Can ac97 audio be this bad. Please help!!

[jkellynewyork]

I just bought two sets of altec lansing speaker sets-Model #acs54x 5 Piece system for me and my brother. I am fine with my SB Live Value but my brother has onboard AC97 audio codec. His sound is very bad. When I ran Unreal to listen to the intro scene of the game I could barely hear the woman speak. It was very nasty.

Anyone else have major problems with sound from AC97.
Are there any patches or fixes that anyone can recommend.
Should I buy a new sound card for him.

Please help he is whining like a little girl because he cant play his MP3's.

If I get a new sound card I am going to have to get one at the mall, Best buy, Circuit City, or Compusa.
Can anyone recommend a decent sound card that is not to expensive that I can get from one of these stores.
I cant order online for a deal because I need it by this weekend and I dont want to pay an arm and leg for fast shipping.

 

[jkellynewyork]

bump
help

 

[TunaBoo]

ac97 is bad but it SHOULD play a mp3 on $10 speakers as good as anything. (not saying your speakers are $10). Make sure you have the newest drivers for it loaded, and NO irq conflicts.

 

[jkellynewyork]

okay will try that this weekend when I go over there.

Thanks.

 

[jkellynewyork]

I am sorry. I should say he can play his MP3'S but will not because of the sound quality.

He would rather go on his moms computer to play it.

I feel like crap cause I just built him this computer.

Cant really mess around with it now cause he lives 1hour away and I got work.

So I am just trying to get as many suggestions now so I could do major troubleshooting this weekend.

Thanks

 

[TunaBoo]

If all he wants is mp3s, you can get a soundblaster AWE64 cheap, it sounds prettu durn good.

IWILL boards like KK-266 have good onboard sound (dont know of controller), but AC97 stuff suckz.

 

[jkellynewyork]

No I am sorry. He is a big gamer also. Quake, unreal, CS etc.

Is that card good for this also?

 

[jkellynewyork]

bump

any other suggestions please

 

[TunaBoo]

<< bump

any other suggestions please >>



If you want a card that makes GOOD sound at a GOOD price for for a SBLive VALUE OEM. For around 50 it will play games and music really nice. Wont do 4.1 or anything fancy, but it will sound nice.

 

[jkellynewyork]

Okay thanx tunaboo

 

[SXMP]

Another vote for the SBlive! Value OEM, easily obtained for <40 and good sound.

 

[kazeakuma]

Something you might want to try is turning down the master volume on the soundcard through windows. I used to use the AC97 on my PC and whenever I turned the master volume over about 3/4 it would start distorting. Turn it down there and turn the speakers up and it sounds fine.

 

[jkellynewyork]

Okay I will try the volume control.
And if no good still with oboard sound I'll pick up the SB live.
Thanx all

 

[myforum]

I had the same ac97 sound on my last MoBo and was greatly improved by installing the latest drivers from the MB site.

CU

 

[Insane3D]

Philips Seismic Edge if you need four channel...much better than any SB Live!

Seismic Edge (4 channel) - ~$40

 

[knutp]

Hercules muse xl is also a great cheaper card. I'm listning to it right now in a new computer im building. No problems at all. And it cost 30-40 $ i think (i live in norway, and doesn't know the prizes in usa). it got 4 speaker output and all the stuff you need.

 

[jkellynewyork]

thanx myfurom, I going to try they out.

Thanx for all the sound card recommendfations, i will try that out if I cant get the onboard sound.

 

[boran]

Okay AC97' sux ... my dad's my mom's and my Bro's comp are all value comps and have this sound integrated ... and not a single game sounds good .. I think it is a problem between Directsound and the AC97 codec, cous listening to MP3's goes okay but not if I select &quot;use directsound&quot; within winamp ...
this happens for all three computers (but they are identical (my dad bought in bulk) so it isnt a very good comparisation ... did more ppl have this problem ?
because if it is Directsound that gives the probs it is a codec issue and not a hardware issue ... (meaning it can be fixed ..)

 

[jkellynewyork]

Where can I shut off direct sound?

 

[splice]

Ditch the onboard audio and go for the Hercules Fortissimo II. It's a great card for ~$54 and is available at compusa.

 

[jkellynewyork]

Hercules Fortissimo II

Is this a Yamaha card?

 

[Poncherelli]

Phillips seismic edge can be had for as low as $30 if you look around, i think bestbuy lists it at 35-40 or something.