Need high quality PC Sound! M-Audio? Creative?

[mi1stormilst]

Right now I am using my on-board Neo 2 Platium sound...and boy does it suck. I miss my old SOUNDSTORM...I do game a bit but I typically use my headphones...so I am looking to replace my on board sound with a good quality sound board. I will be hooking up my Logitech Z-5300's and occasionally using my Senn HD 280 Pros.

ORDER OF PRIORITY

1.) Excellent playback of music
2.) Excellent recording from internal and external sources
3.) Good support while editing sound for home movies (DVD AUTHORING)
4.) Excellent sound quality in games

It is very rare that I watch movies on my system...I have heard that M-Audio cards are not able to record streaming audio???

Please post your suggestions and why...

 

[Peter]

You want an Envy24 chip on your next card, not a Creative one - if only for the much higher hit rate on WORKING drivers.

 

[Gurck]

I'd go with the M-Audio Revolution. Stay away from Creative cards if you want musical quality.

 

[mi1stormilst]

What about the issues with recording on the fly...any of you guys have experiance with that?

 

[Gurck]

Originally posted by: mi1stormilst
What about the issues with recording on the fly...any of you guys have experiance with that?

First I've heard of it, can't help you there, sorry.

 

[mi1stormilst]

M-Audio guys have kinda answered the question...now just need to find one...

 

[aidanjm]

Originally posted by: Peter
You want an Envy24 chip on your next card, not a Creative one - if only for the much higher hit rate on WORKING drivers.

why is an ENVY card better than say using the onboard Realtek AC'97 sound?

my onboard sound is 16 bits. ENVY is 24 bits. How does bit rate affect sound?

 

[Peter]

The Envy24 chips have higher resolution, but also much higher sampling rates than AC97 bus standard allows. Going onto a PCI card (potentially) allows for excellent analog signal decoupling, which is quite a bit harder down on the mainboard. (That doesn't imply that all PCI cards are well decoupled, and also doesn't mean all onboard AC97 solutions are poorly done.) On the system end of the affair, the Envy chips have an amount of audio processing capability, while the majority of AC97 systems let the main CPU do all the work.

 

[Wuzup101]

I have an m-audio sonica theater for my powerbook playing through a set of logitech z5500 speakers and it sounds great. I would definitely recomed their products...

 

[yezhou]

If you're looking to record also, then go the way of M-Audio. I have an OmniStudio/Delta66 and its absolutely great, although its now replaced by the FireWire version. Also check out Echo's products: http://www.echoaudio.com/