SB Audigy(1st gen) --->Turtle Beach Santa Cruz: upgrade or downgrade?

[slackerinabox]

So I need a new soundcard (I killed my Audigy, long story).... Would moving from an audigy to a Santa Cruz be an upgrade or a downgrade? Keep in mind that I don't game at all and only listen to music ( I do video editing too but that's not really a factor). Also, is stepping up from a Santa Cruz to an Audigy 2 worthwhile? Thanks guys!

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

I know moving to a Santa Cruz would be an upgrade. The audio handling on the Santa Cruz seems to be liked by everyone since it produces some nice quality music, but the Audigy 2 is up there as well. For the price and what you get, I'd get the Santa Cruz also for better drivers in some cases and music quality.

 

[slackerinabox]

Originally posted by: AgaBooga
I know moving to a Santa Cruz would be an upgrade. The audio handling on the Santa Cruz seems to be liked by everyone since it produces some nice quality music, but the Audigy 2 is up there as well. For the price and what you get, I'd get the Santa Cruz also for better drivers in some cases and music quality.

Thanks for the reply.. Seems like a complicated issue - I read a few reviews where the audigy 1 kicked the santa cruz's butt but I also read user reviews that claim that the S.C. is a superior card to the Audigy 2... Hmmm, I'll still think about this a bit...

 

[dman]

If you aren't gaming, and your speakers aren't studio quality, I highly doubt you'd notice the difference between any card w/ the same # of channels and decent drivers. I'd go by price, anyway.

 

[Ionizer86]

Yea, once in a while, a $40 santa cruz pops up at compusa, and when circuit city has a rebate to go along, us ATHDers get an under $10 sound card, lol.

If you can hang in there, you may be able to get a sub $10 TBSC as well.

 

[Goi]

Its more of a lateral move than anything else. The TBSC is older, has less game support and performance, but its sound quality is arguably better(though w/o 24/96 capability) and has better drivers, if you're the kind who hate Creative drivers.

 

[Nebor]

You'll notice a big hit in frame rates when you turn EAX on. Only Creative cards do onboard processing, w/o hogging CPU cycles.