PC Sound Card

[AsSiMiLaTeD]

I'm looking to upgrade my crappy Audigy 2 sound card, and am looking for suggestions.

I've looked at the new X-fi cards by Creative, wondering if there are any better options out there for around the same price.

Thanks

[lomic]

If you're going to be playing games and want the hardware acceleration, definitely go for the X-Fi ExtremeMusic - not the less expensive ExtremeAudio which is software based.

If you're looking from a purely music perspective, I've heard good things about the M-Audio boards, looks like their professional audio cards are in the $150 range.

[bobman1235]

Man, I guess I haven't looked at sound cards in a long time... when did Audigy 2's become crappy? :)

[Shizelbs]

Man, I guess I haven't looked at sound cards in a long time... when did Audigy 2's become crappy? :)

I'm over here thinking the same thing.

[just_visiting]

I'm looking to upgrade my crappy Audigy 2 sound card, and am looking for suggestions.

I've looked at the new X-fi cards by Creative, wondering if there are any better options out there for around the same price.

Thanks


Get this one. Very nice board made by Onkyo.

http://www.audiocubes.com/product/Onkyo_SE-150PCI_PC_Digital_Audio_Board.html

[ledhed]

Look at the M-audio audiophile cards

http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=products.list&ID=pciinterfaces

[Zero]

PM,

If you or anyone in your family plays the latest PC games and software, the X-Fi is a solid choice mostly due to its driver support and ease of compatibility.

If you are attempting to take things up a notch with a stereo rig attached to you PC, you have a few choices at your helm which include;

An affordable “Pro” sound-card. The most popular choice in the $99-199 range comes from E-MU (whose parent company is Creative) followed in suit by M-Audio. These cards boast performance that is leaps and bounds beyond the “X-Fi” when it comes to quality stereo playback.. but at the expense of multi channels and mediocre driver support.

Another popular and proven means of obtaining good sound from your PC is to use a regular DAC out of a soundcards coax out. The most trumpeted and cost effective means of going about this approach is using the famed $25 Chaintech AV-710 out to your inexpensive DAC of choice (Lite Audio , CityPulse).

Arguably, the best route to take is to find a non OS DAC that connects to your computer via: USB and uses the I2S set. This of course, can also be one of the more expensive ways to get your Hi-Fi on through the PC.


Either way, the rabbit hole goes pretty deep.. its just a matter of what you want.

[heiney9]

I use the Chaintech and it serves it's purpose well. Soundcards in general including so called "pro" sound cards aren't all that great for serious music listening. Buy the Chaintech and get an inexpensive DAC. My set-up works very nicely. The Chaintech also allows for a direct bit stream that is basically a "pass through" of 0's and 1's without any processing etc. I believe the setting is something like TCP Kernel, it's been awhile but you get the idea.

H9

[AsSiMiLaTeD]

Thanks for the input guys. I've heard the X-fi already and it's much better than my Audigy 2, was wondering if there was a better option.

My primary use is gaming, so I'll snag one of the S-fi cards, now I just gotta decide which one to get, there are several options.