Santa Cruz Soundcard $49.99

[Pabster]

NFS4 wrote:

"Not when you factor in Creative's sh!tty drivers."

Damn, you beat me to the punch again

Ditto. Creative's lousy driver support alone is enough reason to steer clear of their cards. Audigy isn't anything like it's cracked up to be -- I ought to know, having owned several. I was expecting a night and day difference, what with all the "processing power" of the Audigy APU. Not so. Then the driver nightmares and Creative's ridiculous PlayCenter crap drove me right away.

Santa Cruz is still the top consumer-level sound card.

 

[Bad Dude]

I don't think Fry's has the same price does it? I was just there today and the price was $79.99.

 

[Flaredair]

Another vote for the Santa Cruz over the Audigy based upon owning several of both.
These days I would not touch a creative sound card. The TB Santa Cruz is rock stable!!

PS: Got a cowbell? If so, you're a ding-a-ling...

 

[jblondi]

Ah, looks like my post has sparked some interest. I picked mine up today in Greenville, SC. No problems what so ever. There were about 5 more on the shelves, but I actually sold one to a guy walking buy who wanted to know what I had. (I carried it around the store for an hour while I played with other stuff!) Brought it home and installed it. Great features, and easy install. Sound Quality is excellent. Anyone want to buy a creative sb live value! Thanks guys and gals!

 

[ethernaut]

damnit!

I ordered one from amazon a couple of days ago with the 5$ off coupon and free shipping for 65.99!

 

[misle]

Anyone use this card to RECORDING? I use the Audigy for recording and it works well, but I get all kinds of playback problems (skipping music mainly). I use a KT133A board, I think that's where most of my problems stem from.

Does this card record at least 16-bit, full duplex?

Thanks!

 

[WHSLacrossekid]

Bump to the top. I ordered mine w/ 2-day and still haven't gotten confirmation

 

[ToBeMe]

Originally posted by: MontyBurns
Audigy's XP drivers work flawlessly for me.

I know people tend to be brand loyal. And I'm assuming the people talking about the "comparisons" are basing their opinions in blind faith for a particular brand (or blind scorn for another). As I said before, Creative has long been, in my opinion, one of the least reliable hardware developers. Their products have had spotty performance, and the driver support has been awful.

But I upgraded two computers from the Santa Cruz to the Audigy, and noticed a marked improvement in both. With the Audigy, they finally got it right. For a long time, the santa cruz was half the cost of the audigy. Now, they're about the same -- I bought three audigys from TCWO when they had their $55 anandtech special. My current two cards are being used with the Logitech Z-560s, and the sound is fantastic. I wouldn't say it's overall "dramatically" better than the Turtle Beach, since the TB sounded great too. But the performance in games is noticably better. You can max out all audio effects, and there IS a dramatic difference in the way they sound.

Play Wolfenstein on a Turtle Beach, adn then play it on an Audigy. You'll absolutely hear the difference.

I just picked up two more of these..........GREAT DEAL!

Man, if you want to deal with the hassle, and can't hear the improvement Santa Cruz has over the Audigy................you've got to be tone deaf............. LOL! Audigy can't begin to compare with highs or lows and the sound is so much nicer...............and this is on Klipish so maybe your Z-560's are half blown or something.................. Seiously, you can't be honest can you????

 

[zxczxc]

Originally posted by: WHSLacrossekid
Bump to the top. I ordered mine w/ 2-day and still haven't gotten confirmation

COMPUSA sucks

 

[Pothead]

if you have a BM store, just pick them up there, on sale til Saturday this week. My store had 3, 1 left after I left.

 

[santuitman]

I also get the
"Unable to compute charges at this time. Please check back soon, and we apologize for any inconvenience."
and we have no BM nearby. Anyone get around this problem?

 

[KF]

Originally posted by: Sundog
BB B&Ms are selling this and have lots in stock, at least in the Twin Cities area. I just picked up two of them this afternoon.

I'd like to get this at Best Buy because I've been stuck
with a gift card for a long time (and nothing worth buying.)
But they didn't have any in the store I went to, and there
are none listed on the Best Buy site. I havn't seen ever
seen this card in the local Best Buys. Has anybody else
seen this deal at Best Buy?

 

[GreatwoIf]

Hey guys, how reliable are the rebates for this card? I heard some pretty bad things on compusa fulfilling rebates in that department.

Thanx

 

[Vic]

The $30 rebate is not a mail-in, it's instant right at the counter. The $49.99 is your price out the door, and this is the retail box.

This deal is en fuego!

 

[TNTrulez]

Heard that the Audigy was better for MP3s

 

[howardthehobo]

What is B&M store, there is no CompUSA here. I have Staple, OfficeDepot here, are they B&M stores too?

Thank you for your time,
Howard

 

[illmustard]

scored one at fountain valley s. cali. they had like 5 or so left.

 

[DTBH]

hey guys I still got the sound blaster live.... is it worth upgrading to this???

 

[WHSLacrossekid]

hey guys I still got the sound blaster live.... is it worth upgrading to this???

Depends what kind of speakers you have, but you will most likely notice a difference no matter what.

 

[Vic]

Howard, B&M = "brick and mortar," as opposed to an online store. If you don't have a CompUSA near you, try buying online or printing off the online ad and seeing if one of the other stores will pricematch.

TNTrulez, you heard wrong. The Santa Cruz is better for music, the Audigy is slightly better for games.

DTBH, yes. If you're not sweating the $50, the Santa Cruz has 5.1 support, great drivers, better compatibility, and a much cleaner, crisper sound than the Live (the highs, as said here before, are wonderful and the bass is natural, not forced like with the Live). If you need an audio rack like the Platinum, check out the Hercules GTXP.

 

[SexualChocolate]

All these comparisons between the Audigy and the Santa Cruz.. but what about compared to the Hercules Fortissimo 2. I own the Fortissimo 2 and I am building a new machine.. so Im curious if this card is better.

 

[Lanyap]

SC and F2 use the same Cirrus Logic SoundFusion / Crystal chip so the sound quality should be about the same.

 

[GreatwoIf]

I'm currently using an Acoustic Edge w/ Z-560's for my sound setup. Would it be a good idea to get the Santa Cruz instead? I think the Santa Cruz has superior compatiblity compared to the acoustic edge.

thanx

 

[WHSLacrossekid]

I got my Santa Cruz yesterday. It's such a beautiful card

 

[Vic]

Just FYI, I stopped at the Fry's in Wilsonville (Portland area) yesterday and they are selling the SC for $49.99 there as well.

I've never heard an Acoustic Edge, so I don't know how in would compare to the SC. From the good things I've heard about the AE, probably very similar, not worth an upgrade.

The SC and F2 do use the same DSP chip, but the SC has 5.1 while the F2 is only 4.1, IIRC.