Isn't there a good all around sound card out there?

[Big Lar]

As the title states, I have been reading for about 3 days as to "Quality" sound cards, and am just perplexed that in this day and age, there is NOT 1 quality card that can do : Recording,Playback and Gaming at desireable Levels...What gives? I had an sblive/ Upgraded to an M-Audio Revolution 7.1,( which has good playback and recording, but lacks big in games), so what is left? I have even checked into $300.00+ cards, and can't seem to find 1 that is good at all aspects! Yes I know the Audigy 2zs Platinum Pro is this and that, but for the descriminating user/ from Everything I have read, it just isn't "The" card. So, if I could throw myself at the mercy of the Audiophile folks here... Please steer me in the right dirction.

Larry

 

[zodder]

Big Lar?! How the hell have have you been?

 

[ViRGE]

The Audigy is a fine card; people just tend to like to complain about the drivers(which was deserved at one point, but Audigy drivers have been fine for most people). There is nothing on the top of my head that I can think of that the Audigy can't do as well as any other consumer level card(excluding pro cards and SS's DICE), as it has the best EAX implementation, clean audio(high SnR), and numerous input and output options for audio. Unless cost is the reason, what is it you find lacking in an Audigy(which is what I would reccomend in this case)?

 

[Big Lar]

LOL Hey Zod... Been a long time since H C..... Been doing fine, and you?

 

[Big Lar]

ViRGE
I am going by: what I have read in the last 3 days, which is an Unbelieveable amount of information, as to reviews and comparisons,from:3dsoundsurge, technonet,Anand,Tomshardware..yadayada..... all saying that for the descriminating user, that creative isn't an all around #1 card. I am looking for High end sound in Playback AND in Games, not just 1 or the other. Price is actually not an object here, I want the best.

 

[Mem]

I am going by: what I have read in the last 3 days, which is an Unbelieveable amount of information

That should be used as a guide only, in the end your ears are the best judge,gaming wise the Audigy cards are no.1 mainly because of the EAX standard since they support all the EAX formats and they`ve been around for a very long time in the sound card industry ,also their drivers have improved IMHO, to be honest I`ve been using Creative cards since SB16 days(hehe yes I`m that old) and personally never had any driver problems.

Creative do have a strong hold in the sound card front,maybe that`s one of the reasons why choices available are not so great.

As to a good allround card,well you will get a certain trade off between sound quality,gaming,playback,recording etc since price will be a factor for the manufacturer, no point making the most expensive card if sales will be low,let alone fantastic driver support .Bottom line is you can only buy what`s available and to most users the standard available is good enough,infact some people are even happy with basic onboard sound, I know one guy that is.

 

[bernse]

Eh, I just use the onboard on my P4P800.

I'm happy with it!
I don't miss the days of worrying about what soundcard to buy at all.

 

[SpeedKing]

I don't have experience with the latest Audigy line of Soundblaster cards, but I must say that Creative cards are on the most part good but their drivers are down right crap. My SB16 never faulted me (great card), my SBPCI128 (I know it is not a true creative card) would hiss, spit, crackle in games depending on what drivers I used. My Sound Blaster Live I have now will, crackle and distort with any game unless I set Sound Acceleration to minimum in DxDiag. Also the official creative drivers for XP stuff up the Line-in recording volume and settings - they make it sound like an 8bit 11KHz recording instead of the clean 16bit 44KHz u can get with the stock Microsoft drivers which ship with XP. The trade off from that is my cards advanced features cannot be used.

I can say from experience, creative cards have the best sound for games on PC - they are the best hardaware. It is just a pitty that their driver team isn't up to scratch.

 

[Brian48]

I can say from experience, creative cards have the best sound for games on PC - they are the best hardaware. It is just a pitty that their driver team isn't up to scratch.

Well, in all fairness, Creative's driver team has come a long way in the last year. At least with the cards in the Audigy2 line. This latest update would have been their sixth over a stretch of 14 months and the current software is no where as bloated as before.

I think the best "all-around" card you can get is the original Audigy2 now that the price has come down. It's definitely the best card for gaming, excellent for movies, and almost as good as the Revo 7.1 in music.

From a budget sense, I'd opt for the Fortissimo III in the $40-50 range. Not quite as strong as the A2 in any particular area, but extremely well rounded and balanced.

 

[SpeedKing]

Originally posted by: Brian48
I think the best "all-around" card you can get is the original Audigy2 now that the price has come down. It's definitely the best card for gaming, excellent for movies, and almost as good as the Revo 7.1 in music.

From a budget sense, I'd opt for the Fortissimo III in the $40-50 range. Not quite as strong as the A2 in any particular area, but extremely well rounded and balanced.

have creatives drivers improved with the Audigy cards?

 

[Brian48]

have creatives drivers improved with the Audigy cards?

For the original Audigy, I would say that it's been consistent, but no where as polished as that for the A2. Personally, I'm not crazy about the original Audigy. Had three at one point and eventually sold them all off except for a cheap OEM version I keep in one of my backups. Although it was a good gaming card, I thought it was horrendous for music and .mp3 playback. My old TBSC was always better in that regard.

 

[Sharkmeat]

Did you guys get the new drivers from creative Audigy for Windows XP ? They work great

 

[vshah]

the audigy 2 imho is good at everything....music is much improved with cmss2 (as opposed to cmss with the original audigy)



-Vivan

 

[Big Lar]

Does anybody use anything other than creative cards on this board?

 

[randumb]

I don't think there really is a "perfect" card. From what I've been told, the best cards are the Audigy 2, M-Audio Revolution, and Hercules Game Theater XP.

 

[Big Lar]

OK... As I am building a few setups for 2 friends, I said to heck with it, and bought the Santa Cruz DSP, and an Audigy2 zs, and I had just gotten the revolution a couple weeks ago. My sumation is this:
The Revolution from M-Audio, gives very nice sound in Media player, cd's etc, but is a dog in Games.
The Turtle Beach Santa Cruz, sounds pretty darn good in MP as well as Games, but defaults to 4 lines out when in Digital output.
The Audigy2 zs, sounds great in all aspects, as well as putting out a true 5.1 signal in digital mode.
Sooo, I'm keeping the audigy and the others are gonna get the other cards
Thanks all for your comments to date

Larry's Mini Sound card Review ^^^^^

 

[henmaster]

Lar, which one sounds the best playing mp3s/cds? Most of the reviews I've read say they're all the same, but from my experience some cards have "cleaner" output than others. Are they very similar or do you notice differences in music playback? Thanks.

 

[Big Lar]

I'd say that between the revolution and the santa cruz, the Revolution is better in cd's, and mp3's, but like I said up top/ the Santa cruz is better in games. The audigy is better than both of em in cd's/mp3's and games. Thats my take anyhow

 

[Brian48]

Originally posted by: randumb
I don't think there really is a "perfect" card. From what I've been told, the best cards are the Audigy 2, M-Audio Revolution, and Hercules Game Theater XP.

Yeah, I agree. There's no such thing as an "end all, be all" solution. The same problem applies to PC speakers as well. What sounds best for music, is usually not the best for games or movies (and vice versa). If one is looking for well-rounded option, there's going to have to be compromises in some areas.

 

[Brian48]

Of course, you could do what some folks do and take the "no compromises" approach and install multiple sound cards in your system. Several folks over at 3dsoundsurge have both the Revo and Audigy/Audigy2 running in their PC's for the best of both worlds.