##POLL## Gamers Sound Cards.

[BoomAM]

Hi.
Ive been considering getting the M-Audio Revolution 7.1 after xmas, as an upgrade to my Audigy1. As the Creative bloatware is really annoying, and slugish.
So.
From the view of a gamer, which is better, the M-Audio Revolution, or a Audigy Series sound card.
Does the added EAX HD really add much to the experiance or will a card capible of good sound placement be more than good enough.

Vote & Discuss

 

[oalvarez]

motherboard and headphones for me

 

[BoomAM]

What audio chip has your mobo got?

 

[screw3d]

Creative has undoubtably the best gaming card.. but for music purposes, it's better to go for M-Audio.

 

[Mem]

Best gaming sound card is Audigy 2 ZS,so you`re better off going for one of the Audigy 2 models for gaming.

 

[nick1985]

Originally posted by: oalvarez
motherboard and headphones for me

 

[MDE]

A7N8X Deluxe (Nvidia MCP-T) audio and Logitech Z-640s

 

[eviltommy]

dont install the bloatware. im running my a2-zs sh!t-ware free...

 

[Corporate Thug]

audigy 2

 

[ViRGE]

For gaming, you're really going to want an Audigy; nothing else supports EAX 3(aka HD) and EAX 4(albeit nothing uses 4 yet). The Audigy will have the fewest problems with sound in games(since it's the reference card), and there are some minor differences between EAX 2 and 3 that usually make the card worth it(UT2003 is supposed to be a decent example).

 

[Tab]

If Creative made drivers that worked :|

 

[InlineFive]

For gaming the Audigy is very superior. I read that the M-Audio only has software processing of 3d sound modes (EAX, EAX2, EAXHD, A3D, etc.) where as the Audigy can do all of this in hardware.

 

[BoomAM]

Originally posted by: ViRGE
....and EAX 4(albeit nothing uses 4 yet).

JK3 uses EAX4. As does Max Payne 2.
But i can see where your coming from.

So should i stick with my Audigy until the next "big" creative card comes along?

 

[poppyq]

Compared to your audigy 1, the audigy 2 zs *is* the next big thing, though I'm not sure the upgrade would be worth it. I'm still using my audigy 1...is there any particular reason you feel the need to upgrade besides bloatware? You can install the audigy drivers without installing any of the addons, all I install are the drivers and the audio HQ for setup, I leave everything else out (that's why they give you a custom install option)

 

[BoomAM]

Originally posted by: poppyq
Compared to your audigy 1, the audigy 2 zs *is* the next big thing

Not exactely.
The A2 and the A2ZS is still just a tweaked Audigy. Like a product refresh, like R300 and R350.
By "next big thing" i mean the sort of sound step up that the Live--->Audigy was.

 

[Pariah]

I don't own a 2ZS, but from my own usage, there is a bigger improvement in sound quality moving from an Audigy 1 to Audigy 2 than there was from a Live 5.1 to an Audigy 1. Making the assumption that the 2ZS is at least incrementally better than the 2, if you are a sitckler for audio quality and have the speakers/headphones to match, an upgrade from a 1 to a ZS would be worthwhile.

That said, I should probably add, for strictly gaming, I don't think the upgrade is worth it as the improved quality probably isn't all that noticable while gaming.

 

[BoomAM]

Using Creative Inspire 5300 5.1 bty.

 

[Pariah]

I don't think it would be worth then. Stick with what you have until sometime substantially better comes along.

 

[BoomAM]

Evantually i`d like to upgrade to a decent 7.1 set of speakers and a really good sound card. I`ll hold off till Creative Labs "proper next big thing". Or till other companies support EAX HD. Whichever comes first.

 

[zodder]

I haven't found a reason to switch from my TBSC yet. It's the only card I could get my Boston Acoustic BA7800s to play digitally.

 

[BoomAM]

Originally posted by: zodder
I haven't found a reason to switch from my TBSC yet......

Don`t even get me started on that sound card.......

 

[galt]

Had a Gamesurround Fortissimo II (little brother of the Turtlebeach Santa Cruz). Thought it was very nice. Until I got a Live 5.1 X-Gamer. Holy crap. The high quality sound in the games I play (UT2k3, Q3) actually work now! EAX is nice and dandy. Not saying TBSC or its brethren are bad, but when it comes to gaming, its hard to beat a SoundBlaster.

 

[Nutdotnet]

Originally posted by: BoomAM

Originally posted by: zodder
I haven't found a reason to switch from my TBSC yet......

Don`t even get me started on that sound card.......

The Santa Cruz was great in it's hey-day!

 

[DarkKnight]

onboard nforce2 sound

 

[NYHoustonman]

How could anyone not like the Santa Cruz??? At this point, I know the Audigy series is better, but in my experience with Creative cards I have found that they cause conflicts more often than with my Santa Cruz (my second computer, for instance, has been a bastard ever since I installed the official Creative drivers).