Decent stereo only sound card for Cheap?

[shortnugly]

Only need stereo, no surround or 5.1, with required gaming attributes, for a relatively low cost.

I noticed the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz cards are going for about $45 on E-bay. I consider this a relatively high-end sound card and only mention this for comparison reasons. If a stripped down stereo only card runs around $30 - 35, then I'd spend the extra clams and get the Santa Cruz.

If I can find a decent card for under $15 - 20 bucks then I'll stay with a stereo only.

Any suggestions/recommendations?

 

[Peter]

Well it doesn't get any cheaper than the cards with C-Media's 8738-6CH chip on (it's a 5.1 device, sorry ). Buy a version w/o optical headers for the digital I/O, and you'll be inside your budget. Even more so if you can find a stock clearance on a card model using the older 4-channel version.

regards, Peter

 

[shortnugly]

I'll start looking for that.

Thanks for the info.

 

[Mem]

What about the Hercules GameSurround MuseXL sound card,

With an MSRP of $29.99 and a street price as low as $17 on Pricewatch, the impact to one?s pocket book is minimal

.

 

[Peter]

... which is exactly what I suggested - a card based on the older 4-channel CMI8738, w/o the optical in/out.

 

[jt63]

Here's a Creative SB 16 PCI OEM over at newegg: link $20 bucks shipped! Good basic sound.

 

[Peter]

Not really. The non-"Live" PCI Soundblasters are entirely CPU-driven. Sucks. CMI8738 is far superior, both in features and CPU usage figures.

regards, Peter

 

[Pilsnerpete]

I'll send you a Turtle Beach Daytona (circa '97) for $10 shipped! It's got an S3 Sonic Vibes chip on it. Last time I heard it, it sounded pretty good. LMK

Pete

 

[shortnugly]

Pilsner, thanks for the offer but I'll look for something newer.

Peter, where could I get a CMI8738 card for cheep?

 

[Mem]

Shortugly good deal here at newegg ,Guillemot Hercules Game Surround Muse LT - OEM $14 .

 

[mrzed]

I hope you read this before you order, because by far the best deal for audio quality in a stereo PCI soundcard is the Soundblaster Ensoniq PCI. This thing should be $15 or less (might be a bit hard to find, but worth it) and has way cleaner sound than any other SB, (maybe the audigy has finally caught up with it). It is more or less equal to the TB Santa Cruz if all you want is 2 speakers.

The card is so good because it was never really a soundblaster. Creative bought Ensoniq, and the Ensoniq card was ready to go at that exact time, so they just re-branded them. But since it's Creative, you've got ongoing driver support. It has a fantastic Signal to noise ratio for such an inexpensive card, and really decent D/A converters. Don't take my word on it, here is a list of pro audio cards technically reviewed by a sound engineer here: at www.pcavtech.com

Just be sure it says Ensoniq, a lot of vendors don't really know the difference. Especially in the small local stores where you are likely to find one if you hunt around (old tech is sometimes easier to find in those places

 

[jrichrds]

It gets a little confusing. The Ensoniq AudioPCI was renamed to Sound Blaster PCI64 when Creative bought Ensoniq. The Creative Ensoniq AudioPCI is based on a lower-end (but newer) Ensoniq chip. I have both...got the original Ensoniq AudioPCI not long after it was released.

I remember getting my SBLive! MP3+, and being disappointed that my Ensoniq AudioPCI seemed to sound better than it.

 

[crapito]

I second mrzed's suggestion for the Creative/Ensoniq base 2 channel PCI card for a Win9x system. I've used/installed several of these, and they all work perfectly well in Win9x (haven't tried WinXP with them, cause I'd use a better/newer card on a better/newer OS, though I suspect their drivers aren't up to snuff for WinXP). also, the Aureal A3D 2.0 sound cards, like the SQ2500, are wonderful for Win9x setups, but stink in WinXP due to no real driver support.

if you are using WinXP, I'd go for the oft recommended CMI 8738 sound card, which Compgeeks has for ~$20 shipped. after that, spend ~$50 for a real card, like Audigy, Philips Acoustic Edge, etc...

 

[funboy6942]

Best buy sells the hercules muse card bundled with a retail version of power dvd for $20. It is the cmedia chip 5.1 or 6ch sound. I bought it to run in my aopen board because the sound chip onboard of it sux. I run the driver for the herc card off my soyo kt333 dragon ultra cd because it uses the same chip for the sound and has cool sound demos and then there is the audio rack too which you will not get with herc's driver cd. So I highly reccomend the card and down the driver from soyo for the model I provided and you will be very happy for a $20 investment. Oh and btw the power dvd is the new issue one out looks great! I know you asked for a 2 ch sound card so if you use the soyo driver a box will appear on reboot asking if you want 5.1, 4.0., 2, or headphones there you can select your 2 ch.

 

[T2T III]

Funboy,

Thanks for the great recommendation. I'm downloading the Audio Rack software from Soyo at this time. I'll head out to Best Buy tonight to get the Muse card. Actually, I checked the BB Web site and they are selling the card for $29.99. Still ... not bad.

[Edit:] I downloaded the audio rack software. I guess lately I've preferred to listen to my music with more of a flatter response. The rack software is great for someone who wants more control over their music. Unfortunately, the Hercules Muse card doesn't have software that supports separate bass and treble control, so I have to use these controls on my speakers.