a comfy chair plunked right in the center, and when you put on the head phones and shut your eyes, you'll hear sound coming at you from all directions. It's like you can hear each instrument coming at you from a different direction. I was listening to Fleetwood Mac and could hear Stevie's voice in front of me to the left, Lindsey's voice in front of me to the right, drums behind me, it was everywhere! It is the most awesome thing I ever heard! :D
Is that possible to achieve on a PC with a premium sound card and SS speakers?
I'd say it is easier to achieve on a computer using SS speakers, the sound card will give much finer control over the output to each speaker. The only problem with SS speakers is that the satellites are small. If you wanted to recreate what your friend did with large speakers, then you'd need to split the sound card output into separate amplifiers driving each pair of speakers I think.
Thanks, Nick!
And uber cool link, SpywareDr! :) I bet they hear every leaf that falls off every tree with that system! :D
You're very Welcome :)