Replacing My Soundcard

[Bovinicus]

My SB Live! has been giving me some problems lately, and as a result I have had to revert back to onboard audio (Ugh). The sound quality is just terrible and the gaming realism is very low. Anyway, I need a new soundcard. From what I hear, Phillips' cards do an excellent job at positional audio courtesy of the QMSS engine. I have even heard some say that QMSS is better than A3D or EAX and it is done in hardware so it works with all games. I have also heard the music quality on these cards is pretty good. However, I have also heard that the Audigy is a good choice for gaming and music. The Turtle Beach Santa Cruz is also an option, but it's not quite as good for gaming. Gaming is slightly more important to me, but music fidelity is important too. I am leaning towards a SE or AE from Phillips because of this. If you guys can offer any opinions or experiences you have had with any of these three cards to help me decide it would be greatly appreciated. I don't need top-notch music playback, but if it is at least on the same level as the Live! series I will be perfectly happy.

 

[T2T III]

^Bump^ I also have a Sound Blaster Live! card that I've been experiencing issues with. Hopefully, someone will chime in here soon with some answers because I essentially have the same questions as you do.

 

[brinstar117]

Though I don't have any experience with the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz, I can enthusiastically vouch for the Philips Acoustic and Seismic edge. My main computer has an Acoustic Edge and the rest of my computers have the 5.1 version Seismic Edges.

I have owned and used the Soundblaster Live! series and the Philips soundcards are much better in sound output. I mostly listen to music though. I didn't really play that many games that supported positional audio when I had the Lives (I only had 2 speaker at the time anyways). However, from my experience the Philips cards perform to my satisfaction. (of course I don't have much to compare them to)

 

[Woody419]

There is more discussion and links to sound card reviews
Here

 

[Boobers]

Live! cards have issues? No way! Every time that I post about all the issues I've had (and what a POS any Creative product is), people flame me, telling me I obviously don't know how to install drivers. There are people on this forum that think Creative is the best product out there, so they can't possibly have any problems. Don't bother asking for help with a Creative product, because you'll just get flamed with replies like: "...you're stupid and can't even install drivers. I have no problems". IMHO, you should avoid Creative at all costs...

I have two Santa Cruz cards that have never given me any problems (no static or popping, lockups or crashes), work wonderfully after two years of use, and I wouldn't trade them for anything else...

 

[T2T III]

Live! cards have issues? No way! Every time that I post about all the issues I've had (and what a POS any Creative product is), people flame me, telling me I obviously don't know how to install drivers.

Well, I have to admit that pulling my SB Live! out this evening was the best thing that I've ever done. It appears my Live! was dying a slow death and most recently, the sound coming from it was horrible. I picked up a Hercules Muse 5.1 DVD from Best Buy for $29.99. So far, this sound card is performing quite well for my MP3s, DVDs and light gaming. Ahhh ... the sounds - I can hear the sounds once again!!

 

[Instan00dles]

dude just get a santa cruz best damm card out there as far as I am concerned. I am glad I have it cause my logitech z-540's dont have a headphone jack but the santa cruz has a vera-jack that I can change into a headphone jack though there software, now I got some kick ass headphone to use a night. No drive probs at all either

 

[jaeger66]

In case you missed all the other 900 threads per week on this subject, here's a synopsis:

1.) Creative is junk
2.) The Santa Cruz is great
3.) The Philips cards are great