Audigy or Game Theatre XP, Which would you buy?

[SniperWulf]

Title says it all!

 

[NaughtyusMaximus]

I've had poor experiences with Creative products, and I like Hercules - so I'd go with the XP. Most people will probably disagree with me.

 

[sMashPiranha]

I would get the GTXP, but you can't even buy them over here, so that pretty much screws up that idea:frown:

 

[Nebakanezzar]

Hey Guys,

um.. i dont know alot about sound cards..but i am in the market so i have been reading some reviews. i was going to get the GTXP as well but there were a couple things that made rethink. 1) it has some hardware mp3 thingy (i know..tell me if im being too teky ) that takes the load off the cpu when playing mp3's. the bad thing about this (the review said) is that it does a crappy job, and you have to have special software to make it work (that dosent come with it). 20 a review said it had poor dvd audio playback (dont remember the exact problem there)

i dont know anything about the Audigy, but i know alot of people had issues with the live, expecialy with via chipsets.

i think ive decided to go with the acoustic edge..but it dont have the fancy control box the GTXP and Audigy have.

i would love some input on this subject. and sniper..why did you decide on gtxp or audigy..is it because of the fancy control box?

out

 

[luv2chill]

I've owned an original SBLive, SBLive Platinum 5.1, and an Audigy, and I was never really happy with any of them. I kept buying the new generation in the hopes that it would be much better than the one prior. Sadly, the original Live worked the best out of all of them. Yes, I have always had a Via chipset, so I'm sure that was part of it. But it's also because Creative's drivers are God-awful. I would get stuttering, popping and clicking, regardless of what PCI slot the card was in. Yes, I had ACPI on, but that was non-negotiable. A card made in the last few months (let alone the last two years) should be fully able to share its IRQ with other devices. It's just inexcusable that the Live series has so many problems with that.

So after wasting $200 on an Audigy Platinum eX and being wholly unsatisfied, what did I do? The best thing I could have ever done--spent $99 on a Hercules GameTheater XP. Not only is it a great card with a great breakout box, but its Windows XP drivers are SUPERB. IIRC, Hercules had them released right before Windows XP hit the street and I've not had a single glitch, pop, stutter, BSOD, or other problem of any kind.

Plus it sounds AWESOME. I ordered some of the new Logitech Z560 speakers... can't wait to hook those puppies up. Man, it is SO NICE to not have to deal with sound card problems anymore. Not to mention that this thing is $100 cheaper than the equivalent Audigy. Hehe, now I can waste my time dealing with ATI's crappy drivers.

I don't want you to think the GTXP has ZERO problems for everyone. I have heard of issues with SMP most often, and I'm sure there are others (check out the forums at hercules.com). But, personally it's working great for me. For the first time my sound card works as expected. It's terrible that creative lowered the bar so much that I'm actually pleasantly surprised when a sound card works how it's supposed to.

l2c

 

[Janus]

After asking a similar question a few days ago, I ended up with the Acoustic Edge. Purchased it from Best Buy for $69 and a $20 rebate, so even if it turns out to be a stinker down the road, no real harm down. Previously I had a SB Live and so far the AE seems to be everything my SB Live was with 5.1 sound and on my BA790s, the game/cd sound appears to more vibrant (though I have no way to prove this, it's just an observation.) The AE hasn't crackled, poped, hissed or had any other problems so far and there are current XP/2000 drivers available on the Philips web site. I also looked at the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz as another option but with the deal at Best Buy, it seemed like the AE was a little too good to pass up right now.

 

[BatmanNate]

I'm in a similiar boat, and was leaning toward the GTXP, however it might be helpful to know what conditions exist under SMP, since I run SMP. Any known problems?

 

[urameatball]

beware the GTXP...

cuz once you find out it can handle dolby 6.1 outputs... you'll be trying to find a set of speakers that's 6.1 capable.
and once you notice all the inputs and outputs on the breakout box are gold plated. you'll be looking for some high-end gear to match the box, along with some high end cables.

I bought the GTXP retail for $200canadian and now I have an upcoming $7000 purchase on a NICE home theatre system to match all my gear

 

[MasterHoss]

man, try a search. This question has been beaten and killed.

Some polls have also been done very recently.

 

[Brian48]

I had the GTXP. Drivers were buggy as hell back then, but .mp3's did sound better the SBLive I was using at the time. I'd recommend the Santa Cruz over the GTXP if .mp3 playback was critical for you. The unfortunate thing about hardware acceleration for .mp3's is that not all players support it (outside of Windows Media player). The GTXP is a great bargain if you really need or want the breakout box, but personally, I'd opt for the Audigy. Over the course of the last 2-2.5 years, I've gone from:

SBLive value
Diamond MX300
SBLive X-Gamer
SBLive X-Gamer 5.1
Phillips Acoustic Edge
Herc GTXP
TB Santa Cruz
SBLive X-Gamer Audigy

The Audigy has been the best overall that I've used to date and I would never go back to any of the older sound cards I've owned. I do think however, the EX and Platinum editions are overpriced and not worth the money, especially when you can get an Audigy OEM for about $70 shipped.

 

[Shudder]

Considering on modern cpus mp3 files use up about 1-2% of the processor, I wouldn't make that part of the decision.

I LOVE my TB Santa cruz. Basically the GTXP is a santa cruz with a breakout box, since they use the same audio chip, right? At the time I saved about 60 bucks getting the TBSC, but if I were doing it again now I'd get the GTXP.

Superb sound and I could instantly tell the difference when I pulled the Live out of my PC.

 

[Sugadaddy]

The MP3 acceleration worked fine for me, except with DivX movies, so I turned it off. If you have a decent CPU, you really don't need it. (I only have a 900 Athlon, and CPU usage is 0% when playing an MP3)

The GTXP drivers used to have a few problems, and many people couldn't get it to work with WinXP, but the latest drivers they released before the XP launch fixed everything, and they're now rock stable. They also enabled 6.1 output with any sound source, and you can get 7.1 output in DVDs with the new version of PowerDVD...

 

[Cuular]

The other issue not brought up here is what kind of games do you play, if you actually do play games?

The SB series do not actually have 3D placement of sound around you. They can place "environmental" echo's but it does not really crisply and clearly put the sound in a given spot.

So if FPS's are your game then the GTXP is the way to go. Especially if you have 4.1, 5.1, or 6.1 speaker setup. It makes all the difference.

 

[Slickone]

I would like to have a front mount breakout box, but I'm mainly interested in the card that has the best 3D sound effects for games (including games from the last couple years). My last card was a Monster Sound MX300.
HGTXP or Augidy - which should I get?

I dont watch DVD movies or play MP3's on my PC. That's what my home theater is for.

 

[Shudder]

I switched from the SBLive to the TBSC because creative's drivers blew and EAX never worked correctly in windows 2000 with the 2 games I needed it to most in - Thief and System Shock 2.

With my TBSC though.. whoa.. Considering it has a versajack, which means you can use it for whatever you want, such as a dedicated headphone jack (important to me) it's perfect for sound placement.

Creative isn't the way to go anymore.

 

[Cuular]

If you are using it for 3D gaming then the Audigy is NOT the one to get. Any review on any gaming site points this out. The turtle beach or the ones based on the chipset used in the GTXP are the way to go.

 

[Shudder]

Really Cuular? Any links? I hate creative, obviously, and would love to see a particular review trashing the audigy's 3d capabilities

 

[sandorski]

I hate defending CL, although I did recently buy an Audigy Gamer, but 3d sound does exist through DirectX's 3d sound api. Not as good as Aureal's A3D(had a SQ2500), but nothing quite matches A3D(2.0) yet. Anyway, there is ok 3d placement(2 speaker config) with the Audigy, but it is generally accepted that the Hercules GTXP and SC is somewhat better.

I wanted to get a Hercules GTXP or Phillips AE, but my supplier only had SB Live Audigy's or an assortment of crap cards to choose from. The Audigy is quite nice though, having a definite better clarity and range than my SQ2500. I'd say any of the cards mentioned(Audigy, Herc GTXP, Santa Cruz, or Phillips AE)will impress you, depending on what you want the card for.

 

[Bovinicus]

From what I have heard the Audigy seems to be a better buy. Especially if you record music and edit it on your computer. Then, get the Platinum and take advantage of all of the software that it has to offer. It is really a good deal if you actually plan on using the software.

 

[Kingofcomputer]

Don't be fooled by Creative's gimmick - 5.1 decoding.
all 5.1 sound cards are just using the software DVD program to decode AC-3, and then output the 6 ch sound thru the 3 pairs analog jack.

the benefit of 5.1 sound cards is only you don't need to buy expensive PC speakers that has built-in AC-3 decoder or a receiver that has built-in AC-3 decoder, you just need to buy those sub-$100 5.1 powered PC speakers to enjoy DVD's DD by using the software DVD program to decode AC-3.

If you've PC speakers with built-in AC-3 decoder or receiver with AC-3 decoder, you just need a sound card with SPDIF out jack either in co-axial or toslink format depends on your speakers or receiver.

if you just need toslink in/out -
Hercules Gamesurround Fortissimo II

if you need 6 ch analog jacks and co-axial spdif in/out -
Philips Acoustic Edge

if you want 6 ch analog jacks, co-axial spdif in/out, toslink in/out -
Hercules Game Theater XP

the price of SB Audigy Platinum EX can buy all of the above cards.

 

[Cuular]

Just to preface this I am not a fan boy for against any card mentioned here. I have ended up with the GTXP because I play lots of 3D games and it made a huge difference on the Klipsch promedia 4.1's with sound placement. I have owned all the Sound baslter cards since the SB16. Including the Audigy X-gamer.

shudder: ok you asked for em

First review announcing 3D better on other chipsets
Second review announcing 3D placement better on previous sound cards

And there are many more. Just look for "+creative +audigy" in your favorute search engine and read the reviews looking for the 3D gaming parts of them.

And the following is the text quoted from that review, stating that Creative admits that they don't position the 3d sounds as well, but think that all of their other effects will make up the deifference.



<< What it all comes down to is hearing

When using Aureal A3D-based cards , 3D positioning appeared to be more accurately placed in
space, and sound more convincing than on the Audigy. Even Creative admits to this, but it still
insists that gamers will experience an overall richer sound environment on the Audigy than on the
Live! or other competing cards.

When tested for EAX quality, there was no question about it; the Audigy was the best performer in
this category. Sound fields were projected cleaner and richer than with the Live, GTXP. Or Vortex.
This is most likely due to better (native) EAX implementation on the Audigy, which also handled
multiple audio streams better than the other two cards. >>



Like I said I have an Audigy, and it is in my second computer. The sound qulaity on it is superb. But in FPS games the difference in sound placement is very noticeable. So like I said above, if you are looking for the best card for 3D games, that place the sounds around you the best, one of the ones based on the chipset used in the GTXP is better.

 

[Slickone]

OK, so let me make sure I have this straight. 3D sound in games using Directsound3d (or EAX?) on the H's GTXP will sound better than using EAX 1 or 2 on the Audigy?
The coolest thing I've seen w/ 3D sound is playing Nascar and knowing what side a car behind you is on.

W/ my MX300, I had to cut and splice my own Y connectors from the MX300's 4 channel 1/8" mini jacks to run to my PC speakers (so I wouldnt have to have my receiver on all the time just for Windows sounds), and also Y'd into my Pioneer VSX-D608 receiver's sub in, so I could have sub frequencies go to the sub all the time in games, music, whatever (vs just LFE effects in 5.1 sources). Will I still need to do something like this using one of the digital connectors from the GTXP?

 

[WyteWatt]

Has anyone here used every single sound card? Santa Cruz, Philps Acoustic Edge, Hercules XP Game Theater, SB live, Audigy, etc ? What does everyone think is the best Gaming sound card? I mean i thought the Philps Acoustic Edge sound card was really good for gaming? Is the Hercules XP Game Theater better or Santa Cruz in gaming? Man this is all confusing and i wish i could somehow, someway go to a store and test out all sound cards to see to me if there is any difference in all of them in gaming sounds one by one. Then i could choose the one right there. Hate that i cant listen to sound cards before i buy them. Some reviews say this and some say other. There needs to be someway to test drive hardware before you buy. Espically for sound cards.

 

[Quaggoth]

Well, you can.... Just go buy an audigy and a GTXP. Take the audigy back the next day...

 

[WyteWatt]

well i am talking about not having to buy them all and beable to test them all in one store.