Soundcards

[TDSLB]

there are some people that post "friends dont let friends buy creative" or something like that. I really cant think of anyone else that makes Soundcards besides creative. If I knew i would buy one ASAP but is there anyone that makes them one the same quality level as creative and do they have all of that anoying junk that Creative leaves on your computer? Ive heard I think Philips but I cant seem to gleen any info from them that says they do. anyways. Just thought I would ask....

 

[MrBond]

Creative soundcards used to be the top of the line, however they left a bad taste in the mouths of a lot of VIA Chipset users, due to the famous incompatibility.

At the moment, there are several viable alternatives for someone looking to buy a new soundcard.

Phillips does make soundcards, their Acoustic Edge is the top model. Turtle Beach makes the Santa Cruz, which is in the same field as the Acoustic Edge, but is a little more expensive (I have a Santa Cruz, never regret buying it). Hercules makes the Game Theator XP, which is considered to be the best soundcard on the market now (that isn't made by Creative). It's more expensive then the Santa Cruz, but it also comes with a rack device where you can plug in tons of audio devices. A version w/o the rack is also available. All three of these cards use the same "brain" (It's a cirrus logic chip I think, someone correct me if I'm wrong), but differ in the amount of features they offer. I've also heard from people that the Acoustic edge uses the most system resources, while the GTXP uses the least of the three.

As far as software in the tray, my Santa Cruz loads a simple control panel, in place of the default Windows one. I like it better because it allows me to set which output I want the sound to go out of (speakers or headphones) as well as having a ton of features the Windows one lacks. I don't notice it interfering with boot time or hogging my ram. I can't speak for the other two cards, as I've never used them.

Those three cards are top of the line, and better then the Live! series in almost every respect. Creative does that their new line of cards out, but I've only read reviews, so I don't know how the AE/SC/GTXP would stack up. Hercules and Phillips both make lower end cards that'd be fine for the person who isn't going to be watching DVD's, listening to tons of mp3's (or listens to them but doesn't care about the sound quality), or gaming a lot.

Personally, for the price, I'd get a Santa Cruz. It's the perfect blend of affordability and features. The new Creative line is still pretty new, and it still has issues with VIA chipsets.

 

[FuManStan]

The Santa Cruz and Game Theater use the same chip, but the Phillips Acoustic Edge uses its own DSP. All 3 of these cards are considered to be better than Creative's Live! series of cards, however the Audigy is probably right up there, if not better, than these 3 other cards