Sound Card - Mp3s

[TJ69]

I'm looking for a good sound card primarily for mp3 playback. It may also get some dvd use.

The technology in the Audigy 2 seems to be more advanced than the Santa Cruz. Does it sound better in real life? Any other sound cards I should consider? I would prefer something under $100.

Thanks.

 

[aphex]

I keep hearing good things about the amazing sound quality of music playback on the M-Audio Revolution 7.1

You might wanna check it out, im considering purchasing one...

 

[eklass]

if you're only interested in mp3 playback, just about anything you can get your hands on, including integrated AC97 will work fine. now if you're into high-quality recording and playback (no mp3 is not high quality) or sick gameplay then you may want to look towards an audigy or something

 

[bullion416]

I like my Sound Blaster Audigy and I got it for like $50 online........don't think you can really beat it for the price

 

[TJ69]

eklass:
I would like more than just adequate sound quality. This card will be used in my car computer (cd/mp3/dvd/divx/mpeg/nav/rearviewmonitors).

It will play mp3s very often, and I would like to have clear clean crisp sound even under full load situations (like when the nav software w/ voice recognizition is fighting for resources while winamp plays my favorite mp3). Will onboard sound still suffice?

At this moment, I am leaning toward the Audigy 2 as it has the latest technology at a good price. I couldn't find any review on the M-Audio yet, but I will look some more later on.

 

[kursplat]

DigiFire. very clean sound , no added coloring like the creative cards (imo).

 

[aphex]

Just incase price is a big factor, the M-Audio Revolution i mentioned above is on sale for $65 at CompUSA after rebate

 

[holdencommodore]

Another vote for the M-Audio Revolution.... for reviews go to 3d Sound Surge and search their news section for various reviews.

Cheers

 

[TJ69]

I went with the Audigy 2 because of the firewire support.

Thanks for all the help and suggestions.

 

[Phaethar]

If you want to get some better MP3 playback on your Audigy 2 now, try using the MAD plugin (found here) with Winamp 2. It allows you to use the 24-bit capabilities of the card for audio decoding, and makes a nice difference. Have fun with the card.