Should I upgrade my trusty ISA AWE64?

[Zorn]

I have a computer in my kitchen, built mostly from spare parts. The case is hidden away and I have a wall-mounted flat panel. It's great for watching TV, viewing recipes and listening to MP3s. The AWE64 drives a pair of Klipsch 2.1s

As indicated by the foregoing, this system is not used for gaming and is only used to drive two speakers. My only concern is sound quality for playing MP3s, watching television, etc. I originally went the with the AWE64 when I first built the system a couple of years ago because I had one lying around and several pci cards I'd tried just didn't sound as good as the AWE64.

It's been a couple years and I'm going to upgrade a few components soon. Should one of them be the AWE64? Obviously, the new multi-channel cards are better for gaming. Are they that much better for music?

 

[Adul]

turtle beach santa cruz definitely sounds better for music you have to hear it to believe it

 

[Biggs]

PCAVTech

From the tests conducted by the link above, you're card is "inferior" to a Live! which is "inferior" to a Santa Cruz. Of course, the best way to find out is to try it and let your ears be the judge.

 

[tenoc]

It's in your kitchen which is not exactly a concert hall!

The AWE64 is fine for that environment, anything "better" would be wasted.

Save the money for a higher purpose.

 

[Bovinicus]

It is true that his listening area is not ideal. However, he does have Klipsch 2.1's, which are some of the best mainstream computer speakers one can get their hands on. I think there is definitely some untapped potential in your setup. The Hercules Fortissimo II is an excellent card for it's money. It uses the same sound chip as the Turtle Beach. You should be able to find one for around $30.

 

[Thor86]

Good gawd, yes, upgrade immediately! Do yourself a favour and upgrade to an SB Live 5.1 or Audigy.

 

[vetteguy]

Upgrade, if for no other reason than to ditch the ISA card.

 

[Zorn]

Thanks for input...I'll upgrade. I'd rather buy new stuff anyway.

Based on searching previous sound card posts, I've narrowed my choice down to the Phillips Seismic Edge and the Santa Cruz. There seems to be quite the raging debate on this board as to which produces the better MP3 experience. Based on the debate, I can only conclude that both cards must sound pretty good. Phillips is cheaper...hmmmm.

By the way tenoc, our kitchen atually does turn into a concert hall most weekends (actually more of a dance club). Call it city-living with way too many friends as neighbors. I also use the card to send a signal to wireless speakers on the patio. Now I'm excited about the upgrade.

 

[holdencommodore]

The Philips Seismic Edge comes in two flavours, the PSC704, and the PSC705. The PSC704 is out of production (used the ThunderBird Q3D DSP), and there are no more driver development. The drivers are fine in Win 9X, but the Win2K/XP drivers are abit too rough. The PSC705 however, uses the ThunderBird Avenger DSP, and has excellent drivers and sound.

Cheers

 

[Ryan]

I would jump on the santa cruz boat