Best 100$ soundcard?

[aakerman]

Which soundcard would be the best for sub 100$?

I need to use it for output to a receiver also, so I'm disregarding the Creative range, as they resample the output.

Three cards I am considering:
Terratec 7.1 Space
M-Audio revolution 7.1
Audiotrak Prodigy 7.1

These all use the Envy24HT chip - does that mean that they sound the same, and the difference lies in the outputs and software packages? If there's a difference in the audio quality, which card is better, and by how much?

Thanks

 

[tr1kstanc3]

what type of connection are you going to use? optical or spdif?

 

[Keyvan]

perhaps this might help :
Terratec vs AudioTrak

from what I read on that site, the main difference between these two is that the Terratec comes with Optical In/Out and the AudioTrak comes with coax In/Out. And their opinion is that the AudioTrak comes with slightly better drivers.

 

[aakerman]

already read that article and any other that I could find, but thanks!

I'll be using coaxial or optical out, depending on which card I get..

 

[NautikaL 8]

yea man whatever you do, dont get an audigy. terrible terrible terrible quality. ive been sitting here for 2 days trying to get the card to work with my tv tuner. every time i connect my tv tuner, the card cant find resources. i emailed customer support but ill probably be looped around for days.

"I need to use it for output to a receiver also, so I'm disregarding the Creative range, as they resample the output."

what does that mean? i recently bought a home theater system, and i was planning on connecting the reciever to my computer so i could use it as a htpc. will i not be able to do this?

 

[Wellcky]

Get the M-Audio revolution 7.1. M-Audio is know for their "studio" quality.


Review
Another Review
Geek Review

 

[aakerman]

Yes you will nautikal. But you won't get the best quality, as the Creative will "mess" with the signal before passing it on to the optical output, instead of just sending the unaltered signal to the receiver for processing.

I'm STILL trying to figure out if there are any differences in sound quality between the terratec 7.1 space, the m-audio revolution and the audiotrak prodigy 7.1, which ALL use the Envy24HT chip.

Wellcky: I haven't been able to find a dealer for the revolution 7.1 yet =(

 

[NautikaL 8]

newegg?

i heard the revolution isnt good in games though and i think someone said the line in cant be used while the digital out is being used. i would double check on newegg though

 

[aakerman]

newegg doesn't ship internationally

not good in games? isn't that just because it uses a bit more cpu..

 

[tiap]

not good in games? isn't that just because it uses a bit more cpu..

You are correct. It is not as good as the audigy in gaming, but it is by no means bad.
Depending on the reviews, the m-audio is as least as good as the audigy, most rate it as substantially better. I have used them all and The one I use now is the m-audio. Works flawlessly. The best part is the software. Simple and effective, Not like the megs of bloat that comes with creative.
I can tell a big difference in the sound.
For HT you have plenty of system overhead room, so don't worry if it uses more cpu.
I have used pass thru to receivers for computer sound for a few years, it's the only way to go.

 

[Gurck]

Originally posted by: aakerman
newegg doesn't ship internationally

not good in games? isn't that just because it uses a bit more cpu..

A few FPS is half of it, Creative's proprietary EAX environmental effect audio is the other half. Note the "proprietary", that's what lets them charge through the nose for their cards... still though, for gaming it's the card to have. I have a Chaintech av710 coming in the mail as I type, to be used for listening to music through my headphones... Going to stick with my Audigy for gaming though.

OP - try head-fi.org or other audiophile sites for a more in-depth answer, you'll probably see the M-Audio being the card of choice.

 

[pennylane]

M-Audio Revolution I say. I have it and I love it. The differences lie in DAC, components (ie capacitors) etc I would guess. Most people at head-fi (I frequent those forums) would probably recommend the Revolution.


About FPS... from what I gathered, some games (ie, Half-Life 2) have software sound processing. There's no EAX option or anything. Just Low, Medium, or High. So it shouldn't matter what sound card you have for FPS and sound effects because the software (and hence the CPU) processes it. Higher quality DACs and such will translate into better sound.

I say "from what I gathered" because I made a post about that very issue. But most of the people that replied seemed to ignore my statement that I was only asking for games that process sound themselves and not in general (in which case a 5% performance hit is expected).

 

[Chesebert]

strange how creative owns Emu an Emu has some of the best sound card money can buy Creative has the resouce, the know-how, and even the many Emu chips, but we get crappy sound cards. go figuer.

 

[aakerman]

Many people are satisfied with their Audigys... heck I'm satisfied with my Live! 5.1 right now, but that's probably because I don't know better (yet).

Still haven't found a local retailer for M-audio - how does it rate against the Terratec or the Audiotrak, which I can get here?

 

[konakona]

emu-0404 is significantly better than any cards mentioned in this thread. it fits your bit perfectly, and could be picked up at most large B&M places.

 

[aakerman]

This is what tomshardware has to say about the E-MU:

It's clear that the card isn't intended for games or DVDs. For DVD reading, it is possible to get an encoded Dolby Surround signal from the S/PDIF output (and decode it using an external decoder), but we weren't able to get a functional Dolby Digital output.

So if that's anything to go by, the 0404 is not for me =(

Edit: Ok I just ordered an M-Audio card at a local music shop - it was more expensive than the others, I hope it's worth it =)

 

[konakona]

i watch stuff all the time, probably more than the most on AT and my emu sounds excellent at that. not that tomshardware was ever a credible source of information for anything, but the fact the reviewr's associated gear is some multimedia speakers like Creative Gigaworks S750, Logitech Z2200 pretty much invalidates this shoddy review.

its a done deal, so i hope you like your new card

 

[Chesebert]

Q: Can you have 2 sound cards in a PC? if so how does a D3D app chooose which card to use. EAX and stuff? I am thinking of putting a cheap chaintech Via Envy24 just for its stereo opt out.. ideas?

 

[DanRydell]

Yes. Keep the one you want to use in games as the primary sound device. Then manually select the other sound card for music and such. I did that with a Revo and a Santa Cru.

 

[konakona]

Originally posted by: Chesebert
Q: Can you have 2 sound cards in a PC? if so how does a D3D app chooose which card to use. EAX and stuff? I am thinking of putting a cheap chaintech Via Envy24 just for its stereo opt out.. ideas?

i have my headphone amp hooked up to emu-1212m, and the speakers to integrated nvidia APU. works like a charm