Audigy vs Turtle Beach

[Muavro]

I know Audigy is the more popular, but ive heard some good things about Turtle Beaches card.

Which is better?

 

[BornStar]

I think it kind of depends on your Operating System. Apparently the Audigys have problems under Windows XP. I can't confirm this because I don't have one. I do, however, have a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz and I love it. It's a great card and it isn't even that expensive.

 

[MasterHoss]

Welcome to the forums... try using the search feature here. You'll turn up a lot of threads about this.

I think, like speakers, "the best sound card" question is more subjective than anything else. For what it's worth, I've used both (currently using an Audigy) and here's what I think between the 2.

Audigy --> better sound positioning during game play
Santa Cruz --> better at audio playback

both are great for "hardware" AC-3 playback. If you're going for the cheapest, instead of the Audigy OEM, I would just go ahead and get the Santa Cruz.

EDIT: Using WinXP Pro with my Audigy... no problems. Just have to install correctly!! And also, which ever card you decide to get, I'm assuming the Compaq you're using has onboard sound. In that case, make sure you disable the onboard audio support through the BIOS (if that's not possible, just disable it through Windows) before you install your new card.

 

[Brian48]

I've had both cards. I like the SC better for music and .mp3's, but for the gaming, the Audigy is a better card (especially if you have 4.1 or 5.1 speaker setup).

 

[usas]

Well, over on www.sharkyforums.com, in their audio section, there are always debates on this subject. A person over there by the name of Gluegun has some very conficing and profoking things that he has said. Anyhow here are some links to some very intersting conversations;
http://www.sharkyforums.com/showthr...9077ac00&threadid=121320&highlight=Santa+Cruz
http://www.sharkyforums.com/showthr...9077ac00&threadid=118157&highlight=Santa+Cruz

Follow the link Gluegun gives in the second linked thread, it is very informative.

Anyway, I myself had an Audigy, but did notice that it did lack severly in the Quality department (IMHO at least) (well compared to the onboard Creative 128 at least, odd isn't Quality supposed to get better, not worse, of course Quality is subjective) Now I will be getting a Santa Cruz myself soon, and will post the differences I find. Also I read somewhere that you can upgrade the SB Live! series to be comparable to the Audigy with a simple driver tweak, or something of that nature.

 

[Ram0]

Audiophiles on the Neoseeker boards recommend the Santa Cruz over the Audigy. Newbies on hardware forums recommend Audigy

 

[kd2777]

I have the SantaCruz and it has worked great, my brother on the other hand bought the Audigy and it has gave him fits. I run a p4 1.8a /asus mobo/ geforce 3 ti 200 everything works well together.

 

[Goi]

Between the 2, I'd choose the TB. I just don't trust Creative Labs anymore.

 

[Bovinicus]

The two things I hear most often about the TB that people like are:

1. The excellent driver support as of late.
2. High fidelity playback for listening to music.

The Audigy seems to get most of it's praise from the positional audio. Seems like the quesiton should be, are you a gamer or an audiophile?

 

[RanDum72]

I have both and the SC has is so much better in music playback. The Audigy does have better CPU utilization and it games it may translate to a few more frames/sec. But with everything so fast right now, it doesn't really matter. 3D positioning in games may matter and the Audigy does have native support for EAX( duh). It also has a built-in Firewire port. But if I'm made to choose between the two, I'll go with the SC.

 

[Piano Man]

Everything you hear from the Audigy is 16bit. It always downmixes to 16bit at some point. The TB is better. But way better than both is the Terratec DMX6Fire 24/96. Now that's an awesome soundcard.

 

[Muavro]

I'm a gamer (not a big one though) just play Tribes a lot. But i also listen to a great deal of music.

I'm getting the Logitech Z-560 Speakers, of which i hear are incredible. Kudos to this forum, i found them at the low low price of $138. So, as far as those speakers go, which one would give me better quality.

PS. sorry to bring up an already posted subject. im used to forums that are slow as mollasis, not used to ones that have an overflow of data. I will look next time before posting. Thanks though.

 

[RanDum72]

Newegg now has the Z560's at $131 plus $25 shipping.

 

[Muavro]

yea, but at this place, shipping is free

 

[RanDum72]

Where??!!!

 

[Kelvrick]

The Audigy also has firewire.

 

[BD231]

Audigy is your best bet, Santa Cruz is good but you would be hard pressed to notice a difference between the two.

 

[Mavrick007]

It's really what people are saying, what is more important to you? Games or music?
Go Audigy for games and firewire, SC for music.

 

[Electric Amish]

<< Between the 2, I'd choose the TB. I just don't trust Creative Labs anymore. >>



Yup.

I have a TB-SC. It's been great in Win2k.

amish

 

[nortexoid]

button....search....button....search.....button....search

why are u comparing a sound card to a company anyway?

 

[Zarich]

Im a gamer, but I have an kt133a mobo.. Ive heard the audigy was troublesome on this chipset.. is it true?

 

[dude8604]

I haven't had any problems with my Audigy Gamer in WinXP Home. I have had to reinstall the drivers occasionally, but I don't think it's because of XP.

 

[ElFenix]

tb-sc, love it. awesome card. great sound. 3d positional audio who? i don't use that hippy stuff anyway...


kt133a and sb live had pci loading issues... don't know if it was fixed or no...

 

[Mem]

<< Apparently the Audigys have problems under Windows XP. I can't confirm this because I don't have one. >>



I can there`s no problem with XP ,I use mine for gaming and general use and it has been excellent even with my VIA board.

Sound quality wise the two are equal, it really is down to what you will use your sound card for, for gaming I would go Audigy (infact I did) .

 

[Zarich]

Can someone explain what it means when said that the TB doesnt do EAX as well?
My SBlive value eax sucks horrid. It sounds like someone stuffed pillows over my speakers.