Need Sound Card advice

[Larry_OHF]

I have a Soundblaster Live...bought in 1999 or 2000. I doubt it is the Live 5.1...but I do own the 5.1 speakers. Inspire 5.1 5300 to be exact.

What I need to know is whether ot not I should upgrade my sound card. I have been thinking that my current card does not work 100% with WinXP...as I have a few unmentionable minor quirks as well as only being able to say that the speaker output be 4 speakers. I am supposing that if my soundcard supported my 5.1 speakers...I would have the option to choose 5 speakers mode...right?

Anyway...I was thinking about either the Audigy 2 which is a 24-bit, 6.1 supported as well as DVD preferred or the Audigy Gamer which is 24-bit, 5.1 supported.

I do not know much about sound cards at all, nor do I have a DVD player...but I am optimistic. Any of you wanna teach me something?

[lethoso]

audigy 2 is not a bad card, a bit expensive though...

If you are looking to spend less than that i'd recommend a fortissimo III or a turtle beach santa cruz.... both have wonderful drivers, and are good quality cards [img]smile.gif[/img]

your problem of the centre channel not being used is not uncommon though, a solution lifted from another forum i visit:

"Download the Creative Playcentre, install then enable CMSS. This makes any stereo input work with the centre channel, system wide, all 5.1 input will still function correctly."

[TheCrimsomBlade]

Larry I have the cheapest sound card you can get and I run 11 speakers off of it. I just buy speakers that have little amps built in and it blows my sons 5.1 out the window I have had people tell me that I have the greatest surround sound they have ever heard and I think I've put about $200.00 total into all the speakers. all you need is and old home stereo to run the sound through and the only sound card I use is the first sound blaster card that fit a PCI slot and it cranks.

[Ziroc]

Don't bother wasting money on an Audigy 2. Get the Audigy 1. (TRUST ME). Unless you are going to hook up a huge 6.1 surround sound system, you don't need the '2'.

Now, I have the 'platinum', which comes with that front side slot input cover (which is totally awesome, has optical in and outs and standard which I've used for IW Radio).

If you don't care about a 'front slot card' then just get the sound card. It's a damn nice card Larry, and the best you can get.

PS: if you go with anything other than creative labs, you WILL have sound problems with many games. Turtle Beach, and others just are not popular any more, or supported by many of the new games that are out. . Sucks, I know. Plus, If you want EAX sound, (which nearly all games tout these days) go with the Audigy 1 Lar.

[ 04-12-2003, 12:53 AM: Message edited by: Ziroc ]

[lethoso]

Originally posted by Ziroc: PS: if you go with anything other than creative labs, you WILL have sound problems with many games. Turtle Beach, and others just are not popular any more, or supported by many of the new games that are out. . Sucks, I know. Plus, If you want EAX sound, (which nearly all games tout these days) go with the Audigy 1 Lar.

I have absolutely no problems with sound in any games ziroc, and i'm using a fortissimo 2, which has the same chipset as tbsc... what games specifically? But for EAX creative is the only way to go unfortunately....

[Ziroc]

Originally posted by lethoso: Quote: Originally posted by Ziroc: PS: if you go with anything other than creative labs, you WILL have sound problems with many games. Turtle Beach, and others just are not popular any more, or supported by many of the new games that are out. . Sucks, I know. Plus, If you want EAX sound, (which nearly all games tout these days) go with the Audigy 1 Lar.

I have absolutely no problems with sound in any games ziroc, and i'm using a fortissimo 2, which has the same chipset as tbsc... what games specifically? But for EAX creative is the only way to go unfortunately....[/QUOTE]With my old PC, nearly ALL games won't work fully, or have skips with the Montego II from TB. Latest drivers, and all too. BTW, you may not know that you are missing LOTS of additional sounds from most of your games with other sound cards, because most game dev's have many tracks and it's tied into the EAX sound driver to uncode them. say you are in Morrowind, and you walk to a lake, you may hear the water, but do you hear the birds? the wind and the background of the town just to the south? That is why EAX is pretty much the only option if you want the most out of your games. I loved Turtle beach, but once their version of 'eax' didn't pan out, it's gone down hill. And they are not to hot with updating drivers.

BTW, I was just looking at my old Sound card boxes--I just found my OLLLLLDDDD Original Sound Blaster (version 1.0) THE first soundblaster card in 1991 or 1992. lol!!!! Now we have old plate inputs, optical inputs and stuff.. amazing stuff. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[lethoso]

i'll install morrowind again now and let you know [img]smile.gif[/img]

edit: seem to have lost them in my room somewhere :/

[ 04-12-2003, 01:56 AM: Message edited by: lethoso ]

[Larry_OHF]

Thanks, y'all. That gives me more info to help in my consideration.

[Animal]

Both the Audigy and Audigy 2 support 24bit playback, but only the Audigy 2 supports 24 bit recording. The Audigy still unly supports 16 bit recording.

I upgraded from a Live! to an Audigy under XP and can notice a definite difference in quality. A few points to consider:

1. Both the Live! and Audigy series of cards can be problematic with VIA chipsets and a real hassle to get working properly.

2. The Audigy series of cards are all the same, just different software bundles with them. The platinum series comes with a breakout box, but the card itself is identical to an OEM version.

3. The Audigy has a built in firewire port. That's a great feature for many people, almost like getting 2 cards in 1. If you don't currently have firewire support on your PC, this could be a great feature.

There's a tonne of decent cards on the market, all with slightly different features. Creative cards are the defacto if you will, and most games are designed with that in mind, so if your interested in compatibility with current and future games, Audigy is the way to go.

[Larry_OHF]

I have read something about the firewire stuff. What does it really do for me?