Best Sound Card At The Moment?

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R

Ryen

Senior member
Nov 14, 2002
480
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Hello Ladies N Gents..
Im planning on buying the best soundcard aviliable for my PC...
did a little research and Audigy 2 platnium sounds nice with DVD-Audio..Driver
Everything.. give me your optinion =)

thx for lookin in:)
 
G

Goi

Diamond Member
Oct 10, 1999
6,771
7
91
Best Soundcard in what sense? Sound quality? Features? Compatibility? Price?

For what usage? Listening to CDs? DVD-A media? MP3s? Watching movies on DVD? Playing games with 3D positional sound? Recording/Playback?

There's no single "best" soundcard, and you have to provide us with more information before we can even begin to point you in the right direction.
 
B

Brian48

Diamond Member
Oct 15, 1999
3,410
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Despite my fondness for my Santa Cruz and Acoustic Edge (now RIP), I'd have to give the nod to the Audigy2 if you're looking for an all-around, consumer-level sound card. Especially if you're a gamer as well. Creative finally got it right with this card. I think this card is head and shoulders above all three of the original Audigys I owned at one time or another.
 
Megatomic

Megatomic

Lifer
Nov 9, 2000
20,127
6
81
I'm still casting my vote for the Santa Cruz. I haven't felt compelled to upgrade from this card in the almost 2 years I have owned it. Great card for the price!
 
B

Boobers

Senior member
Jun 28, 2001
799
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0
Anything from Creative is good...............FOR ME TO POOP ON! :D
(Don't get upset, it's just a joke! I don't care for Creative. Can you tell?)

In my opinion, the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz is still the best sound card, when you care about audio quality, price (especially) and solid drivers. Producing sound is one of the easiest things a computer can do, and you don't need a $100 card to do it either.

I must admit though, the Santa Cruz is kind of old, but that's why the drivers are so good.
 
GTaudiophile

GTaudiophile

Lifer
Oct 24, 2000
29,767
33
81
Originally posted by: Boobers
Anything from Creative is good...............FOR ME TO POOP ON! :D
(Don't get upset, it's just a joke! I don't care for Creative. Can you tell?)

In my opinion, the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz is still the best sound card, when you care about audio quality, price (especially) and solid drivers. Producing sound is one of the easiest things a computer can do, and you don't need a $100 card to do it either.

I must admit though, the Santa Cruz is kind of old, but that's why the drivers are so good.
Click to expand...

Whatever. Never had a driver or hardware issue with any of the SB Live!, Live! 5.1, or Audigy cards I've owned.
 
Mem

Mem

Lifer
Apr 23, 2000
21,476
13
81
Yet many other people have. You're one of the lucky few.
Click to expand...

I guess that includes me as well,never had a Creative sound card driver problem period,however I know people that have had driver problems with Creative,Santa Cruz,Philips etc so the conculsion is no sound card is perfect .

:)
 
Texun

Texun

Platinum Member
Oct 21, 2001
2,058
1
81
I still use SB Live cards in all of my computers. Never had a hint of a problem with AMD, Intel, MSI, Abit, Acorp, iWill or ASUS. The sound quality is excellent as far as I can tell. I'm sure there are better ones out there, but for $32 I haven't see one and the SB's have been great in terms of quality and reliability. I never install the add on software though.
 
W

Wingznut

Elite Member
Dec 28, 1999
16,968
2
0
In my recent history, I've owned: Aureal, SBLive, Santa Cruz, Rythmic Edge, Audigy, Seismic Edge, Acoustic Edge, onboard sound... And now I'm back to Audigy.

Why? Because it's the best one, imho (and I didn't feel like splurging for the Audigy 2.)


I have had minor issues with the boatload of software that SB includes. So, I just choose not to install the (arguably) useless bloatware. With a mostly minimum install, I've never had an issue.
 
GTaudiophile

GTaudiophile

Lifer
Oct 24, 2000
29,767
33
81
Originally posted by: Wingznut
In my recent history, I've owned: Aureal, SBLive, Santa Cruz, Rythmic Edge, Audigy, Seismic Edge, Acoustic Edge, onboard sound... And now I'm back to Audigy.

Why? Because it's the best one, imho (and I didn't feel like splurging for the Audigy 2.)


I have had minor issues with the boatload of software that SB includes. So, I just choose not to install the (arguably) useless bloatware. With a mostly minimum install, I've never had an issue.
Click to expand...

Same here. I just install their drivers. Leave PlayCenter, etc. out of it.
 
Random Variable

Random Variable

Lifer
Aug 10, 2001
10,420
2
0
For the past 12 years I have used nothing but sound cards from Creative. That having been said, though, I wish Creative had some serious competition.
 
D

dexvx

Diamond Member
Feb 2, 2000
3,899
0
0
Originally posted by: Cat
Yet many other people have. You're one of the lucky few.
Click to expand...

No probs here from Creative cards. I think you mean the lucky few are the ones without Via chipset mobos.
 
L

Lvis

Golden Member
Oct 10, 1999
1,747
0
76
I've been very happy with my audigy gamer. Like the other fellas said, just install the drivers.. forget about the other crap on the cd.
 
C

Cat

Golden Member
Oct 10, 1999
1,059
0
0
Actually, I had no problems with my SB Live and Via chipset, and no problems with my Audigy and Intel chipset. Then I moved to XP (with the Audigy/Intel,) and experienced occasional stutttering with both the original and newest drivers. Changing to an Audigy 2 cleared it up.
 
J

jamison

Platinum Member
Mar 7, 2001
2,326
0
86
No one mentioned the Hercules Game Theater XP?

Any way, I still use the Santa Cruz after getting tired of the sound blaster live and I have no need for the extra add on box (live drive).
 
N

Nessal

Senior member
Oct 13, 2002
380
0
0
Originally posted by: Cat
Yet many other people have. You're one of the lucky few.
Click to expand...




rolleye.gif
 
I

IQJUMPuw

Senior member
Feb 6, 2002
761
0
0
I've never had a problem with SoundBlaster cards. Weren't most of those problems caused by the users anyways? Like they didn't know how to get it working right?

Anyways, my goes to either Santa Cruz or Audigy 2. Audigy 2 is better, but it costs alot.
 
J

JonElfson

Member
Jun 26, 2002
59
0
0
I'm also looking for a new sound card. I am going to get an Audigy 2, should I just get the standard one or the Platium? What are the main differences?
 
J

JonElfson

Member
Jun 26, 2002
59
0
0
So basically you get 2 High Speed SB1394 FireWire port (How does that help?) Analog speaker support for Optical (but I have no idea what that does, it help?). The Easy Front-Panel Audio Connectivity Drive, Wireless Remote Control, and Professional Music Creation Tools.
 
P

PhaZe

Platinum Member
Dec 13, 1999
2,880
0
76
I've had no problems with my Sblive 5.1 of 2 years and my Audigy of 2 weeks.

:p

I think the sblive is the best bang for the buck.


 
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