Turtle Beach Santa Cruz PCI Sound Card - RETAIL BOX @ Amazon $49.99 - $5 off code = $44.99 shipped FREE!

[corinthos]

Some say the TBSC sounds better for music and has a cleaner output than the Audigy...

Linky

Newegg has the OEM for $62 shipped.

 

[sumrtym]

Thanks!!! Been looking everywhere for a good deal on the retail package. I missed the $40 one on buy.com, but this isn't bad at all.

 

[db]

This is the deal I've been waiting for--thanks.

Hmm, not getting my discount.....

 

[db]

$50.13 at Buy.com

 

[Funyuns101]

link... i want one...

*must find fifty dollars*

 

[ULI]

You can get this same card and the 5.1 Altec Lansing speaker system for $100 after rebate from CompUSA this week.

 

[sumrtym]

Thanks, ULI, but I've heard those speakers (cringes). I was needing a card for the DigiTheatre DTS.

For others, does anyone know if that bundle (if they're considering it) includes a retail boxed TBSC? The OEM copy leaves out the software, which is useful for say getting the old record collection moved to digital (I'm not really THAT old).

Also, that $5 off coupon at Amazon is only a one time per user use (so if you used it on the Age of Mythology $9.99 deal, better head to Buy.com). So thanks for the Buy.com link as well!

 

[shimmi]

ordered one, thnx!

 

[ECHO]

It's listed at $67.95 at buy.com... how do you get $50.13?

 

[sumrtym]

It was for $50 at buy.com. They change these prices quick when they go on sale. Seems like as orders ramp up, they ramp the price up.

 

[corinthos]

Amazon does that too on some items... so does Newegg...

 

[Chang10is]

Pretty good, although not as hot as when they had this card for $40 a month of two ago. I still need to find a good way to spend that $40 GC they sent people who ordered the Viking RAM that they put an incorrect price on.

 

[MarklarMarklar]

Been waiting for a good deal. Thank you.

 

[HepDude]

Is there a saying "Sixth time is a charm?"

I kept missing the Santa Cruz deals all summer and fall, but finally got this one this morning, it's still available today with free shipping (and will arrive by December 24th, in case that matters "Gee, just what I always wanted, a PCI sound card..."

 

[Skaven]

thanks! needed a good deal on a sound card!

 

[c627627]

I have a question: after reading some of those posts about Audigy and Audigy2 where they talked about how integrated sound quality of the new mobos has improved, I decided to take the $50 I was going to spend on a sound card and invest it in other parts of the system and just go with quality mobo sound.

Would much appreciate any suggestions of why that's not a good idea.

 

[boggsie]

Originally posted by: Skaven
thanks! needed a good deal on a sound card!

SWEET ... mine was on the porch when I got home!

 

[Nebakanezzar]

Great Card..Good Price. I got in on the deal at CC several weeks ago $19 plus tax with mail in rebate. I got my $30 rebate check today! $50 for this card is a good deal...$19 was a STEAL!

Out..

 

[db]

c627627, some people don't like the fact that Audigy relies so much on the cpu; others don't like that there are conflicts b/c of that card. Santa Cruz outshines it in both regards w/o even talking about sound quality. That matters to some people.

 

[c627627]

OK thank you for your opinion. I own the original SB Live! and as many people am thinking of upgrading it. Because of the amount of time spent fixing SoundBlaster crackling problems, (not to mention the negative publicity surrounding Creative drivers), I was looking at Turtle Beach Santa Cruz.
There is concensus that Turtle Beach Santa Cruz has less driver problems than Creative cards.

Also, point was made in previous posts that new mobo sound quality beats original SB Live! quality.

However, there is still a question of why spend $50 on any card when you can shift that expense to a better mobo (with unified sound drivers) + have $ left over for a faster CPU.

Speaking about sound quality only,
What can this card give us that an expensive new quality mobo sound can't and is that worth $50?

 

[yellowperil]

Separate sound card uses less CPU resources, not much, but I think it's around 5-10%. I have not actually heard any of the newer mobo onboard sound cards but had the SC for a while and it sounds better to me than any onboard cards I've heard so far. Better (SNR) (signal to noise ratio), and a lower noise floor means you can turn it up louder with less static. It's subjective also, some people don't really hear much of a difference.

 

[c627627]

OK so once you get past the drivers and connectors, what do you look for in a sound card?
Signal to Noise ratio's one thing, anything else?

 

[Awakened2002]

Just ordered mine tonight! Thanks for the heads up!

 

[vtqanh]

Recently some of the mobo got really nice integrated sound, like the Intel mobo i got in the retailedge deal. That one is a lot better than my SB Live! 5.1 And CPU consumption is not a big deal. That $50 dollars spending on faster CPU will make up for the CPU consumption

 

[c627627]

Also, if you overclock, going with quality mobo sound would give you one less PCI card to worry about.

EDIT: Thanks k1114, I didn't know that. So overclocking doesn't enter into it.