Cheap but very good 5.1 soundcard, $16

[Braxus]

Just an FYI, Fry's Electronics generally has a sale on a similar soundcard that uses the same CMI chip every one in a while for around 7-10. 4 speaker outout version tho.

 

[TerpBurp]

Sorry to bring this one up, but I have a question for those who bought the ECS Thundering 5.1 card from Ebay.
Did you get it to work in multi-speaker mode?
I used the original drivers and audio rack app from the package. When I open Audio mixer, I don't see the Multi-Spk button and my soundcard only outputs to the front speakers.

billw, seems like you bought the same card as I did. What drivers did you use?
Thanks.

 

[Vette73]

Have you run windows update, microsoft has a New driver for the C-Media card.
Also what OS are you running and what kind of system, Like VIA with a Athlon?? or etc...

 

[TerpBurp]

Thanks, Marlin.
I have not run Windows update.
I'm using Win2000.

 

[Richard98]

For those who got this card, are you satisfied with the performance? Are there any issues in w2k with this card??

I was searching for a cheap card this morning; read thru the thread then searched ebay. One guy on ebay is selling them for $14 + $6 shipping in dutch type auctions - $20 delivered seems to be a bit cheaper than other links in the thread:

Text

 

[Braves]

i've attempted to buy a couple of these off ebay, but on the last day the price usually jumps from the starting 9.99$ or so and goes up to about 15$, and then add in 8$ of shipping and your only saving 3-4$ but taking the risks of buying from ebay. I'd rather just spend 3$ extra and get it from a company.

 

[Richard98]

<< i've attempted to buy a couple of these off ebay, but on the last day the price usually jumps from the starting 9.99$ or so and goes up to about 15$, and then add in 8$ of shipping and your only saving 3-4$ but taking the risks of buying from ebay. I'd rather just spend 3$ extra and get it from a company. >>



Braves, check out my link again and look for the $14 ones. This particular seller has several listings and has a quantity of 40 in each listing. Unless ebay is suddenly inundated, there wouldn't be any question about the price.

 

[donerb]

Read through this whole thread, and have a question for the experienced sound folks:

My benchmark for great sound is currently the Nvidia nForce APU. That said, I have a second system coming in based on the Outpost ECS K7S5A/Duron 950 bundle. I only use 2.1 speakers on any computer setup, as I prefer the home theater with for anything else (incl. MP3/DVD playback, etc.).

How do you rank the following for general gaming use, occasional CD/MP3 playback:

AC97 2.2 (Realtek ALC100 specs) onboard sound (the ECS board)
Diamond MX300 (Aureal Vortex2 - currently in an old system)
Hercules Muse XL (CMI-8738, 4 speaker output) @ Newegg $25 shipped

Then there's the Game Theater XP (OEM) available for $89 which is a rather large jump, so the one's above are prime consideration for the cheap-o system.

Thanks!

 

[armando416]

I would definitely say that, no matter how good the sound quality is, I would definitely NOT buy a SB Live! ever again! It is the most incompatible, problem causing piece of crap on the planet. I would venture to say that 1 out of 3 ppl are going to have problems with that card...I say this because I know 6 ppl who own it, and 2 of us cannot get it to work without numerous glitches. I know that's only a small sample of ppl, but you read about problems with it all over the net.

That being said, I need a new sound card...should I go with this, or pay some more for a Fortissimo II? Any suggestions? I would go with the Audigy, but I have vowed never to buy from creative again...I've bought 3 total products from them in my lifetime, this soundcard, a CD burner, and a modem. One never worked, the other died within a month, and the modem only seems to connect at 28.8, when all my others will connect at 56. Nice track record, huh?

 

[mccall]

I also have a question for those who are more knowledgeable about this than I. I'm building a dedicated MP3 jukebox, and it will be connected to a stereo receiver from the line out of whatever sound card I install. That's all the card will be used for, no games, no movies, strictly to route the sound to the receiver. The jukebox is utilizing a 233 MHz processor. I have a Hi-Val PCI 338 sound card (Aureal Vortex 1 AU8820 chipset) sitting on my desk that was free after rebate during CompUSA's Presidents Day sale. Would the ECS Thundering 5.1 show me any improvement for what I'm going to use it for over the Hi-Val? Will it utilize too many CPU cycles on such an underpwered chip? It's a dedicated jukebox, used for nothing other than playing MP3's.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

 

[XzeroR3]

my sblive value (early model non 5.1) hasn't had any issues except under winxp. I couldn't get it out of 2 speaker mode today. "speaker" just crashes.

their drivers for xp can get flaky it seems every so often. I'm going to reinstall the drivers tonight.
anyone know of any third party sblive drivers available?

 

[przero]

Just got one in today from buy.com for $13.95 + shipping. Sounds fine in 2 speaker mode, just as good as SB Live and no issues so far. XP Pro native drivers set it up perfectly. A real "hot deal" !

 

[InuYasha]

This card eats so much CPU cycles it isnt even funny. If you guys ever run this card on a P2 233, It makes your mouse skips even playing a wav file. But with SB Live 5.1, eveything runs smooth as silk. I would stick with a REAL hardware card.

 

[Vette73]

If you are running a 233mhz Chip I would get a New Board and Duron / Athlon before I worried about the sound.

 

[mccall]

For a dedicated MP3 jukebox, ie. it sits in the corner and does nothing but play MP3 tunes, you don't need more than a 233 MHz processor.

 

[LiQiCE]

I just put together a system for a friend using the Shuttle AK35GTR which includes the C-Media Onboard 8738 Sound. It had a lot of problems at first where the sound was filled with static constantly. Nice and easy fix however was to use George's PCI Latency fix which cured all the static problems!!! Additionally, I tested the card with PowerDVD XP (v4.0) and it performed beautifully with my Klipsch 5.1 to decode Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS! The sound card does *NOT* sound as good as my Sound Blaster Audigy, and was noticeably worse in sound quality in terms of richness and precision. However, this is a damn good deal for the price, especially if you get it on-board with your motherboard. Also if you're just looking for a decent sound card to play 2.1 audio, this card is excellent for that.

For any of you thinking about moving to the Audigy, I would still recommend it if you want to spend the money on a good sound card. I'm running a KT266a board (ABIT KR7A-RAID) and the Audigy has worked really well for me and it worked just as well for me when I was running in a VIA Apollo Pro 133a (ASUS P3V4X). I almost went for a different sound card, but since I already had the Live! Drive IR from my SB Live! 5.1 I figured it wouldn't be so bad just to get the OEM Audigy and continue using the Live! Drive.. Thankfully the Audigy is much less picky than the old Live!.

 

[JeeperMan]

I've had the Thundering 5.1 card for quite a while now and have been fairly impressed with it. I can't find the expansion board that everyone talks about (with the S/PDIF optical outputs) anywhere. Could someone give me a link? I want to plug this baby into my new Yamaha receiver minus the hiss!!

Thanks

 

[SRman]

I'm currently using a SB PCI512. I am building a new system and selling my old one. Question is; which sound card should I keep- the 512, use a c-media card or spend about $36 for a SB live 5.1? Thanks for the help.

SR

 

[QuantumSlip]

Im using the C-Media onboard my XP-333R. The drivers from Windows Update gave me cracking noise. Went back to the previous ones and problem fixed.

Execellent sound card, greate value, helped me save $50 from buying a SB Live!

 

[highwire]

jeeperman -
A similar card w/optical in/out at
directron was mentioned about a 100 miles back.

 

[przero]

My card is NOT CPU intensive. 1% for Win Media Player. No problems.

 

[TBC]

Just wanted to add that I purchased this card to replace my SB Live. Turns out that was a mistake.

This card does use a little more cpu than the Live does. Using Winamp the Live card averaged between 0% to 7% cpu usage, and it usually stayed around 2%. This card averaged from 4% to 12%. I have a AMD Duron 1ghz cpu.

But that isn't what I didn't like. Its the fact that I got far more static from this card in certain games than I ever got from my Live card. In Nascar 4, using this card, the faster the car goes, the more popping noise I got... it sounded like I'm driving through a hailstorm. The Live card is silent. (I don't have the "value" Live card, I have the original Live that came out).

The sounds on my Live card are definitely more detailed also. I can hear sounds in games with the Live card that I don't hear with the ECS Thundering card. Playing mp3 files I can actually hear a singer inhale, and I don't hear that with this card.

This card does have many features for its low price, but its definitely not better than a SB Live card. Now I'm out $20.

This isn't a flame to anyone who likes it, just I'm a little upset over wasting money. I seem to be good at it lately.

 

[unknown]

just noticed this in another post.....

sound card at Compusa. It's specially priced at $25 with a $15 I/O Magic rebate. So the total is $10+tax. Seems to be a pretty decent entry level 4 channel sound card. Anybody has any comments?

It's also on the Compusa website, but no mention of price reduction or MIR. YMMV.



Sound Card
Compusa

 

[hoihtah]

i went on and ordered the $26 one... with spdif in/out.

i wanted to hook my htpc to my home audio system.
i hope this kicks some butt.

 

[JETninja]

If you dont need 5.1 and are in to gaming I highly recommend the Fortissmo II. Very little CPU usage, no compatiblity issues (if running WinXP you need the new Yamaha XG drivers from the Hercules site), optical input/outputs, and a nice cable that brings the connections out from the baclk of the PC.

I got the OEM from www.newegg.com a few months ago for $34. I play a lot of Sims and have not had a single problem. (WinXP......Games so far: CFS1/CFS2/FS2002/F1-2001/GP500/F4/FA-18/MigAlley/Panzer Elite SE/WWIIOL/GPL and growing!)

Cheers!