• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Best consumer soundcard for Music

J

Johnbear007

Diamond Member
Whats the best consumer level soundcard for music? Especially with headphone output? I know I've asked a similiar question before.. but now I've kind of decided the focus is on music, so what do you guys think? options at a few different price points would be good
 
Originally posted by: Darien
M-Audio 2496 is $149 at Newegg.

M-Audio Revolution is $110 at Newegg.
Click to expand...

I'll take a look, thanks alot




I'm getting alot of popping when playing MP3's


is that something that would be due to my sound card?
 
I'm kind of curious about how the M-audio does for gaming... is there anyone reason to buy an audigy over an m-audio?
 
I had the Audigy before going to the Revolution. The Audigy delivers the best performance for gaming period. It doesnt matter what card you compare it to, the framerate hit from the Audigy will be much less than any other card.

The Revolution is certainly delivers good surround for games, but you will lose some FPS. The Revolution is easily a better card for music and DVDs.

The Audiophile 2496 (which I also have) isnt any better than the Revolution, just more expensive. The Revolution is meant to move in mass quanities and makes its money on the margins. If you want the best consumer card for music, the Revolution is it. Dont bother with the Audiophile card.
 
Originally posted by: HendrixFan
I had the Audigy before going to the Revolution. The Audigy delivers the best performance for gaming period. It doesnt matter what card you compare it to, the framerate hit from the Audigy will be much less than any other card.

The Revolution is certainly delivers good surround for games, but you will lose some FPS. The Revolution is easily a better card for music and DVDs.

The Audiophile 2496 (which I also have) isnt any better than the Revolution, just more expensive. The Revolution is meant to move in mass quanities and makes its money on the margins. If you want the best consumer card for music, the Revolution is it. Dont bother with the Audiophile card.
Click to expand...

Thanks, i'm really going to consider the m-audio

how big of a frame rate hit might I take?
 
well, if you have speakers like Klipsch Promedias or similiar (logitech 560Z's)............I was told not to even bother with M-Audio's solution because its only for very "high end" speaker solutions and you won't notice any difference. Get either an Audigy 2 or Santa Cruz instead.......Im planning on going from SB live 5.1 myself and prolly gonna go with the Hercules gametheatre solution which has break out box for $85 at newegg.


similiar thread
 
Originally posted by: human2k
well, if you have speakers like Klipsch Promedias or similiar (logitech 560Z's)............I was told not to even bother with M-Audio's solution because its only for very "high end" speaker solutions and you won't notice any difference. Get either an Audigy 2 or Santa Cruz instead.......Im planning on going from SB live 5.1 myself and prolly gonna go with the Hercules gametheatre solution which has break out box for $85 at newegg.


similiar thread
Click to expand...

I;ve been seriously considering the game theater XP from newegg also... I've heard that the Santa Cruz sucks for headphones, and that is what i'll be using almost all of the time. My headphones are far superior to my speakers, and I can't afford a new speaker set, even if I could I don't have any way to set them up as surround sound and I couldnt turn them up to a fun level because I live in an apartment.

So anyway, I don't want a Santa Cruz because I heard the headphone implementation and mic in suck, with alot of hissing and such.
The game theater however is very tempting.
 
Originally posted by: Johnbear007
Originally posted by: Krk3561
Since you don't want a Santa Cruz, i would say Audigy 2 or Game Theatre XP.
Click to expand...


what was the problem with the audigy 1?
Click to expand...

He said he wanted the best. Would you say that the audigy1 is better than the audigy 2? Audigy 2 has more features as it's a newer model.
 
Originally posted by: Krk3561
Originally posted by: Johnbear007
Originally posted by: Krk3561
Since you don't want a Santa Cruz, i would say Audigy 2 or Game Theatre XP.
Click to expand...


what was the problem with the audigy 1?
Click to expand...

He said he wanted the best. Would you say that the audigy1 is better than the audigy 2? Audigy 2 has more features as it's a newer model.
Click to expand...

That doesnt mean that is necesarrily better. It could have a bunch of lame 'new' features that dont matter to me.

I'm just curoius why the audigy one dies off so fast.. what was wrong with it?
 
Originally posted by: HendrixFan
I had the Audigy before going to the Revolution. The Audigy delivers the best performance for gaming period. It doesnt matter what card you compare it to, the framerate hit from the Audigy will be much less than any other card.

The Revolution is certainly delivers good surround for games, but you will lose some FPS. The Revolution is easily a better card for music and DVDs.

The Audiophile 2496 (which I also have) isnt any better than the Revolution, just more expensive. The Revolution is meant to move in mass quanities and makes its money on the margins. If you want the best consumer card for music, the Revolution is it. Dont bother with the Audiophile card.
Click to expand...

The Audiophile has improvements over the Revolution, but none that an average gamer or music listener will need, such as MIDI in/out and coaxial S/PDIF in. Also it has discrete analog outs/in which introduces slightly less noise when recording because a stereo/mono splitter isn't required.

The Audiophile 2496 is now $129 at Newegg.
 
That doesnt mean that is necesarrily better. It could have a bunch of lame 'new' features that dont matter to me.

I'm just curoius why the audigy one dies off so fast.. what was wrong with it?
Click to expand...

The Audigy 2 has much a much better DAC and ADC vs the original Audigy which is the biggest factor in audio quality. The Audigy 2 is a true 24 bit 192KHz soundcard with DVD-A playback capability which the Audigy isn't and doesn't. The Audigy 2 is arguably a bigger improvement over the original than the Audigy is over the Live! series. There have been various reports that the M-Audio 2496 has rather subpar analog capabilities compared to what you would expect from such a card. From an audio quality standpoint, if you don't have very good speakers (not PM, Logitech or other similar PC speakers) or good headphones, all of this is rather moot.
 
Originally posted by: Pariah
There have been various reports that the M-Audio 2496 has rather subpar analog capabilities compared to what you would expect from such a card.
Click to expand...

I've owned the 2496 and I can vouch for its quality. It has very good DACs and its S/N ratio is much better than any of the previous consumer cards. In fact it is the most popular sub-$200 card for home recording. I have not heard the Audigy 2 but I doubt it has improved S/N ratio over the 2496 if any, and the Platinum eX sells for $250 while the 2496 is now $130.
Click to expand...
 
Originally posted by: yellowperil
Originally posted by: HendrixFan
I had the Audigy before going to the Revolution. The Audigy delivers the best performance for gaming period. It doesnt matter what card you compare it to, the framerate hit from the Audigy will be much less than any other card.

The Revolution is certainly delivers good surround for games, but you will lose some FPS. The Revolution is easily a better card for music and DVDs.

The Audiophile 2496 (which I also have) isnt any better than the Revolution, just more expensive. The Revolution is meant to move in mass quanities and makes its money on the margins. If you want the best consumer card for music, the Revolution is it. Dont bother with the Audiophile card.
Click to expand...

The Audiophile has improvements over the Revolution, but none that an average gamer or music listener will need, such as MIDI in/out and coaxial S/PDIF in. Also it has discrete analog outs/in which introduces slightly less noise when recording because a stereo/mono splitter isn't required.

The Audiophile 2496 is now $129 at Newegg.
Click to expand...
I've actually read that the Revolution has better specs than the Audiophile and would sound better just for analog output. Not 100% sure though, so I'd check around.

 
Originally posted by: gf4200isdabest
So anyway, I don't want a Santa Cruz because I heard the headphone implementation and mic in suck.
Click to expand...

PSA: Your sources are full of crap
Click to expand...

My source is a comment from someone on this board in another thread... so from my perspective why id your random comment better than their random comment?
 
I have both the Audiophile and the Revolution in my computer right now. I cant tell any difference between the two cards for playback or recording. I could tell a difference between my old SB Live Gold and when I upgraded from that to the Audigy. I could tell the difference going from the Audigy to the Audiophile card. There may be some difference between the Audiophile and the Revolution's sound quality, but its not enough to be noticed by me.

Going from the Audigy to the Revolution dropped my framerate by about 5-7 fps on average on America's Army.
 
Originally posted by: Pariah
That doesnt mean that is necesarrily better. It could have a bunch of lame 'new' features that dont matter to me.

I'm just curoius why the audigy one dies off so fast.. what was wrong with it?
Click to expand...

The Audigy 2 has much a much better DAC and ADC vs the original Audigy which is the biggest factor in audio quality. The Audigy 2 is a true 24 bit 192KHz soundcard with DVD-A playback capability which the Audigy isn't and doesn't. The Audigy 2 is arguably a bigger improvement over the original than the Audigy is over the Live! series. There have been various reports that the M-Audio 2496 has rather subpar analog capabilities compared to what you would expect from such a card. From an audio quality standpoint, if you don't have very good speakers (not PM, Logitech or other similar PC speakers) or good headphones, all of this is rather moot.
Click to expand...

I dont care about DVD audio

As for speakers.. my speakers are nothing special, but I'll be using a set of sennheiser HD 280 Pro for headphones
 
Originally posted by: gf4200isdabest
So anyway, I don't want a Santa Cruz because I heard the headphone implementation and mic in suck.
Click to expand...

PSA: Your sources are full of crap
Click to expand...

i have an mp3 file server(beter known as Da Jukebox) with santa cruz card and some klipsch 5.1 speakers,great sound, no hissing and no complaints 🙂
 
Originally posted by: yellowperil

I've owned the 2496 and I can vouch for its quality. It has very good DACs and its S/N ratio is much better than any of the previous consumer cards. In fact it is the most popular sub-$200 card for home recording.
Click to expand...

I'm not disputing the top notch quality of the the Audiophile, just that it isn't as grandious as some would have you believe, though it is still better than your typical consumer cards. I'm also not comparing recording capabilities which I would never use a consumer card for including the Audiophile 2496.

I have not heard the Audigy 2 but I doubt it has improved S/N ratio over the 2496 if any, and the Platinum eX sells for $250 while the 2496 is now $130.
Click to expand...

From digital-life reviews at 24bit 96KHz:

Audiophile 24/96

Frequency response (40 Hz - 15 kHz), dB -0.09, +0.00
Noise level, dB (A) -99.6
Dynamic range, dB (A) 97.4
THD, % 0.003
Intermodulation distortions, % 0.004
Crosstalk, dB -91.1

Audigy 2

Frequency response (40 Hz - 15 kHz), dB +0.01, -0.05
Noise level, dB (A) -99.3
Dynamic range, dB (A) 97.2
THD, % 0.0008
Intermodulation distortions, % 0.0064
Crosstalk, dB -90.4


They're very close to each other, but the Audigy 2 is a much better gaming card with additional features that the Audiophile doesn't have. The Audigy 2 retail can be found for under $120 too.
 
Originally posted by: Pariah
Originally posted by: yellowperil

I've owned the 2496 and I can vouch for its quality. It has very good DACs and its S/N ratio is much better than any of the previous consumer cards. In fact it is the most popular sub-$200 card for home recording.
Click to expand...

I'm not disputing the top notch quality of the the Audiophile, just that it isn't as grandious as some would have you believe, though it is still better than your typical consumer cards. I'm also not comparing recording capabilities which I would never use a consumer card for including the Audiophile 2496.

I have not heard the Audigy 2 but I doubt it has improved S/N ratio over the 2496 if any, and the Platinum eX sells for $250 while the 2496 is now $130.
Click to expand...

From digital-life reviews at 24bit 96KHz:

Audiophile 24/96

Frequency response (40 Hz - 15 kHz), dB -0.09, +0.00
Noise level, dB (A) -99.6
Dynamic range, dB (A) 97.4
THD, % 0.003
Intermodulation distortions, % 0.004
Crosstalk, dB -91.1

Audigy 2

Frequency response (40 Hz - 15 kHz), dB +0.01, -0.05
Noise level, dB (A) -99.3
Dynamic range, dB (A) 97.2
THD, % 0.0008
Intermodulation distortions, % 0.0064
Crosstalk, dB -90.4


They're very close to each other, but the Audigy 2 is a much better gaming card with additional features that the Audiophile doesn't have. The Audigy 2 retail can be found for under $120 too.
Click to expand...



How far behind the audigy 2 does the game theater xp or fortissimo 3 fall?

 
I'm not disputing the top notch quality of the the Audiophile, just that it isn't as grandious as some would have you believe, though it is still better than your typical consumer cards. I'm also not comparing recording capabilities which I would never use a consumer card for including the Audiophile 2496.
Click to expand...
They're very close to each other, but the Audigy 2 is a much better gaming card with additional features that the Audiophile doesn't have. The Audigy 2 retail can be found for under $120 too.
Click to expand...

Unquestionably the Audigy 2 is better for gaming, but the Audiophile also has features that the retail Audigy 2 doesn't have, such as S/PDIF in, ASIO 2.0 support, discrete analog in/outs and MIDI. You'd have to spend $100 more for the Platinum eX to get those features.

I would recommend the M-Audio Revolution over the Audigy 2 just based on past experiences with Creative Labs' driver support.
 
Unquestionably the Audigy 2 is better for gaming, but the Audiophile also has features that the retail Audigy 2 doesn't have, such as S/PDIF in, ASIO 2.0 support, discrete analog in/outs and MIDI.
Click to expand...

Maybe I should rephrase that, the Audigy 2 has unique features that appeal to a much larger audience than the "unique" features of the Audiophile. I put unique in quotes because they aren't really unique. See below.

You'd have to spend $100 more for the Platinum eX to get those features.
Click to expand...

No you wouldn't. Except for ASIO 2.0 drivers, the Audigy 2 Platinum has all the above mentioned features for under $180, plus adds TOS I/O, a convenient front mounted headphone jack w/ volume control, mic input w/ volume and firewire, along with a questionably useful remote (may be handy for HT setup) none of which the Audiophile have. And again, if I was really serious about recording and required ASIO 2.0 drivers, I wouldn't touch the Audiophile 24/96 as it about as lowend as a card can get in the field of pro/am recording.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top