Fortissimo II or Live! 5.1?

[EdipisReks]

i'm looking to upgrade my soundcard in the very near future, but i don't want to spend amore than $35. at newegg, the Hercules Fortissimo II and the live! 5.1 are the same price (the shipping is a little different, but i'm going to order the sound card with other things, so it doesn't really matter). the Fortissimo II has gotten great reviews, and of course the Live! was the defacto standard for a long time. i was just wondering which card is better (sound quality and compatibility are what i am mostly looking for). i won't use it for anything out of the ordinary, just games music and dvds.

thanks!
--jacob

 

[EdipisReks]

bump

 

[jh0sken612]

Ive always liked Sound Blaster cards... I have owned 3 of them with no complaints

 

[Daovonnaex]

Get the Fortissimo II. I have no idea why the Live! was the de facto standard, I always found its sound quality poor. The Fortissimo II, based on the Cirrus Logic CS4624 DSP, has excellent sound--as good as the Game Theater XP.

 

[Def]

The Fortissmo II definitely has better sound quality than any of the SB Live! cards. I've been extremely happy with my Fortissmo II, and compatability under Windows XP Pro is much better than my SB Live!.

I especialy don't miss the random hisses and pops I was getting under many games. :disgust:

 

[zbalat]

Fortissmo II + Logitech z560 = awesome sound for a great price!

 

[BeauJangles]

Newegg does not combine shipping, btw, but go for the Fortissimo II

 

[flood]

I've never really liked creative
Fortissimo II :-]

 

[Sahakiel]

Be a man.
Flip a coin.

 

[medusaccino]

man i have the live. i cant be happier.

 

[LeaDxPainT]

I love my SB Live! 5.1 Mp3, have had no problems with it to this date.

 

[RanDum72]

I have both cards under different PC's. The Fortissimo II is simply better.

 

[krackato]

Everyone should buy an Audigy so that we can finally get some universal Firewire going. Seriously, what do you all think? Audigy or Fortissimo II for a Kplisch 5.1 speaker set? (Like I can afford that!)

 

[EdipisReks]

thanks a lot guys! based on the opinions presented in this thread, it looks like i will be going with the fortissimo.

--jacob

 

[brainalien]

Fortissimo 2, great sound quality and features for such a cheap, little card.