looking for a soundcard

[CheerUpEmoKid]

hey i decided i wanted to buy a sound card but i dunno anything about them. i dont want to buy it online, only in local store like circuit city or something. whats a good card to go with? im looking to spend like $60 or less...
this is all ive found so far...
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Creative...atOid/-13011/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do
is this any good?
thanks for the help in advance

 

[GreyMittens]

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=27&threadid=1747274&enterthread=y

Is a good thread to read, the audigy 2 Zs is a decent go.

 

[w00t]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829120103

 

[CheerUpEmoKid]

hmm id love to go with that chaintech card you linked but i cant find it anywhere in any local stores, and the audigy 2zs is too expensive, i dont want to spend more than $60

 

[CyberFlas]

How does that chaintech card stack up to the audigy 2z?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: CyberFlas
How does that chaintech card stack up to the audigy 2z?

Good for music, not a good card for gaming.

Does it really have to be a local store or would this work?
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=290223 (free 2 day shipping)

 

[SonicIce]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: CyberFlas
How does that chaintech card stack up to the audigy 2z?

Good for music, not a good card for gaming.

Does it really have to be a local store or would this work?
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=290223 (free 2 day shipping)

Why is it bad for gaming? Because no hardware accelerated 3d sound? Does this mean all cards are bad for gaming unless they are Creative? EAX only makes a big differance for surround sound anyway?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: SonicIce

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: CyberFlas
How does that chaintech card stack up to the audigy 2z?

Good for music, not a good card for gaming.

Does it really have to be a local store or would this work?
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=290223 (free 2 day shipping)

Why is it bad for gaming? Because no hardware accelerated 3d sound? Does this mean all cards are bad for gaming unless they are Creative? EAX only makes a big differance for surround sound anyway?

The DACs for the standard multichannel output are not as good as the 7/8 jack that you can reconfigure for stereo out and music use. The nice digital out it has is also not a good option for gaming since it will only output stereo or DD for things that already encoded.

So, the high quality DAC and digital out are not suited for 4.1/5.1/higher output which is what is usually desired for gaming.

Combine that with the lack of hardware acceleration and the card just doesn't seem like it's well suited for gaming vs something like a $40 A2zs.

 

[SonicIce]

where $40?
edit o nvm

maybe its just me but that 7/8 jack never sounded any better to me. also when i adjusted the volume it would just chnage the L/R balance and never got very loud.

 

[Finns14]

hey from what I heard that anything in the 2 family is very similar so you are best off going with a value card is there any truth to that? If thats the case I think I'm gunna go with http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=290223 as well

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: SonicIce
where $40?
edit o nvm

maybe its just me but that 7/8 jack never sounded any better to me. also when i adjusted the volume it would just chnage the L/R balance and never got very loud.

I think some drivers had that issue and some didn't.

I just used it for the digital out, so I didn't really do comparisons of the different outputs.