Cheap Soundcard

[Kishan]

I have the Logitech Z-640's and I usually use some big can headphones from Aiwa. Currently I use the onboard sound on my Asus K8v SE. I believe that is Soundmax. Should I get that Chaintech Envy or that new Soundblaster? People reccomended me the Audigy 2 ZS, but I don't have the best speakers. I listen to:
60% mp3s
20% music
20% movies/dvds

Thanks for all the help.

 

[Operandi]

With those speakers I wouldn't even bother, if your concerend about quality upgrade the speakers first then go for a better sound card if you want.

 

[Kishan]

i was thinking about getting a small home theather for my room, but I just bought these 2 months ago. I really don't listen too loud, but want some decent clarity.

 

[JSt0rm]

Are you looking for more features because the difference of the DA converters is going to be small. I personally don't think you will notice very much difference with that setup.

I have 2 audio cards running into my digital mixer with my powered 200 watt studio monitors and can tell the difference between:

my computer>pro sound card>>adat lightpipe>professional converters>speakers

and

my computer>pci aopen $8 pci card>1/8" DA output>analog input on mixer>speakers

Does the professional sound better even with a degraded format such as mp3? Hell yes. But this is $3000 worth of audio crap between there and here. Does the $8 pci soundcard sound shitty? Well it does sound smaller and more narrow but its fine for casual listening and gaming.

I just don't buy into the consumer computer audio market unless they can show me a way in that this soundcard frees up cpu cycles, then I say spend the money.

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: KPSHAH316
i was thinking about getting a small home theather for my room, but I just bought these 2 months ago. I really don't listen too loud, but want some decent clarity.

Changes nothing, you'll never hear the differance between any of those cards with those speakers. Even high end PC speakers are barely adequte when it comes to high end cards like that. Given that 80 of your usage is dealing with 2 channel media I'd invest in a good 2.1 setup.

 

[Kishan]

lets say i did buy the chaintech, will i hear any increased audio quality in mp3s? most are 192, some are VBR, and some are 128. with this pc setup, I'm not going ultra hi-fi like both of you, since I have a small room.

 

[JSt0rm]

what in the sound that you have now is unsafisfactory?

 

[Kishan]

sometimes i get pops and clicks. also the increased frame rate would be nice. I heard that I would also get increase clarity/fiedelity, specifically from the chaintech.

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: KPSHAH316
lets say i did buy the chaintech, will i hear any increased audio quality in mp3s? most are 192, some are VBR, and some are 128. with this pc setup, I'm not going ultra hi-fi like both of you, since I have a small room.

Maybe, but I doubt it, even if you did it wouldn't be worth the money spent. If you want increased clarity get a good 2 channel setup. Those extra surround channels won't do anything for your music, the term "quality" over "quantity" would apply here. Better to have 2 good speakers rather then 5 crap-tastic ones, you'd prolly have a hard time telling the difference between 128k vs. 192k mp3s on those.....

 

[JSt0rm]

if you can increase your frame rate ingame for cheap then do it otherwise I don't think you will find a difference between any consumer card and onboard audio in terms of "quality"

 

[konakona]

Originally posted by: JSt0rm01
Are you looking for more features because the difference of the DA converters is going to be small. I personally don't think you will notice very much difference with that setup.

I have 2 audio cards running into my digital mixer with my powered 200 watt studio monitors and can tell the difference between:

my computer>pro sound card>>adat lightpipe>professional converters>speakers

and

my computer>pci aopen $8 pci card>1/8" DA output>analog input on mixer>speakers

Does the professional sound better even with a degraded format such as mp3? Hell yes. But this is $3000 worth of audio crap between there and here. Does the $8 pci soundcard sound shitty? Well it does sound smaller and more narrow but its fine for casual listening and gaming.

I just don't buy into the consumer computer audio market unless they can show me a way in that this soundcard frees up cpu cycles, then I say spend the money.

thats the thing with headphones vs speakers. you need nowhere near 3 grands to tell the glaring difference between the sound cards; <$300 budget would suffice if you went headphone the route, only if you liked headphones however. i wouldnt say which one is superior, they are just different especially in sound staging and imaging. i find headphones more to my liking.

 

[ponyo]

Soundmax isn't that bad. It's more than adequate for your Z640s.