Sound card-good balance of both music AND games

[JoLim24601]

I've read a ton of forums about how creative = gamjing and envy = music

I was wondering which card could provide the greatest balance between both music & games because I can't seem to put one over the other. I'm juggling between the Audigy 2 ZS (Games), Chaintech AV-710, or the M-Audio Revolution. Maybe even the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz or the Soundblaster Live!. Lol. Thanks

EDIT: Maybe even the Hercules Fortissimo Series? I heard those are good.

And special thanks to Yoyodajello if he answers (seeing as how he seems to be the residential audio expert.)

 

[Tarrant64]

Can't go wrong with Audigy 2 ZS

 

[ponyo]

Not even contest. Audigy 2 ZS.

 

[tren001]

Onboard sound = minute deficiency of sound fidelity, which you can't tell
loss of some cpu resources, which makes your game 1% slower
$70 saved for an audigy that you didn't need to buy

 

[JoLim24601]

Originally posted by: Naustica
Not even contest. Audigy 2 ZS.

Explain?

 

[Arcanedeath]

In this case of the choices you have listed I'd say go w/ the Audigy as it's by far the best gaming card of the bunch and plays back music fairly good too, no other card can really compare when gaming, and it plays music well enough that I wouldn't complain about it. The only thing I'd caution you aganist when getting an Audigy is Creatives Drivers, they are total bloatware and a pain to boot.

My next sound card is actualy going to be a HDA Digital X-Mystique 7.1 Gold (HDA stands for HiTeC Digital Audio) to replace my Nforce 2 MCP-T though as it's the only PCI card that can encode dolby digital on the fly, (or if I can find something else based on the Cmedia 8768+ cheaper I'll go w/ that) as I have my PC hooked up to my HT system and really don't want to have to run 6 + cables to my reciver to get good audio from my PC.

 

[Oceanic]

I went through alot of cards and finally got the 2 zs, does everything great, music is nice if you know how to set the EQ on it and your player.

av710 is ok for music but games will give you noise and static

 

[Melchior]

My pick goes to onboard. The 70 bucks goes towards upgrading your graphics card.

 

[ecvs85]

Get the audigy 2 zs, the other cards is bad at gaming as it couldn't pinpoint and provide clear surround sounds (ie: footsteps). However if you're some serious music listener, consider the AudioTrak Prodigy 7.1. It is comparable/rival to m-audio rev cards and it has better support for eax (the sensaura algorithm it uses is the last before creative bought it out), so the CPU cycle hogs by this cards is much lower than the m-audio rev. On top of that, I'm using it now

 

[CKTurbo128]

Actually, the best, balanced card for both music and games at the moment would be the Audigy 4 Pro, according to Chastity of 3Dsoundsurge, who wrote this review of the Audigy 4 Pro a couple of months ago:

3DsoundSurge Review: Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 4 Pro

Unlike other Audigy 4 Pro reviews on the web, this review does an excellent job on covering sound quality for music listening and the resampling issue. According to the review, it does use the same chipset as the Audigy 2 ZS (which means that it still resamples), but the biggest difference is that it uses much higher quality DACs, CS4398, which are the same DACs used by high sound quality cards like the E-MU 1212M/1820M. As a result, the Audigy 4 Pro sounds significantly better than the Audigy 2 ZS and is not a mere upgrade like previous Audigy cards. Even Chastity mentioned that it beats out the M-Audio Revolution 7.1 in these threads:

Audigy 4 Pro - How does it compare to the EMU1212m
Audigy 4 Pro review input here

However, the largest downfall of the card is the price. It is very expensive (~$250 at the moment) and with rumors of the Creative Zenith (Creative's next gen. audio card) coming around the corner, it may not be even worth getting the Audigy 4 Pro.

 

[imported_cosmotic]

I can't tell you waht to get, I am looking for a good card too. But, I cant tell you what not to get. Do not get a creative card. Their drivers are shit, their cards are over priced and use crappy components, and the company guys out better competitors or companies that allow competitors to compete.

I am trying to find a link to manufacters web site for HDA Digital X-Mystique. Any help here?

 

[Cuw]

Stay away from the audigy and onboard if you actually care about music. They resample and do it horribly. They destroy music and its truly disgusting to listen to it. The Chaintech is nice for a cheap card but the M-Audio is the same card just better, well except the supernice rear channel audio on the Chaintech, but for general use the M-Audio is the best. EAX really isnt that nice. Also the Audigy 4 isnt that nice either.

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: tren001
Onboard sound = minute deficiency of sound fidelity, which you can't tell
loss of some cpu resources, which makes your game 1% slower
$70 saved for an audigy that you didn't need to buy

The differance in DX8 and Some DX9 games is greater than 1% Plus EAX makes a great differance in games that you do not get with onboard sound.

All I can say about onboard sound is: Hissssssss......... hUMMMmmmMM...

 

[Googer]

Why not get both an Audigy for Games and an M-AUDIO Revolution for Music Playback. All you have to do is set the device playback options in windows or your favorite applicaiton.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Yikes, don't call me an expert :Q

The chaintech is a great 2 channel analog card or a multichannel digital card.

If you're doing mostly music in analog, I think the M-Audio Revolution is a good bet.

For gaming, the Audigy 2 cards are nice because of their EAX processing. Good for music too.

I've only owned SB16 , SB live!, TBSC, AV-710, and tried some integrated solutions.
The rest I'm going off of things I've read.

Only a couple days ago I've heard about the X-Mystique. I think that might be my next upgrade in sound if it becomes available in the US.

 

[JoLim24601]

Originally posted by: Googer
Why not get both an Audigy for Games and an M-AUDIO Revolution for Music Playback. All you have to do is set the device playback options in windows or your favorite applicaiton.

I would but I can't piss money like it's nothing. Thanks for the advice guys.

 

[Brian48]

The original Audigy wasn't great for music, but the Audigy2 is a quite an improvement. The anti-Creative zealots will come up with every excuse to say this card sucks, but the fact of the matter, it doesn't and music playback is actually not bad. Sure, it doesn't sound as good as an M-Audio Revo 7.1, but then again a Revo 7.1 can't compete against the A2 when it comes to gaming (had a Revo at one time). By default, this makes the A2 best balance between both worlds at this point in time.

You mentioned the Fortissimo series. I would agree and recommend it as a great, low-cost alternative to the A2, however the Fortissimo series has been out of production and desupported for almost two years now. I still have mine in the closet, just in case I ever get tired of this AV710 that I'm using for my mini-disc PC.

 

[complicated]

I'm happy with the Audigy 2 ZS on the PC I use most. Previous cards have been a few Envy-based, E-Mu 1212M, etc. Gaming is top notch, music is pleasant enough and the resampling issue is only a major problem for the geeks who deal in figures only. Figures don't tell you much, listening will. It's definitely good enough for regular listening.