NVidia to Enter Sound Card Market?

[AGodspeed]

Well, it's not exactly what this link implies, but what else could a statement like "Experience new audio technologies from NVIDIA" mean? Of course there's the possibility that they're just showing off nForce's sound chip, but why all of the sudden show off nForce's sound capabilities at this point in the game? Why advertise nForce's sound if it's the motherboard NVidia really wants to sell?

Anyone else think they got a separate sound card in the works?

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

wouldnt surprise me, they're out for world domination

 

[iluvdeal]

I hope someone does. Creative Labs needs a kick in the rear.

 

[AGodspeed]

<< I hope someone does. Creative Labs needs a kick in the rear. >>

I agree. My experience with SB Live! and SB 5.1 sound cards have not been smooth or easy by any means.

<---- Should have looked into Santa Cruz.

 

[Jeff7]

<--- still misses Aureal, and hates the way Creative killed them.
Would definitely be a good thing for consumers.
ESS has made some nice chips; the Canyon3D chips have impressive specs, but I don't know of many companies that use them, especially the Canyon3D-2 chip.
C-media still has to work on their audio solutions before they become good contendors. Some people still get crackling with the onboard 8738 chips.
Yamaha also makes some sound chips, but they don't seem to be widely used either.

 

[Budman]

GOOD!!!!

Creative needs some competition just like Intel did before AMD became a player.

 

[RU482]

Nvidia...the microsoft of the hardware world!!!

 

[cmdrdredd]

What about Turtle beach soundcards or hercules. IMO hercules is worthy contender to creative as far as the soundcard market because they have better drivers and their cards cost less.

 

[joohang]

<< Nvidia...the microsoft of the hardware world!!! >>


hehe

That's how I perceived them since last year when they bought 3dfx.

 

[Strafe]

There was a discussion in the nvnews forums a few months back about how NVIDIA was working on something that would blow Creative Labs away.

 

[ElFenix]

just about anything blows creative labs away...

 

[Czar]

hmmm... seems that I'm the only happy owner of a sblive


nVidia
- Major player in the Graphics market
- Very promising player in the motherboard market
- Soon to enter the sound market




Anyone looking forward to nVidia Windows

 

[GTaudiophile]

Time to buy some NVDA?

 

[Adul]

<< hmmm... seems that I'm the only happy owner of a sblive


nVidia
- Major player in the Graphics market
- Very promising player in the motherboard market
- Soon to enter the sound market




Anyone looking forward to nVidia Windows >>



you must have not tried a santa cruz yet then

 

[Leon]

Nvidia stated on multiple occasions that they will not enter add-on sound market, rather concentrating on integrated solution.

 

[BD231]

you must have not tried a santa cruz yet then

Santa Cruz is all hype, the Audigy sounds just as good with MP3 Audio, and dose a MUCH better job with games. As much as I would like to see an nVidia sound card, it probably wont happen if they say it wont, as the majority of the people who us SB products dont ever have any problems.

 

[ElFenix]

the audio quality is better out of the santa cruz. at least, thats what i've seen most of the sound guys saying. i'll have to take their word for it, as i haven't auditioned a live or audigy.

who cares about mp3 decoding anyway? a 486 can do it

 

[nortexoid]

creative already got a good kick in the butt...they've got plenty good competitors out there right now.

as for nvidia producing audio cards - no idea, but i doubt they'd fly...well, they might, after all, nvidia is pretty well known.

i don't think the sound card business is exactly promising tho...more and more mobo makers are putting decent 5.1 audio solutions on their boards, and a ton of OEMs just use the onboard 2-channel AC'97 codec.

and then creative has a ton of market share, the rest being scattered around everywhere...and a lot of enthusiasts already have GTXPs, santa cruz's, or the like....bad move by nvidia if u ask me.

 

[RanDum72]

Santa Cruz is all hype, the Audigy sounds just as good with MP3 Audio, and dose a MUCH better job with games

I have both and its actually this way(the way I see it): the SC is WAY better in MP3 and music playback. The Audigy is not that much better in games; I don't notice the supposedly better CPU usage of the audigy since I have an AMD 2100+ XP and a GF4 4400, and I don't notice the supposedly better positional audio in EAX enabled games since I only use two speakers. But music playback, heck yeah I notice the difference.

 

[BD231]

I have both and its actually this way(the way I see it): the SC is WAY better in MP3 and music playback. The Audigy is not that much better in games; I don't notice the supposedly better CPU usage of the audigy since I have an AMD 2100+ XP and a GF4 4400, and I don't notice the supposedly better positional audio in EAX enabled games since I only use two speakers. But music playback, heck yeah I notice the difference

Can you be more specific, I'd like to know what the key points are that make you feel the Santa Cruz sounds better.

 

[Nate420]

I'm not sure what the dogging of Creative is all about, I have no beef with my X-Gamer at all.

 

[AmdInside]

NVIDIA is not making a sound card. They have already stated that they were not going to. If they release anything, it will probably be their front bay device like Creative has for their Live and Audigy sound cards. Its been pictured on a different website before.

 

[FishTankX]

Could anyone imagine this? Network 10/100 ethernet and sound card on one board.

Nvidia cuts out the PCI bridge and stuffs the south bridge on a board and runs the traces to the Ethernet jack and sound jacks and calls it a day, sells it for 50$ and makes a killing!!

 

[RanDum72]

Can you be more specific, I'd like to know what the key points are that make you feel the Santa Cruz sounds better

I should ask you the same thing for your assessment but since you ask for mine, here it goes. The SC has a nice, spacious quality about its sound, treble is extended but clear. The Audigy's sound is clean but it sounds relatively flat, and it can sound harsh on the high-end. This is with Yamaha and Kenwood receivers and Polk RT35i speakers ( I also have a pair of Bose 301's and just recently, Paradigm Titan bookshelf speakers)This has something to do with the chipsets. The SC uses a Crystal chipset, and Crystal chips are used in high-end audio gear like the Meridian brand and some other high-end receivers/pre-amp processors. My assessment is purely subjective but I've been tinkering around with music gear for a while and I have a pretty good idea what sounds good and what sounds better. And I think I'm not alone in the assessment that the SC is better in music than the Audigy.

 

[McCarthy]

Why not? Everyone else is doing it.
Oops, that'd be why they won't. Stick to selling $300 video cards instead of competing against $20 C-media soundcards.

FishTankX - Hehe, like that idea of using the southbridge, audio, ethernet, heck throw in spare IDE controllers, firewire and USB.
A motherboard on a card! lol


If they came out with something like the "Live Drive" to use with their motherboards I for one would put them a lot higher up my list then next time I'm in the market for a motherboard. But the bay would have to be reasonably priced and they'd have to gaurantee it'd work with future Nforce boards or I my interest would drop off fast. Live Drive itself isn't cheap, but at least it can be reused as long as you're willing to keep your Live card around. Put out a bay at cost just to increase board sales and I bet it'd work out nicely for them. Know I'd like one.

Ok, now one of you go whisper the suggestion in someone's ear at NVidia Please?

--Mc