I'm sick of Creative sound cards, need some alternate suggestions

[Noriaki]

<< Does anyone know if the Acoustic Edge supports connecting to the Creative's DTT2500 or DTT3500 via a digital connector? The reviews that I've read (AFAIK) do not mention this. >>


The AE has an RCA format SPDIF. The DTT2500 and 3500 both have RCA for SPDIF input (the 3500 also has Optical, but there's no particular advantage, the AE has RCA and both speakers do so you're set), the DTT2500 and 3500 can also accept an SDPIF signal in through the mini-DIN, this only works with creative sound cards becuase it's proprietary, but if you want AC-3 input, the RCA works fine. The problem is that though the 3500 is touted as a 5.1 speaker set, it only has 4 analog inputs. It can accept 6 discrete channel input through the mini-DIN, but not through analog. Creative put this stupid proprietary connector on there. You can get proper 5.1 if it's encoded in AC-3 format, but games don't use AC-3 format, so you're stuck to 4 for games, if you don't use Creative's mini-DIN



<< Also, are there any breakout boxes for this card, similar to the SB Live! Platinum? >>

No but the AE does have Digital I/O build onto the card.

 

[SuperNoOne]

Ok most of you are gamers, what about for music purposes, stuff like how good is the dac input, software bundle about music, etc...

 

[merlocka]

Wow, thanks for the replies. I just picked up the Philips 4channel card.

 

[StrangeRanger]

Noriaki, they do NOT all have the same chip. Please check they're spec pages and you will see the differences between the 706 and the 704 &amp; 702 cards. i tried to give links but the damn philips site won't load. the 706 uses a different chip than the other two.
j
**edit** finally got the pages to load, here's the links:
Accoustic Edge PSC706

Seismic Edge PSC704

notice the spec differences in the cards

 

[nortexoid]

Jelly, actually it is a ROCK SOLID solution if u use the latest win9x vortex2 reference drivers from aureal...it's no surprise if your system lacked stability w/ the diamond drivers (which only had 1 release/ver. that was incredibly crappy)...also, i've used rogerwilco - flawlessssssss....

again, vote for sq2500 - digital out, a3d 2.0&amp;EAX, qaud speaker support, and cheapest...

again, can't comment on the win2k drivers, as i don't use win2k - not until they fix that puppy up...

 

[divinemartyr]

As oldfart has mentioned, the AOpen cards which utilize the AW724 and AW744 chipsets from Yamaha, are awesome cards for the money! I own the AW744Pro card which has an optical out, and I wanted a clean connection going from my soundcard to my home theatre receiver. I have been using 1/8&quot; -> RCA splitter for a long time and was dissatisfied with the sound quality from my creative card. The AOpen card I've only owned for about a month now but I don't know how the wav playback can get any better than CD quality, which is what mine provides right now. It also offers 3d sound options which is awesome in Unreal and Quake, I know when someone's behind me =) At $26 this card is the best for the money IMHO. You don't get any fancy games with it but if you get the AW744pro you DO get an optical cable with it for those of you with an optical input. =)

This card does not have dolby digital 5.1 decoding so if this is important to you, you may want one of the Philips cards.

divinemartyr

 

[trmiv]

Wow! That Philips card looks awesome. I think you guys just sold me my next sound card.

 

[Possum]

Does anyone use headphones or a 2-speaker setup with their Philips Acoustic Edge card? If so, has the 3D positioning improved with the latest driver update or not? How does the 3D positioning compare to other cards you've used?