Good 7.1 ch sound card

[forumJunkie]

I just bought a set of speakers, Creative Inspire T7700 7.1 Surround Sound System, they're BEAUTIFUL, but I want to get some nice sound out of these babies.

I brought myself to TWO options

Chaintech 7.1 Channel PCI AV710 Sound Card = $25
or of course the
AUDIGY 2 = $93

Prices are of course from newegg
I might even get the Chaintech card at 11cb.com for $24

However these two buggers have a huge price difference so I was wondering would it be sufficient to get this chaintech... or spend the extra to get the Audigy?

 

[halfadder]

I'm oldschool, but I love the M-Audio Revolution 7.1.

Of your two options, I'd go for the real Audigy. Maybe even the retail-box version of it (vs a bare OEM card). I think you'll want the most tech support you can get. Surround sound is fun, but it's almost always a pain of driver versions and game versions every time a new wiz-bang games come out... especially with the first batch of 5.1 cards.

 

[forumJunkie]

Originally posted by: halfadder
I'm oldschool, but I love the M-Audio Revolution 7.1.

Of your two options, I'd go for the real Audigy. Maybe even the retail-box version of it (vs a bare OEM card). I think you'll want the most tech support you can get. Surround sound is fun, but it's almost always a pain of driver versions and game versions every time a new wiz-bang games come out... especially with the first batch of 5.1 cards.

Aww crap the m-audio does look freaking sexy.... ok looks like i'm down to [not two but] THREE choices

ChainTech
Audigy
M-Audio

 

[imported_amx]

av710, chaintech🙂

 

[CraigRT]

Chaintech AV-710... best value!
I have one and I love it.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

I have the Chaintech AV710 in my computer right now. I think where it really shines is the optical out (I'm using it that way). There's some really good info in this earlier thread Here

In that post I think the most informative stuff is this thread from AVS forum. It gives info on the whole VIA envy based cards including the M-audio revolution 7.1.

I think the Chaintech is a really good option for a low cost sound card. I haven't tried it in 7.1 analog, but have had my sennheiser hd 280 pro's plugged into it for analog and I didn't notice any difference from the output on my old Turtle Beach Santa Cruz.

 

[imported_Reck]

The chaintech is awesome for 2 channel mode but it doesn't do to well with muli channel support. I forget why though...I think it uses a crappy DAC or something. FYI the difference between the m-audio and chaintech is very small. The difference is more between the sound chacteristics if anything.

 

[forumJunkie]

*tear*
I LOVE YOU GUYS! I knew AT-ers would save me!

CHAINTECH IT IS! :thumbsup:

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Yeah, the reason the chaintech is better for 2 channel is that 6 of the channels are pretty good DACs and channel 7/8 uses a really nice one. When using just stereo you can use the 7/8 jack as L/R and it's really good.

The other DACs are decent too, so it's still a bargain for a 7.1 card.

I'm using it as optical out to my HK AVR-325 so I'm not even using the DACs except for when I have headphones plugged in.

When I bought mine through newegg, it came with an optical cable too, which made it an amazing deal.

Have fun with it forumJunkie!

 

[forumJunkie]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Yeah, the reason the chaintech is better for 2 channel is that 6 of the channels are pretty good DACs and channel 7/8 uses a really nice one. When using just stereo you can use the 7/8 jack as L/R and it's really good.

The other DACs are decent too, so it's still a bargain for a 7.1 card.

I'm using it as optical out to my HK AVR-325 so I'm not even using the DACs except for when I have headphones plugged in.

When I bought mine through newegg, it came with an optical cable too, which made it an amazing deal.

Have fun with it forumJunkie!

thanks for the additional input and yea i'm definitely going for this one.