Which sound card is better? Please take a poll. Thanks.

[Bad Dude]

I would like to know which sound sound is better in your opinion?
1) Turtle Beach Santa Cruz.
2) Creative Labs Audigy 2.

This is mainly for gaming and music for MP3s.
Thanks for looking and answer my question.

 

[human2k]

Ive never listend to an Audigy 2 b4 but I vote for SC anyway.

 

[Bad Dude]

Hey, two guys voted for the Audigy 2, can you please tell me your reasoning?
Thanks.

 

[Pariah]

The Audigy 2 is the best gaming card available. It isn't really even debatable at this point with Aureal long dead.

As for music, for the most part it is user preference, as the most accurate audio won't necessarily sound the best to everyone. To me, (and practically all reviews I've read) the Audigy 2 is superior to the other consumer level cards. Its hardware is certainly superior. The Audigy 2 produces a warmer and cleaner sound than the SC, which is a bit to shrill and lacking in base for me.

I've owned the SC for over a year and the Audigy 2 since it was released, so I have had ample time to compare them.

 

[Sid59]

im more music than video games .. TURTLE POWER!

 

[LED]

Originally posted by: Sid59
im more music than video games .. TURTLE POWER!

I'd still want the Audigy2, less CPU resouce used, better overall Hertz, S2N and dB Response, plus the added features for AV like Firewire included and Live Drive update possible and the retail is going for $83 with rebate if your an Egghead

 

[Mucker]

I've had both the Audigy and Santa Cruz cards (but not an Audigy 2). The Audigy sounds much better/cleaner to my ears than the SC through my Klipsch 2.1 setup. I do like the SC software and drivers much better than Creatives though. I plan to get an Audigy 2 if and when they go OEM....

GPJ

 

[Chaotic42]

The Santa Cruz. It's got native Linux support in the 2.4 kernel.

 

[DannyBoy]

Originally posted by: Chaotic42
The Santa Cruz. It's got native Linux support in the 2.4 kernel.

Thats ridiculous. You cannot compare a card just because "It supports Linux" :| :|

Audigy2 is FAR superior to the SC or ANY sound card, hence the reason the Audigy2 is the first and current only card to be THX certified.

Do i need to say anymore?

Dan

 

[Wolfsraider]

Originally posted by: MrFiTTy

Originally posted by: Chaotic42
The Santa Cruz. It's got native Linux support in the 2.4 kernel.

Thats ridiculous. You cannot compare a card just because "It supports Linux" :| :|

Audigy2 is FAR superior to the SC or ANY sound card, hence the reason the Audigy2 is the first and current only card to be THX certified.

Do i need to say anymore?

Dan

why not list that it is supported by linux?linux support is growing. there are many people that read these

forums that may or may not know this,and may find that "tidbit" useful.just for clarification not trying

to "stub" any toes (Bad_Dude never specified which os's he uses)

i do agree that the audigy2 (to me) is the best though i just think it sounds more real but then again i am a gamer before all else.

 

[DannyBoy]

Originally posted by: Chaotic42
The Santa Cruz. It's got native Linux support in the 2.4 kernel.

I would also like to point out the SC is older than the A2. Therefore Turtle have had more time to play with their drivers....havnt they :|

 

[Brian48]

And I should also point out that Voyetra has dropped further driver development on the Santa Cruz. What you see is what you get.

I have both the Audigy2 and the Santa Cruz. The A2 is the better card.

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: MrFiTTy

Originally posted by: Chaotic42
The Santa Cruz. It's got native Linux support in the 2.4 kernel.

Thats ridiculous. You cannot compare a card just because "It supports Linux" :| :|

Sure I can. It's better for me, because I *must* have Linux support. It's not an option. The Audigy 2 might be able to wake me up and make french toast everyday, but if I can't use it on my computer, it doesn't do me any good, does it?

Edit:
Look, he asked which card we thought was better and why. I told him which card was better, and I why I thought that card was better.

 

[AndyHui]

The Audigy 2 is the better card.

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: AndyHui
The Audigy 2 is the better card.

Any word on Linux support? I know that Creative Labs has been slow in the past, but if they could get *full* support, not just partial like the Santa Cruz, that would be really nice.

 

[AndyHui]

There are unofficial drivers out there that have been developed by 3rd parties, just not from Creative.

 

[Jeff7]

All I know is that I like my Santa Cruz; haven't ever heard a comparison between the two cards, but the Audigy2 seems to have superior technology. I'm waiting for the Santa Cruz II, if there ever will be one.

 

[bgeh]

The Audigy 2 is a better card

 

[Goi]

Originally posted by: MrFiTTy

Originally posted by: Chaotic42
The Santa Cruz. It's got native Linux support in the 2.4 kernel.

Thats ridiculous. You cannot compare a card just because "It supports Linux" :| :|

Audigy2 is FAR superior to the SC or ANY sound card, hence the reason the Audigy2 is the first and current only card to be THX certified.

Do i need to say anymore?

Dan

The Audigy 2 may be a better card overall(not considering the price) than the Santa Cruz, but its FAR FAR from being FAR superior to ANY sound card

 

[Bad Dude]

It looks like the Audigy 2 is winning. I have the SC now but any way, where can I get a cheap Audigy 2 to try out.
They are all expensive right now.
Thanks.

 

[Goi]

If you aren't prepared to pay the price of entry, then I don't think the Audigy 2 is for you...on most speakers, the sound quality improvement isn't very apparent, and unless you play games with EAX enabled, you won't see any gaming performance improvement either. The TBSC is still a very capable card, so if your budget doesn't allow for an Audigy 2, stick with your TBSC until it does.

 

[Actaeon]

Not sure what to vote.

I believe the Audigy 2 is a better card. But SB's driver support is horrible. Its also quite expensive, the TBSC is alot cheaper, and in my opinion, offers a better priceerformance ratio over the Audigy2, which is why I have a TBSC myself.

 

[andrey]

Have you noticed that people who're voting for Santa Cruz are the people who used SantaCruz ONLY, while people who used both recommend SB Audigy 2?

I have used both cards as well, in different computers though, but with very similar speakers (Creative FPS1800 and Creative FPS2000) and I can definitely say that SB Audigy 2 does sound much better. The sound seems be clearer, with proper response in bass, treble and mids. Audigy 2 just sounds more realistic and if I personally would have a choice between SC and Audigy 2, I would pick Audigy 2 anyday.

 

[Bovinicus]

I think the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz could be better for MP3s. I have heard that is has some level of hardware support for MP3s.

The Audigy 2 is probably better for positional audio in games. It supports EAX2, which I use on my Philips Acoustic Edge. It sounds really nice. A3D, which is supported by both sound cards, also sounds good. However, it is still not at the level of EAX2.

Unfortunately, I have not heard either one of these cards. This is all based on the posts and reviews I have read centered around these two items. I have, however, heard the original Audigy. From what I understand, there is not a large difference between the Audigy and Audigy2. I like my Philips Acoustic Edge a bit better for both games and music compared to the Audigy.

 

[Goi]

The hardware mp3 decoding was announced at a time where CPUs were still relatively slow and mp3 decoding took up relatively high CPU utilization. Nowadays, CPU utilization for mp3 decoding takes up like 1-2% with a decent CPU, so that hardware mp3 decoding means moot. In fact, its support was taken out of the drivers IIRC. Even if its still there, it doesn't do much for sound quality, it'll just reduce the CPU utilization.