What's the best Digital Out sound card?

[LickEmSmack]

I currently have the Diamond MX-300 w/ Aureal chip, but it doesn't have Dolby Digital Out. I want to pass a DD signal to my DD receiver in my hifi, but can't with my current card. I looked for the MX-25 for a long time, but never found this little daughterboard. (Damn you Diamond!) I have heard good things about Hoontech cards, but have no info on them. What about Yamaha? Price is definitely a consideration here, so along with good sound and features, value is an attribute I am looking for.

 

[sleepdragon]

Actually, if you know how, you can modify the mx300 and get the spdif out from it...if you don't want to mess around with it...then go with sb live series...but remember to avoid the first generation sb live value b/c it doesn't have the digital out jack..

 

[Workin']

I've heard that the digital output level on the SBLive cards is way outside the spec and won't work properly with many A/V components. You might want to check on that....

I'd look for an Aureal SQ2500 (I think) that has a digital output. They should be pretty cheap now.

 

[ApacheXMD]

check thisout to make your own mx-25 clone

http://www.algonet.se/~cyrano/mx2.html

-patchy

 

[HotDealFinder.com]

Link don't work, silly

 

[ApacheXMD]

damn new linking thing...


-patchy

 

[Noriaki]

Get a Turtle Beach Santa Curz or a Video Logic Sonic Fury.

The cirius logic chipset is quite impressive and we need competition for creative!

 

[Prospero]

The Santa Cruz from Turtle beach will stream an ac3 signal, and I know at least one other but can't seem to remember. Checkhere for reviews. I'm sure Anandtech has some too, but I thinks it's been a while since they did a soundcard.

 

[LickEmSmack]

Yeah, I know abotu that little hack that can be done to make your own board, but I don't really have the time (or the materials) to do that kind of work. If any of you are willing to undertake such a project, I would be willing to buy a working board. Thanks for the info guys!

 

[AMB]

I would get the Sb Live 2nd Ed OEM