Cheap but very good 5.1 soundcard, $16

[Vette73]

for the people having problems have you got the newwest drivers. I have the c-media sound card and went from Win 98 se to Win XP pro and the sound in music and games is great in both.

Run windows update and it will give you microsoft drivers for Win XP at least

UPDATE ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[GnatGoSplat]

The CMI8738 is the same chip used in professional soundcards like the Midiman DIO 2448. The guy that runs the site PCABX found that the Midiman DIO 2448 did everything that it claimed to do.
The only thing is the CMI8738 analog output isn't that great, but its digital output is true to life. So if you think you're a real audiophile, go with a CMI8738-based card and use its digital output with a quality outboard DAC.

Do a search on Google Groups for the keywords "CMI8738" and "Midiman" for more info that backs up the fact that the CMI8738 is a good audio chipset.

 

[esquared]

Here's a 4 channel card with digital out for 8.75. They have cheap shipping also, around 4.00. Here's the link. SVC's Aureal Vortex 4 channel sound card

 

[Lanyap]

I ordered the ECS Thundering Sound 5.1 card from Linkpca several weeks ago and I just now got around to looking it over. I noticed that it has the Cmedia CMI8738/PCI-SX chip. According to the Cmedia website this chip is 4 channel but the ECS card says it's 6 channel. Who's right, Cmedia or ECS?

 

[billw]

The ECS Thundering Sound is a 6 channel sound card.. I had some issues with noise that I tracked down to the Audio CD cable from the CD-rom to the sound card. After I unplugged it, it was great. Not that it was bad before, but now I don't get unwanted noise.

 

[Csium]

Lanyap, If you hear sound coming from all 6 speakers, its probably a 6-channel. Either that, or the company has been fooling anandtech+world. Also, off-topic: if you haven't tried it with a 6 speaker source yet, do you really need it?

 

[Dood]

I got the cmedia-based card from buy.com (Pine brand). I get severe BSODs with WinXP Pro and the cmedia drivers from windowsupdate. So I'm back to my SBLive with no real problems.

 

[przero]

Dood - I got the same card and it works perfectly with Win XP. Used the cmedia drivers from WinUpdate. Maybe a bad card?

 

[donerb]

Does the Pine model from Buy.com have SPDIF/digital outputs (coax or toslink?)

 

[toshiba3020]

I just sold my ECS cmi3738 and got the same card made by chieftech, it came with the optical board and a toslink cable. Was only $10 + $10 s/h. Got it from e-bay.

 

[Braves]

placed my order this morning for the ECS one - 27$ shipped from pcalnc or whatever

 

[XiZiT]

I have an Aureal Vortex 2 card [bought it for $17 a year ago]... And I have a THX Z560 4.1 speakers... is it worth getting this (inexpensive) card you're talking about or should I just stick with the Vortex2?

 

[randomlinh]

if you're happy, i dont' really see a point. if you use XP, and need opticals or something, it might be a wise and cheap investment.

 

[commemoratives]

Might want to look in to this thread about a geeks package which appears to include the 4 channel version of this card with USB speakers and a CD-ROM.

Been pondering this for a few days just made the connection while reading the specs on the muktimedia kit.

 

[toshiba3020]

Instead of the kit, but a cheap cdrom drive(a good sony 52x can be had for ~$25, which is much nicer than that one at the geeks), and get a 4 channel cmedia sound card, avalible anywhere for ~$10, and some decent speakers.

 

[XiZiT]

<< and get a 4 channel cmedia sound card >>



so your saying i should get the CMedia in place of my Aureal Vortex2
[even if u weren't talking to me, i'd appreciate some feedback]

 

[SRman]

I bought the chaintech av512 for $18. The sound seems to be fairly good. I am having problems however. I have tried the newest drivers on c-media's site as well as the drivers from windows update. The problem is that one set of drivers does not allow the my microphone to work, while the other keeps defaulting back to a 2 speaker setup. I have also installed the via pci latency patch to no avail.
My system specs are:
shuttle ak31a
athlon xp1700
512mb crucial pc2100
win98se

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I am ready to pitch this card out. My previous card was a SB pci512 and I never had any problems. Thanks.

SR

 

[ToneLoc]

sometimes i only get sound form 2 speakers (my front ones) when im watching a movie or something. Only some movies do this. is there a way i can have it 4 speaker for everything?

 

[Jonny5alive]

Which of these cards discussed here would be the best to buy? The one from directron would be a little cheaper as the vendor mentioned in the original post has pretty high shipping (comes out to close to $25 shipped to Madison)

I'm using an mx400 right now, and have had some problems with it when I uprgraded to Win2000 recently. Its had some spuradic static. But I just unlpugged the CD cable, and it seems clearer. I really don't want to have to do that though. So I do need a new card

 

[Braves]

the original one discussed in the first post is the one at pcalnc or whatever it's called. I thought of the other ones then decided just to get the retail ECS Thundering box from pcalnc. Another person has already recieved theirs from this company so i figured I could trust them. Comes to 27$ shipped for me

 

[toshiba3020]

<<

<< and get a 4 channel cmedia sound card >>



so your saying i should get the CMedia in place of my Aureal Vortex2
[even if u weren't talking to me, i'd appreciate some feedback] >>




Actually, I was talking to commemoratives, who posted just above me about a kit with that soundcard at compgeeks. For you, I would say as long as your vortex2 works good, it would not be worth upgrading to the cmedia 4 channel card. I have had the vortex2 as it sounds as good as the cmedia. If you have driver issues(I sure know I did with my vortex2) I would get the cmedia card. If you want surround sound, or the ability to have it, I would get the cmedia 5.1 card.

 

[XiZiT]

Yes the Vortex2 is incompatible with WindowsXP however there is a fix for it using a program called wpcredit... [info for those not in the know]

 

[SRman]

I have tried the drivers on the windows update page as well as the latest ones on the c-media site. I get popping during some games, sometimes my speaker setup defaults back to 2 speakers, and the mic does not work correctly. The problems depend on which driver I use. I doubt the board is bad as it plays cd's and other sounds fine. I don't really want to send it back as the shipping would cost me about 1/3 of the cost of the card. I have tried the pci latency patch, but it did not help. Overall, I guess for 18 bucks shipped it is ok and maybe a future driver release will solve the problem. Until then, I think I am going to get a new board. For $30-40 I can get either a philips rhythmic edge 4.1, Herc Fortissimo 2, or a SB live 5.1oem. Any thoughts on which is better? Thanks.

SR

 

[ChuckG]

SRman- If you are willing to spend $40, then why don't you do it the right way and purchase one of these:

A Super Card

I have an SB Live! card and the Turtle Beach card. Believe me, the Turtle Beach has it all over the SB card. I can't comment about the other cards in your post.

One thing to remember when buying a sound card. If you purchase quality, you won't be buying another card for a long time. If you upgrade your system, just move your card over to the new machine.

 

[Braves]

Recieved mine in the mail today from PCALNC with the most horrible packaging i've ever seen... the package was already damaged but the sound card was fine. The CD that comes in the ECS Digital Thundering 5.1 box was scratched heavily on the bottum and is unreadible... i'm wondering whether I should RMA it or ask for a new CD or what. The sound card is great though