Cheapest and most stable sound card

[metroplex]

What do I get?

Hercules Muse 5.1, Fortisimo III, Voyetra Turtle Beach Santa Cruz, or what?

I only have 2 speakers and it has to be a PCI sound card. EAX support would be good.

 

[Schadenfroh]

hercules furtismo III

 

[ScrapSilicon]

I like Cmedia based ones(about $12 to $15)..just make sure you use Cmedia's drivers from Cmedia..$11 shipped

 

[metroplex]

Yeah good idea bout the Cmedia... i totally forgot about them

I have one for my other computer and it works great.

 

[ScrapSilicon]

Originally posted by: metroplex
Yeah good idea bout the Cmedia... i totally forgot about them

I have one for my other computer and it works great.

the 6ch w/ spdif at dealsonic is $14 shipped...don't forget ...drivers from Cmedia tho..

 

[Macro2]

Get an Ensoniq Audio PCI with a 1370 chip if you can find one, Otherwise a 1371 chip, This is basically a Soundblaster 128 after Creative took them over.

We used to run a radio station off the 1370.

Great sound, great midi too.
Cmedia can't come close.



Mac

 

[metroplex]

what's MIDI? (j/k)

What's wrong with the Cmedia?

 

[pukemon]

The C-Media chip is a host-based/software controller chip, ie, it uses the CPU to do all the nitty gritty computation whereas the Creative/Ensoniq 1370/71/73 chip is a full hardware solution. They both sound roughly the same, and cost about the same too. Either will work fine with the ample computing power of even the lowest end CPUs these days.

 

[Corporate Thug]

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
hercules furtismo III

 

[cmdrdredd]

for gaming? or music? or what...they all have strengths

 

[metroplex]

My problem is that I spent $99 for a Creative SB Live 5.1 X-gamer and it was supposed to have decent hardware - but in retrospect its one of the worst cards out there.

I just need something that will do stereo sound for MP3s and gaming. I have an AMD XP 2100+ CPU (non-overclocked) and just play GTA3, America's Army Ops, Rainbow Six, etc... nothing high tech like Splinter Cell.

I have just 2 speakers and my AMD CPU fan is a noisy mofo so its not like I'd hear the difference between a higher quality sound card vs. a plain jane deal.

So would the C-media still cause instability issues w/ my AMD CPU/VIA chipset mobo like my SB Live 5.1? I have to set the hardware acceleration to NONE in order for my AMD system to play MP3s/games w/o crashing.

So would running my SB Live w/ no hardware acceleration be the same, worse, or better than using a C-Media/DT-688 style sound card that uses the CPU to do the nitty gritty computations w/ full hardware acceleration (if available)?

Dredd: I'll be using it for gaming and music. I don't have a 4.1/5.1/6.1 speaker system and I don't use headphones. For music I listen to MP3s

I have a 5000 RPM 80mm fan which isn't as bad as a 6000 RPM 60mm fan, but its loud enough to drown out all the extremely high notes unless I blast the music/sound.

 

[BeauJangles]

Philips Acoustic Edge, look in the FS/FT forum.. they have great sound and are only like $25 shipped usually.

 

[ScrapSilicon]

what mobo are you using..?

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: metroplex
My problem is that I spent $99 for a Creative SB Live 5.1 X-gamer and it was supposed to have decent hardware - but in retrospect its one of the worst cards out there.

I just need something that will do stereo sound for MP3s and gaming. I have an AMD XP 2100+ CPU (non-overclocked) and just play GTA3, America's Army Ops, Rainbow Six, etc... nothing high tech like Splinter Cell.

I have just 2 speakers and my AMD CPU fan is a noisy mofo so its not like I'd hear the difference between a higher quality sound card vs. a plain jane deal.

So would the C-media still cause instability issues w/ my AMD CPU/VIA chipset mobo like my SB Live 5.1? I have to set the hardware acceleration to NONE in order for my AMD system to play MP3s/games w/o crashing.

So would running my SB Live w/ no hardware acceleration be the same, worse, or better than using a C-Media/DT-688 style sound card that uses the CPU to do the nitty gritty computations w/ full hardware acceleration (if available)?

Dredd: I'll be using it for gaming and music. I don't have a 4.1/5.1/6.1 speaker system and I don't use headphones. For music I listen to MP3s

I have a 5000 RPM 80mm fan which isn't as bad as a 6000 RPM 60mm fan, but its loud enough to drown out all the extremely high notes unless I blast the music/sound.

My mom's PC has a VIA chipset; it's an FIC motherboard, KT133A chipset if I remember right. It's a very stable system.

Originally posted by: BlinderBomber
Philips Acoustic Edge, look in the FS/FT forum.. they have great sound and are only like $25 shipped usually.

I'll second that - I had a Seismic Edge card, and it was quite good; the Acoustic Edge is a step above it.

 

[metroplex]

I have an Abit kX7-333 w/ an AMD XP2100+ CPU, 512MB PC2100 Crucial DDR

GeForce 3 standard (Leadtek), SB Live 5.1 X-gamer, Linksys LNE100TX v4 NIC
Maxtor D740x 40GB, IBM 75GXP 75GB HD's
a DVD-ROM, and a CD-RW

 

[Willoughbyva]

The Philips cards don't have Linux support. If you think you might want to try linux sometime you might want to make sure the card is supported.

 

[Zepper]

Hey Metroplex,
I have a Creative ES-1371 kicking around here. It is very good sounding being based on the Ensoniq synth chip. I'm using my onboard sound from a recent upgrade so I don't need it any more.
It's your's if you want it - say $18. shipped. LMK.
.bh.
:sun:
Heatware=zepper
eBay=technoia