Anyone upgrade to a SB Audigy from a Vortex 2 based card?

[JDR100]

I've been using my Xitel Platinum sound card for about 2 years now and I'm very happy with it. With no support anymore for A3D and all the newer games using EAX 2.0 I was thinking about getting an Audigy based card. Has anyone made this transition? How is the overall quality of the Audigy? I prefer to play all my games with headphones so I don't care about surround sound. Should I shell out $100 for an Audigy or stick with my Vortex 2 based card until something much better hits the market?

 

[JDR100]

bump

 

[Lalakai]

I'm in the same boat, currently using the vortex 2500. Short of going with the Phillips Accoustic Edge, I may just go with the SB Live. Like you, I'm not into the surround sound and usually go with my headphones.

 

[Daovonnaex]

<< I've been using my Xitel Platinum sound card for about 2 years now and I'm very happy with it. With no support anymore for A3D and all the newer games using EAX 2.0 I was thinking about getting an Audigy based card. Has anyone made this transition? How is the overall quality of the Audigy? I prefer to play all my games with headphones so I don't care about surround sound. Should I shell out $100 for an Audigy or stick with my Vortex 2 based card until something much better hits the market? >>

Take your $100 and get an Acoustic Edge or a Santa Cruz.

 

[sandorski]

I recently replaced my Aureal SQ2500 with an Audigy Gamer. The SQ2500 still is better for 3d positioning and I find that EAX is still for the most part crap, but the Audigy has decent 3d positioning through DirectX. The Audigy is noticeably clearer sounding for music and movies. I wanted a Hercules GTXP, Santa Cruz, or Phillips AE, but had to settle for the Audigy. Not sure how long I'll keep this card, but it's not bad.

Overall, I think that you'll likely notice a difference in sound and it is an upgrade. Just make sure to check into the other soundcards first.

 

[JDR100]

How does the Audigy sound in games not using EAX? I mean using Direct x sound was there a definite improvement in quality over your Vortex card?

As far as other cards go I checked out the Phillips line and I wasn't impressed, And the Hercules was nice but included a bunch of extra stuff that I don't need. I need a new card for 99% gaming, I don't care about movies or video quality.
The Santa Cruz also seemed ok but doesn't support any of the newer api's.

 

[boyRacer]

I have both in two different systems. The Audigy provides 'clearer' sounds... meaning every hiss and pop of MP3s out there... but other than that my ears can't tell a damn thing. Id stick with the Vortex2 if i were you...no problems in WinXP and its running great.

 

[sandorski]

JDR100: Sound clarity is better with the Audigy, but 3d positioning doesn't seem to be as precise as with the SQ2500.

 

[boyRacer]

I wouldn't even call it sound positioning on the Audigy as its nothing more than fancy reverb.

 

[sandorski]

The Audigy can do 3d positioning using DirectX, but not with EAX. I agree that EAX plain sucks, though the new EAX HD looks promising.

 

[Soccerman]

I'm sortof in the same position as u... I know I'll be looking for a Gamer card soon (when I update from win98), but I hate to go with the Audigy cause it's a downgrade with 3D positional... that, and they killed Aureal :-(

one problem I probably would encounter with the Audigy though is the infernal 686b bug.. unless the patches actually do something (which I have heard that the work from some and they don't work from others).

sigh... if only the GTXP had the 3D API's that developers will be using (ie, something equal in features/quality to A3D 3.0)... I would jump on it..

 

[Doomguy]

Soccerman: Get a Santa Cruz. I just ordered one to upgrade my MX300. I don't want to deal with crappy drivers that Creative puts out and the sound quality on the Audigy isn't any better. Specs are meaningless if it doesn't deliver in the real-world.

 

[Brian48]

Well, how do you know it doesn't deliver in the real world? Do you actually own one?

JDR100,

The Audigy is a fine card. Despite what the anti-Creative zealots will tell you, there is nothing wrong with it that would make it a lesser choice than the other makes. There is not a single card on the market that doesn't have it's own set of issues (I've owned most of them). If you feel you want it, go a head and get it. It will serve you well and you WILL notice a difference in sound quality.

 

[SonicFlux]

I recently bought a Santa Cruz to replace my sblive value due to driver problems with WinXP. This wouldn't have been a problem if I used headphones, but I have a 5.1 digital setup, and Creative's drivers were NOT allowing me to switch speaker modes in WinXP.

So for the most part I like the Santa Cruz. Much lighter drivers than Creative's bloatware, and even their latest beta drivers are very stable. The Versajack is awesome, although I'm having a bit of a problem sending SPDI/F signal to my 5.1 speaker system.

Midi and Windows sounds play as good as the sblive (I can't hear a difference).

However, I have a MAJOR problem with Everquest now. But I believe the problem is with the game and not the sound card. With the sblive, audio in Everquest was crystal clear, i.e. 16bit stereo is sounded like... But now with the Santa Cruz, it sounds more like 8bit mono. I've triple-checked my settings, and I can't figure out why Everquest insists on playing sounds at such a crappy quality.

You people with the Audigy, are you able to switch between 2, 4, and 5.1 speaker setups under WinXP with the Audigy drivers?

 

[Brian48]

<< You people with the Audigy, are you able to switch between 2, 4, and 5.1 speaker setups under WinXP with the Audigy drivers? >>



Sure. No problems. I also have a line splitter sharing the front jacks so I can switch to headphone mode as well.

Yeah, I had a bunch of games that seemed to have problems with the Santa Cruz. It's especially more apparent when you have a 4.1 or 5.1 speaker setup. Unfortunately, these same bugs were present when I had my Herc GTXP as well, so I'm assuming it's not the drivers but rather the software developer not testing the sound renderer properly on any sound card other than the SBLive. I'll be getting another GTXP for my backup pretty soon (need the box), hopefully they've ironed out these bugs by then.