What would be a good sound card for a guy like me?

[liquidknight3k]

Hey, this is for my new computer i'm building. Now, I'm a guy that absolutely LOVES music. For my new computer, I'm getting Klipsch Promedia Ultra 5.1's (as opposed to logitech 5500's due to everyone's opinion) -- I'm wondering what sound card I should get for it. I do moderate gaming. I don't consider myself a 'hardcore gamer' but I don't consider myself the guy that plays only solitaire and stuff. Sure, within now and the next 4 years, I might find a game I really like and continue to play it, but as of now, my situation is I'm a heavy music-enthuisiast and a moderate-heavy gamer. What sound card is the best for me?

Some people recommend me the M-AUdio Rev 5.1 because it's supposedly the best sound producer of them all. But, research tells me that it takes a REALLY heavy hit on the processor. Is this true? And how much of a dent in performance shall I see in my computer? (My processor will be a 3400+ 64-bit 939 proc)

And some people tell me since I game, I should get the Audigy2 ZS [ext. or int.?]

Well, what should I get? Keep in mind that since I busted out alot on speakers I can't get like a $300 soundcard. $70-$140 would be very nice.

Thanks!

 

[p0lly]

hi

I'm in the same situation as you. I do alot of gaming, but quality is more important to me because my pc is as well my stereo (got beyerdynamics dt 880 cans yesterday, dude I'm looking forward to have the M-audio card!! this combination will kick a$$!)
an yes, i will get the m audio. Bur it will have an affect on your proc, the reviews ii've read talk about 15% usage whereas the audigy is somwhere close to 0% (heh, audigy resamples sound to 48khz IIRC, so mp3s and cds will sound .... well ... ). Actually, you shouldn't worry about that too much because you have more than nuff CPU power and since you don't want to get every single mhz of speed out of your pc, I guess you'll be fine.

so long
polly

 

[airfoil]

This is what you're looking for...

 

[CSMR]

The M-Audio should be good. I think that's the best choice unless you can move to stereo.

 

[liquidknight3k]

Airfoil: Why do you recommend that instead of the one with the external?

And why don't people recommend M-Audio for gaming, if it has much more clarity?

 

[airfoil]

Originally posted by: liquidknight3k
Airfoil: Why do you recommend that instead of the one with the external?

And why don't people recommend M-Audio for gaming, if it has much more clarity?

Just call it a personal preference - I dont want an external box cluttering up the desktop. I'd say the external solutions are meant for for Notebook users who can't upgrade their internal sound cards.

I suggest the SE edtion of the Audigy2 coz it offers DVD-Audio, THX Certified & EAX Advanced HD features.

You cant go wrong with a Creative, they offer the best sound, least CPU utilization and probably good driver support as well. Just a better option overall.

As for the M-Audio, I cannot comment on it coz I've never seen it in action.

 

[CSMR]

Originally posted by: airfoil
You cant go wrong with a Creative, they offer the best sound, least CPU utilization and probably good driver support as well. Just a better option overall.

Not the best sound by any means. It has the worst reputation of all the major players. Not that it's bad - sound cards have improved - but not at all the best.

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: liquidknight3k
And why don't people recommend M-Audio for gaming, if it has much more clarity?

Because the clarity is moot if there isn't good 3D sound support behind it. Creative's cards are the de facto standard for 3D audio - they are the only ones to support EAX 3 and 4, use arguably the best HRTF's, and are the reference cards games are programmed against. Cards like M-Audio's do have great clarity, but they're next to useless for 3D audio, which means they're next to useless for gaming.

But anyhow, as for your needs, it's a tossup. The M-Audio card is what you want for your music, but you need the Audigy for gaming. The loss in clarity from an Audigy is likely going to be less noticable for you than the loss you'd see from using the M-Audio's 3D features(not to mention the CPU hit won't be so high), so you probably want an Audigy. Since clarity is such a concern, look for a ZS, since they have the highest SnR of all the Audigies.

 

[Gurck]

In short, I think the Audigy 2 ZS's advantage in gaming is probably greater than the M-Audio's in music. I have an A2ZS which I use for both games and music, and while no audiophile, I'm very happy with the sound quality through both my 7.1 Gigaworks system and Sennheiser 280s.

Audigy2 ZS [ext. or int.?]

It comes in four flavors, the basic card, the Gamer which simply has more bundled games, the Platinum which has an infrared remote control and a breakout box which goes in a 5.25" drive bay, and the Platinum Pro which has the remote and an external breakout box.

Lastly, a new Audigy card is due out soon, you may want to wait and see how it measures up.

 

[liquidknight3k]

Err, by external, I meant with the breakout box, I didn't realize I was hinting at the USB card, which I know is crap.