Buy Aureal card?

[Floydian]

I'm in the market for a new soundcard, and the Live! looks good, but I've been leaning towards the Aureal SQ2500 digital because of its optical out (so I can hook it up to my Mini Disc player).
But with all the commotion around Aureal right now, should I just play it safe and go with the Live! and buy a daughterboard (with optical out) instead?
_________________
Thanks!
Paul

 

[pm]

I probably would. Having a product from a bankrupt company is no fun when some new OS comes out (like Win2k) and there's no support.

Of course this type of attitude is likely to drive Aureal out of business faster, but I look out for myself first and corporations second.

 

[Toxin]

go with Creative.

 

[Soccerman]

quite the tough choice. if you can't make the decision, I suggest you wait until something clears up. If Aureal is in fact just reorganizing, then go with them if you want.

 

[Prodigy^]

I'd take the live card, if Aureal is going down, A3D support in games will disappear, which is already happening AFAIK. second, Creative Labs must be given probs for being the company I know that have the most frequent driver updates and most competent tech support.

you won't hear any difference when you're listening to the music on the street through earphones in your minidisc anyway

 

[Scorpion]

lol competant tech support...

I talk to the guys that work at the tech support all the time. Because it is located near where I live.
I think most of them fit into the $4 an hour BB idiot catagory. Though there are exceptions. Only 2 of the guys I know there only really know anything, and they constantly complain about having to work with all the others that don't.

 

[Erasmus-X]

<< I think most of them fit into the $4 an hour BB idiot catagory. Though there are exceptions. Only 2 of the guys I know there only really know anything, and they constantly complain about having to work with all the others that don't. >>



LOL, so true....but we do make a little more than $4/hour. That's not even minimum wage. Us people who do know our stuff at Best Buy aren't often the best performing salespeople because we're too honest and won't sell something to the customer that they don't want. For example, I can't justify selling a $34.99 service plan on a $50 Symphonic CD player. That just doesn't make any damn sense.



As for the sound card, I'd take the SB Live!. THe future of Aureal is still sort of uncertain and the support A3D is slowly but surely diminishing. Sure EAX doesn't sound as good as A3D, but I think you'd rather have the card with driver support under new OS's. Just my opinion though.

 

[AMDJunkie]

I already got an Aureal SQ 2500 because of the price. Only $30 after rebate! Oh, and Hi Val has been producing the Aureal sound cards so I believe that they will (should) provide drivers for future support.

 

[Prodigy^]

uhm i honestly didn't believe there were anyone left in the world who tried to use phone technical support. i'm talking about the brilliant email support......

 

[Comp10]

If im not mistaken, I believe the Aureal SQ2500 has a coxial out, not optical. So it might not be as good of a choice as you think
However, I have the Aureal Superquad which is basicly the same as the SQ2500, only it does have an optical out. So if you do go for an Aureal board be careful you get the right one.

 

[Erasmus-X]

Well, some people still prefer phone support (I know I do). This way you can actually talk to a person and try to solve your problem interactively. You can't get this same level of service with email (and knowing some companies, it can take weeks to even get a simple response).

 

[slacker2]

If you want to record mp3's to MD, I would suggest Xitel's USB to optical interface, which should be available late this month.
http://www.xitel.com/f_DG1.htm

 

[Mem]

Better to be safe go with Creative soundcards,you can always count on updated drivers for the future &amp; tech support.

 

[Vrangel]

Guys we are talking about $30 investment here.
Even if A3D game support disappears next year there are plenty A3D games coming out this year :

Halo, Elite Force, Deus Ex, Anachronox to name a few.

Spend $30 and enjoy superb Aureal 3D sound. You wont regret it.
Maybe a year from now Creative will come up with something better...

PS For drivers go to http://support.aureal.com or http://www.vortexofsound.com/drivers
And you can check A3D games list at vortexofsound.

 

[sandorski]

Vrang: Good point! The only problem with that is when one gets forced to give up on their A3D card they'll really feel let down with that EAX crap.

I sure hope Aureal survives or at least A3D gets picked up by somebody. I'm going to use my SQ2500 until it refuses to run or a better 3d positioning API comes out.

Maybe ESS(I believe they make the chip for the MX400)will come out with something. I won't hold my breath, heck, why don't they buy Aureal?

 

[Soccerman]

perish the thought (shudder)..

Actually ESS is ok, I'd rather someone like Via pick Aureal up or something like that. Even better, I'd like someone just to give em a nice big dose of money through stocks or something like that. The way that company was going, it's better not to change how it's managed (ie get bought by another company)

 

[BuddyHolly]

Depends of the price. I like the aureal cards, but would have to find them at a fire sale until I hear that someone is going to bail them out. Hope they stay around to keep Sound Blaster and the like honest..

 

[Strych9]

AMD Junkie-

Where did you get the SQ2500 for $30.00?

 

[Soccerman]

you know, it bites TOTALLY that Aureal would have had their SQ3500 out by now, I have no doubt in that.. It totally sucks, becuase we could have had hardware Dolby Digital (otheriwise known as AC-3) and no CPU hit on playing games with A3D enabled, as well as MP3 playback that doesn't hit the CPU AT ALL.. dah that bites totally. And all this at competitive prices to Creatives offerings.

in fact, Aureals cards beat out IMHO all of the lower priced Live cards, with the Platinum (because of all the features) beating out Aureals card.