Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: Brenjen on April 26, 2006, 04:19:47 PM
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I am sound card shopping. I would like input from you folks on what card is best for AHII. I am using the onboard sound that came on my ASUS mobo ( Realtek ALC850 ) & have been experiencing popping & crackle. I am not an audiophile per se; but I hate things that aren't right....I think they call it obesessive compulsive.
Anyway, I was looking for a card that's reasonable in price & doesn't lean on the CPU. The only sound card I have experience with is the SB LIVE 24Bit & I must say I wasn't impressed. I was looking at these three cards:
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16829156001
OR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829127001
OR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829102178
I want your honest opinion, I don't care what it is; if you think the onboard audio is the best...say so. just please give some Information as to WHY you like this or that.
Also, I am not set on anything. Those three I posted above are just what I have narrowed it down to on my own over the past few weeks. If you have a different recommendation by all means....spill it! Inquiring minds want to know.
Thanks in advance for any help/information
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I just got one of these for my notebook:
http://www.turtlebeach.com/site/products/audioadv/roadie/producthome.asp
Turtle Beach Roadie, 5/ 7.1 SPDIF in / out works like a charm sounds spiffy neat-o.
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*bump*.....I hate to steal Autin Powers movie lines but "Throw me a fricken bone here people" :D
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Well they say that the on board kills FPS, but I have to wonder if that is still the case with new motherboards?
Also wonder what happens if you have dual core CPU. I mean, if onboard eats CPU cycles, but the game only works with one core, could it be possible that the "free" core just got a job?
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i have the last card (creative).....great card, great sound......no problems noted.......just make sure you updated ur drivers per http://www.creative.com.
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How about this one too, anyone?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829102188
If you haven't noticed I'm not into cards than run much over $100. I can't see the cost vs. use for my needs which are listening to music & gaming.
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i recomend the zs gamer
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I've always used Creative Soundblaster-series cards and have had good luck with them. I always buy my computer with the card, though, not with built-in sound on the motherboard. This is based on past experience with on-board being slow and crappy -- but that was long ago. I, too, wonder if on-board sound is fine these days.
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To be honest, the onboard I have now is as good as the soundblaster live 24bit I had was. I just want to alleviate the popping & crackling that I hear on AH & I thought I could free up some CPU usage at the same time. (not that I really need it) That soundblaster was a piece O' crap in my opinion & that has sort of made me shy away from thinking about anything creative makes, but the Audigy & X-Fi have a decent reputation...I'm just so confused:)
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When my old PC was still alive, it did also have noice when I used on board sound.
But if I muted the CD volume, the noice was gone.
So if you have connected the audio cabel in CD-ROM devices, try to mute the AUX/CD sound, maybe you get the same effect?
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Okay, I went with the Audigy 2 ZS. Until I retire this PC to home theatre duty I just don't need the higher priced ( & better ) Auzentech X-Plosion 7.1
The Audigy should fill the role of gaming & light music use. Thank you to the folks that took the time to give me their opinions.
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Turtle Beach -- AYE!:aok
hap
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Originally posted by Brenjen
To be honest, the onboard I have now is as good as the soundblaster live 24bit I had was. I just want to alleviate the popping & crackling that I hear on AH & I thought I could free up some CPU usage at the same time. (not that I really need it) That soundblaster was a piece O' crap in my opinion & that has sort of made me shy away from thinking about anything creative makes, but the Audigy & X-Fi have a decent reputation...I'm just so confused:)
M audio makes a great sound card:
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Revolution71-main.html
I also highly reccomend the Hercules line of cards:
http://www.hercules.com/showpage.php?swcty=UK&p=104&b=1&f=1
But I'm sticking with Turtle beach, after years and years of creatives cards, this one just sounds better to me.
With onboard sound... it depends if you have an APU, some do, most dont.
My tower motherboard, GA-7NNXP Gigabyte, has the on board sound with the NVIDIA Audio Processing Unit (APU) and SoundStorm technology... which is exactly like having a seperate sound card, and it actually sounds better, IMO, than the Audigy 2 I plugged in.
One brand to look into if you're "broke a joke", are the el-cheapo C-media line... I have a USB c media 5.1 thats worked just fine, but it looked cheaply made.
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It's already a done deal with the audigy 2 zs. If you like the soundstorm that Nvidia....for some as yet unknown reason, just gave up on...then you'll probably dig the new Auzentech X-plosion. It revives the soundstorm experience from what I've read; & when I move this PC to the home theatre role it's getting an Auzentech card.
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I just ordered the AuzenTech HDA X-Plosion 7.1 DTS from NewEgg. I liked the rca coax on the sound card w/o having to install a big module on the front of your tower, or buy a seperate i/o module like you have to do with sound blaster if you want to use the digital coax i/o. Hope it works!
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Turtle Beach used to build a good card. They stopped designing cards a few years ago and only offer repackaged sound chips, from other companies, on a card.
M-Audio boards have lousy, to abysmal, DirectX Sound (DirectSound) support, so they suck for gaming. They do provide the best quality of sound for other standard Windows stuff (ASIO, WAV, ....).
The Creative Audigy 2 and Audigy 2 ZS lines are probably the best, most stable sound cards Creative has ever shipped. The X-Fi line is coming along.
Not a big fan of Creative Labs, but they are the only sound card company left on the market actually making sound cards which can actually provide a better game experience through lower CPU usage, and better quality of sound.
Just avoid using them with VIA chipset motherboards. Or, at least, the older VIA chipset motherboards as VIA really had some compatibility issues.
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I'm pegged at 85FPS
I use onboard.
Old PC dropped vox with a SB Audigy. I'll refrain from installing the card.
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Originally posted by Skuzzy
Just avoid using them with VIA chipset motherboards. Or, at least, the older VIA chipset motherboards as VIA really had some compatibility issues.
As a follow-up to this comment...
My new motherboard has a VIA chipset. However, I don't seem to have any problems running my Audigy1 at all. It might be that these problems are gone, with the newer chips.
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Originally posted by Masherbrum
I'm pegged at 85FPS
I use onboard.
Old PC dropped vox with a SB Audigy. I'll refrain from installing the card.
Dropped VOX can be a deluge of things. Onboard sound chips will always use far more CPU cycles than a good quality add-on sound card will. It is the nature of the beast.
I have never dropped VOX on my Audigy 2 nor Audigy 2 ZS cards.
My first guess when someone has a sound card issue goes to the interrupts. If a sound card shares an interrupt with another medium to high data usage device, there is a very good chance sound will be erratic and VOX will probably be lost as well.
The big trick with any add-in sound card is to make sure it has its own dedicated physical interrupt channel.
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Krusty, good to know. Maybe they (VIA) finally did fix the issues.
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Just built a new PC and ended up sending the soundcard back. Audio and game was good w/o.
Didnt think of the on board as hogging CPU resources.
Any idea how much that can slow down fps? (just a rough guess?)
I stay around 60-75 now so no problems but hey; if sound card makes it even smoother...
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Found thread on audio card search...and have a little something to add.
I've used onboard with a new motherboard, and had no noticeable performance hits. However, I've had long time problems with VOX in TA and in other arenas.
I was just talking with Hammer, who also recently built a computer. He said that he ran into odd little dropped sound problems in a variety of arenas and settings. He couldnt track them down, but tried sticking an old card in to see what happened -- and all sound problems disappeared. As he said, "Problem was solved but never identified."
I'm planning to get a card and see if it resolves my difficulties....I'll keep you posted.
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Thanks Simaril.
Love the Quote by the way; I HATE whiners.
Look fwd to hearing what you found out.
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This is a great card for home theater; a lousy card for AH because of lousy drivers and lousy tech support (they haven't answered my questions). With AH I have tried both direct input mic and usb mic. The volume is low on both. The usb cuts out frequently both send and receive. The direct input causes the engine noise to double for the first few seconds of the transmission and also has the cutout problems. They have a beta set of drivers, but when I installed them they didn't show up as being installed - still waiting for tech support to answer. It's a beautiful card to look at, with it's gold connections; maybe I'll by a picture frame and put the fricking thing on the wall where it belongs. Don't buy it, at least until they fix the drivers.
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Audigys are fine but I have had isues with blue screening in certain games (dragonshard and all Tony Hawk's games). Reducing the sound acceleration usually fixes it, especially Tony Hawk's games.
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Gave up on the audigy and decided not to install it in my new system: core2 E6600/evga 680i SLI mobo/evga 8800GTX video. Using the onboard sound w/logitech usb desktop mic seem to work real well (extreme power seems to make up for any deficiencies of an onboard audio system) :aok
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I bought a Terratec card for my new gaming box. At least they advertised 100% directx support, time will tell.
I expect to get the parts in 1-2 days.
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Originally posted by Jazz1
Gave up on the audigy...
Oops, I meant I gave up on the Auzentech X-Plosion DTS card in the above post...
(audigy is the soundblaster series that most people are using with good results in AH).
But I'm keeping it in a drawer, just in case they get around to fixing the drivers. I just sent them a ticket with a copy of my negative post. Maybe that with light a fire under them...:t
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Get the X-Fi and be done with it. Superb gaming sound!!!!
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I'm using the onboard sound on my new "black box" (evga Nvidia NForce 680i SLI mobo) and it works great with AH, so I won't be installing a sound card and using up a pci slot (that evga 8800 video card take up a lot of room)
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The $40 terratec that I bought sounds better than any Creative I've heard and works 100% fine with all my games. Optical in/out, 5.1 sound and superior sound quality.
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Whats the difference between 7.1 and 5.1 if you have 5 speakers and a subwolfer as i do than wouldnt 7.1 be a waste?
Im looking at getting a new sound card as well because my onboard is starting to have some issues.
Also i have 2 dvd burners and 1 dvd player, can i hook up all or just 1 to the cards cd input?
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7.1 does not bring any real benefit to anyone, it's more of a marketing gimmick.
7.1 is for the people who don't know anything about audio and are happy just having a 7.1 label and plastic soapbox speakers spread around the room. Any audiophile would burst into laugh if someone would present that kind of setup with a serious face to them.
Even 5.1 benefit is highly questionable as many people dont have what it takes to build a true 5.1 system. Meaning 5 identical Hi-Fi speakers and a quality subwoofer.
We're talking $2000 for speakers alone minimum where regular stereo you can get away with $400 speakers for a basic beginner level system. Although a quality subwoofer such as Velodyne DD-18 (http://www.stereophile.com/subwoofers/604velodyne/) will stomp that $2000 budget alone, mind you. :cool:
My current setup (for gaming) is $400 Chorus 2-way speakers in stereo configuration and Yamaha DSP-AX2 as the amplifier. Yes the amp is a *slight* overkill but it was lying around without use anyway so..
The Choruses are beginner level hi-fi speakers and have quite good value for their price even though they aren't what I hope from audio.
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MrRipley is quite right. I just got through going through an upgrade to my home theater system. Moved my old Yamaha DSP-A1 into the office to use with the computer. Like his, definately, overkill.
Not counting the new amp (DSP-Z9) I plonked down nearly $8,000 for the 3 mains and 2 rear surround speakers (B&W). Already have $5,000 in the B&W subs (non-powered) (dual configuration). Still on the fence about adding the 2 additional front surrounds that the Yamahe amp will support.
Any thoughts there MrRipley?
7.1 is a bit of a joke and is all about marketing. If it was done correctly, it would be a minor benefit to large theaters. But for home use, it really is useless. The tradeoffs from 5.1 to 7.1 just are not worth it.
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Not counting the new amp (DSP-Z9) I plonked down nearly $8,000 for the 3 mains and 2 rear surround speakers (B&W). Already have $5,000 in the B&W subs (non-powered) (dual configuration). Still on the fence about adding the 2 additional front surrounds that the Yamahe amp will support.
ooooohhhhhhhhh can i come over and watch movies at your house?? pweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaassssssse eeeeee!!!!!!!!
Anywho whn i was asking about the 7.1 issue it was in regards to pc sound cards. i dont have a extravagant sound system just the 5 logitec speakers and subwolffer
i was thinking of this one
extreme gamer (http://shop4.outpost.com/product/5020035)
99.00 after rebate
i did al littel digging and the picture is incorrect tho :eek:
it shows a different card with the i/o front panel THAt particular card sells for about $200.00
i would just like a good (better than decent) sound card in the $100.00 price range.
If anyone knows of a 5.1 card that is really good im all ears. i havent found one that was near my 100.00 range so im open to suggestions
I dont really know much about the creative fatality series but what i have read so far has impressed me
EDIT: the audigy 2 zs card looks really awsome and has gotten great reviews
is it worth the extra $82.00 at newegg? I like playing my dvd's in surround sound and my gamming ofcourse. Im not really looking to build some sic system that shatters windows BUT, i do like good quality sound reproduction
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Oops... spoke too soon about my onboard sound working great on the EVGA 680i mobo. I thought is was fine, but dj229 said I didn't answer a number of his calls and I also didn't hear some of his. So, I think I'll try installing that new Auzentech X-Plosion I bought, even though their tech dept hasn't answered my support tickets asking about drivers and why the beta driver doesn't seem to install. I tried to shame them into answering by telling them I was poo-pooing their product on this forum, but that may have backfired for me...
That terratec MrRipley's talking about must be an UK only item as I don't see too may for sale on this side of the pond...
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Originally posted by MOIL
Get the X-Fi and be done with it. Superb gaming sound!!!!
Yep i have to agree , for gaming my X-FI has been great , by far the best creative card ive ever had .
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I cant believe the Audigy was suggested and even purchased over the X-Fi, which is a superior card for gaming. If you wanna play hardware accelerated EAX games, get an X-Fi ExtremeMusic for below $100.
If not, then just use onboard audio.
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Think im gonna go with the x-fi fatality for gamers
99.00 after rebate
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Originally posted by Connection
I cant believe the Audigy was suggested and even purchased over the X-Fi, which is a superior card for gaming. If you wanna play hardware accelerated EAX games, get an X-Fi ExtremeMusic for below $100.
If not, then just use onboard audio.
EAX is going away in the near future. Just FYI.
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That may be true, but current games use it to great effect, and its still the better card.
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Can you install the drivers only for the X-Fi line yet? Or do you still have to install the Creative utilities? If you are still forced to install the Creative utilities, no matter how good the hardware is (and the X-Fi line is good stuff), Creative utilities can absolutely wreck your PC.
Presonal preference for EAX, as I do not like it at all. It was/is a lazy programmer who uses it.
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You can install the drivers only, and the control panel is VERY minimal. Seems they learned their lesson and are careful not to bloat it.
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Originally posted by Skuzzy
MrRipley is quite right. I just got through going through an upgrade to my home theater system. Moved my old Yamaha DSP-A1 into the office to use with the computer. Like his, definately, overkill.
Not counting the new amp (DSP-Z9) I plonked down nearly $8,000 for the 3 mains and 2 rear surround speakers (B&W). Already have $5,000 in the B&W subs (non-powered) (dual configuration). Still on the fence about adding the 2 additional front surrounds that the Yamahe amp will support.
Any thoughts there MrRipley?
7.1 is a bit of a joke and is all about marketing. If it was done correctly, it would be a minor benefit to large theaters. But for home use, it really is useless. The tradeoffs from 5.1 to 7.1 just are not worth it.
I've heard the Yamaha setup with full speakers and I wasn't impressed. The difference was there obviously but nothing to blow my mind really. Having said that if you have an extra pair of speakers with no use, go ahead and try it. I wouldn't invest money into that though.
I've always been more of a 2-way guy anyway and I found that I preferred to listen even movies through my full range electrostatic speakers instead of using the surround. The ESL:s have ample holography for a single viewer. Meaning you get full surround sound from only 2 speakers - downside is that you get it only in a very narrow sweet spot.
If you watch mostly alone, good dipole speakers can deliver just enough for one person. For sessions with several people, surround setup is a must. But it comes with a price.. both spatial and financial.
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I just thought I would mention that I use an older Sound Blaster Audigy LS card. This is the first generation Audigy, and it includes a well-built gameport and 5.1 surround sound.
I don't think I've ever had a sound-card related problem. Ever. I have a Medusa 5.1 surround sound headphone system, and can vouch that the surround functionality works as advertised, even with full acceleration.
Though an older card, I would certainly look for another one if I needed it...
-Llama