What sound card do you use?

RicardoSmith

Just wondering what sound card you use?

BabyEater

I use onboard soundstorm

tman

Nforce 2 onboard sound for my headphones, and a soundblaster live card hooked up to my stereo

neokenzo

On sig

RicardoSmith

tman wrote:

Nforce 2 onboard sound for my headphones, and a soundblaster live card hooked up to my stereo

Do you prefer the sound of one over the other?

elexes

personally i think my onboard sound sux compaired to the sound from the sb2 . i can definatly hear a difference

Thordon

Onboard, listening to mp3's sounds very clear anyway, clearer than radio/TV, youd have to do some convincing to get me to spend money on a seperate card.

CyberGhost

audigy 2 ZS

Stephen

onboard nforce 2 soundstorm here too.

Creamy Goodness

audigy 2 non ZS

i'm soon getting a pair of sennheisers PC155's (have a built in sound card) which i'll use for cs

ViperVenoM

Audigy 2 ZS...not that you cant read my sig :rolleyes:

RicardoSmith

Have you tried any other cards other than the one your using? I've had a SB Live, Sonic Fury, various onboard (all rubbish) currently on a USB MP3+ just for decent playback from my laptop. (onboard is rubbish again). I plan on doing some recording of my old cassettes and MD recordings back on to the PC. Haven't decided how I'll do it yet. In the past I went Cassette >> MD >> PC (sonic Fury) But I sold the Sonic Fury and wondering what I'll replace it with.

TacT

audigy 2 zs

tman

RicardoSmith wrote:

Do you prefer the sound of one over the other?

the onboard sounds a little cleaner... i'm prolly imagining that though

astrofool

audigy 2 zs platinum pro. Latest creative drivers for it are surprisingly non-rubbish.

Red Alert

indeed same here. i would have happily kept the SB Live! 5.1 but getting at the digital out to feed it to a normal (non PC Speaker System) sound system proved difficult. very happy with the Audigy2ZS Platinum Pro.

vishal

are audigy soundcards that much better than onboard. what sort of speakers do you need to tell the difference?

Jammer

astrofool wrote:

audigy 2 zs platinum pro. Latest creative drivers for it are surprisingly non-rubbish.

i have same card, total overkill for me tbh, onboard sound sounds the same to me when listening to mp3's/dvds, its good for games though.

You'd need a decent set of 2.1's to tell the difference. Of course, you'd also tell the difference with a decent pair of 5.1's/7.1's.

Mutant_Fruit

Onboard sound on my laptop, onboard sound on my pc. It sounds grand to me, and i don't particularly want to spend 100 or more on a top end soundcard when built-in works fine for me.

Then again, i have no plans to use surround sound, ever. I'd probably need something better if i wanted to use that.

mike65

Coal powered SB Live but seriously thinking about adding M Audio Audiophile 24 bit as they are now around for about 100 euro.

Mike.

Creamy Goodness

vishal wrote:

are audigy soundcards that much better than onboard. what sort of speakers do you need to tell the difference?

well i had to buy a sound card because my onboard sound sucked (abit ic7-g max 2) whenever a microphone was connected (essential for CS) the sound would crackle and basically everything was unhearable.

ViperVenoM

my mic wouldnt work with my onboard and all in all the soundcard sounds MUCH better

use to have a SB 5.1 ..live thing i think its good and currently roams around my secondary comp still out performing onboard..

astrofool

i have 5.1 speakers (inspire 5100 if I remember correct), so yea, there's a noticable difference between an audigy and onboard sound.

Use a pair of sennheiser pc150's as well, so the breakput box on the audigy is dead handy.

Creamy Goodness

what you think of the PC150's are the comortable?

astrofool

yes, i've been through a few headsets as well.

RicardoSmith

Personally I find onboard sound (with the exception of sound storm) sounds woeful. However after loads of hassle with a Creative Live card and via boards in the past I'm reluctant to get another. However lots of people say the Audigy2 cards and their drivers are much better.

duridian

I was thinking of getting the SB Audigy 2 ZS Platinum (non-pro), because of it having an internal breakout box in black to match my Wavemaster. Anybody know if it would have problems with the door on the Wavemaster case. ie. would the volume/control knobs on the front of the breakout box stop the case door of closing fully?
I was thinking of trying the breakout box from my older SB Live in the case to check this as they are pretty much alike regarding these control knobs but if someone already knew it would save me swapping that from one pc to the other.

_CreeD_

M-Audio Delta 44, no EAX but superb stereo.
I've never found an onboard Audio interface worth using, they may sound clear but are also usually flat and hollow sounding imho. THD is usually woeful on them.

Fionn

when i looked at this question i suddenly realised i didn't really know what kind of sound card i had..

Turns out i have a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 sound system 6.1
it has a pile of speakers and a control box which i put my desk lamp on!!
i dunno if it's good or bad. Sounds ok to me when there's music or whatever coming out of it.
I suppose it's all really wasted as i don't do much that requires high quality sound.

Civilian_Target

I have a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz (high-end version of the SonicFury) in my PC - and this one has a Hercules Muse Surround (or something) in it.

As far as onboard audio goes compared to a Audigy 2 or something - your mileage may vary. Most onboard audio is ****e, but some of it, such as the ones in the highend Asus motherboards are actually easily on par with an Audigy 2 in terms of audio quality (though not necessarily on features).

While Audigys tend to have lots of trendily named features and good acceleration and stuff - the connecters on them are generally what I'd qualify as "meh" at best. To my ears anyway - the best audio quality for less than €400 comes from the SonicFury - and it still has plenty of hardware gaming features. Theres another good one too - with a VIA chip in it that I can't remember the name of too.

IANOC

i use the sound blaster live 5.1.excellent all rounder with devastating results in doom 3.had to order new jocks

RicardoSmith

VIA's ICEnsemble Envy24HT processor? The Terratec Aureon uses it and seems to a good bargain card. Though not as good as creative cards for games. But probably better for music and recording.

I thought the Sonic Fury and the Santa Cruz are identical cards?

po0k

I have a SBLive 1024, partially fried because I accidentally plugged my powered speakers into the SPDIF jack.
Stuck with the default Win2k SBLive WDM driver because the creative drivers won't pick-up my card//don't detect one installed. I absolutely hate Creative's driver packaging methods.
Utter bloatware and excessive "features".
Anyone know of any 3rd-party "optimised"/slimmed-down drivers for the card?

Nietzschean

audigy 2 nx cause at the time notebook was my primary box, does the job nicely tho 7.1 speakers so easily creams onboard sound from pc/laptop

hefty_langer

Have the same, audigy2NX external and Creative 5.1 speakers.... Great for games and also handy for transferring my minidisc collection to mp3 through the optical in/out jacks...
Don't like any of the creative s/w that it comes with - that creative mediasource is woeful...
the old remote control that comes with the card is brilliant - allows you to control the PC from the couch - nice waaaan!

stagolee

i have a terratec universe 7.1 , cant recommend it though , it only works if i boot up the computer shut it off again move the card to a different pci slot and start the computer again .its not the pci slots either it'll work in any of them as long as its just been moved to it. i suspect their drivers

RicardoSmith

Dissapointing to hear about the terratec. Only problem with the Audigy NX is that it needs external power. Which is a pain.

mike65

stagolee wrote:

i have a terratec universe 7.1 , cant recommend it though , it only works if i boot up the computer shut it off again move the card to a different pci slot and start the computer again .its not the pci slots either it'll work in any of them as long as its just been moved to it. i suspect their drivers

http://supporten.terratec.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=Downloads&file=index&req=viewsdownload&sid=294&POSTNUKESID=9dcb727fc388ebcb3836463e0889e036

Its a beta version so read the warning!

Mike.

stagolee

mike65 wrote:

http://supporten.terratec.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=Downloads&file=index&req=viewsdownload&sid=294&POSTNUKESID=9dcb727fc388ebcb3836463e0889e036

Its a beta version so read the warning!

Mike.

cheers mate but i tried that one , worked once i rebooted it , so i thought "WOOHOOO!! FIXED IT" then the next time i turned it on it didnt work again .still im gonna keep an eye on them to see if their coming out with a non beta driver ,cos if its not a driver problem then im stumped

The_Conductor

Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro on an Altec Lansing 5.1 rig

Red Alert

i run the audigy's SPDIF to a Sony MiniDisc Deck and then onto a Yamaha AX-396 amp. sounds brill.

CyberGhost

has anyone else noticed that Creative released audigy 4?

http://www.soundblaster.com/products/Audigy4pro/

Creamy Goodness

where'd the audigy 3 go?

astrofool

audigy 4 is virtually the same as the audigy 2 zs. They're apparantly releasing a pci-e 1x card in march that should be a bit interesting.

Anyone noticed how hard drives and sound cards have stayed static for the last year and couple of years ?

Creamy Goodness

they are just milking them more than say graphics cards, cpu's, ram

but on the other hand there isn't really a big market for sound cards i mean this the way when you buy one you don't expect to replace it for yonks, same goes for hard drives

Dempsey

Used onboard, could hear noise on my technics. Use the optical and there is no noise, crystal clear. Threw in the Audigy for Hardware Acceleration.

HungryJoey

Onboard 7.1 digital AC'97...grand fo me but i do use reason quite alot for music making ...but its great onboard sound that u get with MSI k8N Neo... Itwilld o the job for most people out there until it comes to using MIDI Instruments.

Gaming wise , its pretty good. No problems or comments there...

All playing with a PA amp (MONO) to power subwoofer and a sony amplifier to power 4 technics speakers ( Front ) and 2 rear eltax speakers...

IMGs : : : : PLEASE TAKE A LOOK AND COMMENT

AMPLIFIERS

http://img102.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img102&image=desk6dv.jpg


SUBWOOFER :

http://img102.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img102&image=sub8au.jpg


Front speakers ( Left side ) same onright side jsut pointing right :P

http://img102.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img102&image=speakers5mc.jpg


And rear :

http://img102.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img102&image=rears17hy.jpg


COMMENTS ! Sweet sounding all in all

Its hooked to PC and TV + DVD Player..everything in room is hooked inot PC and is all mixed on PC and then sent to AMPS to pump out the crisp trble and smooth pounding bass

Theres my PC desk ( 1 PC desk ) in my garage ...

http://img120.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img120&image=imgp03659mb.jpg

RicardoSmith

HungryJoey wrote:

...IMGs : : : : PLEASE TAKE A LOOK AND COMMENT
...

You need a bigger desk.

HungryJoey

RicardoSmith wrote:

You need a bigger desk.

HEHE...Nah alot of people say that, the dsk i have is actualy one big ****er of a desk, if i didnt use dual display u would see, then i could put my 19" Monitor right at the end of desk but i loose 1/3 of the desk using dual display.

RicardoSmith

TFT's then...

aaf

M-Audio Revolution 7.1 - mainly used for listening to music. Great sound hooked up to Altec Lansing 5100 5.1 Surround Sound Speakers for the DVD's and odd game