sound card reccomendation?

[Wartzay]

I'm looking to get a decent sound card for gaming with a headset in XP. I dont want to spend more than $70. I know very little about sound cards except for creative being the big boss in the market.

thanks for any help.

 

[NanoStuff]

creative was the big boss, now they're the big bankrupt joke.

Chaintech AV710 still remains the popular bang/buck option.

 

[PurdueRy]

What speakers do you have?

 

[dderolph]

Originally posted by: NanoStuff
creative was the big boss, now they're the big bankrupt joke.

Chaintech AV710 still remains the popular bang/buck option.

Yep, and get it for less than half of $70: CHAINTECH AV-710 7.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Interface Sound Card

 

[Maximilian]

Originally posted by: NanoStuff
creative was the big boss, now they're the big bankrupt joke.

Chaintech AV710 still remains the popular bang/buck option.

How? I thought they were still top dog? Whats happened to creative?

 

[Skott]

News to me as well. The XtremeMusic model is the best IMO. Hard to find now. The XtremeGamer model is its replacement supposedly. I got one on order for a new build so I'll find out just how good of a replacement it is.

 

[NanoStuff]

Originally posted by: Soviet

Originally posted by: NanoStuff
creative was the big boss, now they're the big bankrupt joke.

Chaintech AV710 still remains the popular bang/buck option.

How? I thought they were still top dog? Whats happened to creative?

Their stock value has been going down sharply for a while now. In August it became so worthless they got delisted. Most thought that was it for creative, but they've had a bit of infusion of investment dollars and managed to relist themselves shortly after.

The typical scenario in their situation would have been a buy-out. A large electronics company would assimilate creative for pocket change and that would be it. In their case, nobody finds them worthwhile for purchase even for scraps, so they've been trying to hang on with what little remains of them.

At this point it's not a wise idea to buy creative not only for the obvious fact most of what they have sucks, which explains their situation, but they could vanish any day now and leave you completely out of support, software, warranty and all.

 

[Maximilian]

Originally posted by: NanoStuff

Originally posted by: Soviet

Originally posted by: NanoStuff
creative was the big boss, now they're the big bankrupt joke.

Chaintech AV710 still remains the popular bang/buck option.

How? I thought they were still top dog? Whats happened to creative?

Their stock value has been going down sharply for a while now. In August it became so worthless they got delisted. Most thought that was it for creative, but they've had a bit of infusion of investment dollars and managed to relist themselves shortly after.

The typical scenario in their situation would have been a buy-out. A large electronics company would assimilate creative for pocket change and that would be it. In their case, nobody finds them worthwhile for purchase even for scraps, so they've been trying to hang on with what little remains of them.

At this point it's not a wise idea to buy creative not only for the obvious fact most of what they have sucks, which explains their situation, but they could vanish any day now and leave you completely out of support, software, warranty and all.

Wow, i didnt know things had gotten so bad for creative. Why did this happen?

If i was to guess it would be that its something to do with vistas new open sound thingy? Or is it just that their lineup sucks? I went to buy a notebook card and was contronted with a 5 year old external solution (the one thats called "live!"), or an audigy 1 rebranded as an x-fi, no newer audigy 2 zs available anywhere except ebay and there is no x-fi version of the audigy 2 zs, not one thats worth buying anyways.

 

[NanoStuff]

It's probably more to do with the zen, which they've put a lot of investment dollars into and it failed miserably. I'd say it's a bit of everything, there's nothing they have that is capable of holding up to the competition, on any front. The X-Fi is decent, but onboard audio at 5% of the cost is in most terms almost as decent. The X-Fi only makes sense for few people. With powerful multi-core processors, environmental processing will continue to be sound card independent. Dedicated DSPs are cost inefficient and no longer make sense. The only real advantages to the X-Fi are the DAC, but a good DAC no longer costs anything approaching $100 and even the Chaintech at $30 exceeds the X-Fi in sound quality. There's nothing more amusing than sticking RAM on a sound card. They've fooled a few people, which might be the reason they're still around.

 

[Modelworks]

Creative started out as a decent enough company.
I remember owning my first sounbdlaster card and being amazed at the midi instruments.
Then over the years they started turning out cards, that each time had a problem. There always seemed to be some odd quirk and when you approached creative about it, they tended to point the finger at the user.

Poor drivers and support are the reason I stopped using them about 4 years ago.
They could have done well if they had listened to the customer better and not taken the "We know what were doing" attitude.

I currently use auzentech x-plosion , meridian, (not xifi), chaintech av-710, and m-audio cards. And thankfully with none of the above I have not had driver issues or anything to worry with but install and go, as it should be.

 

[NanoStuff]

As for what creative can do to fix their sound card market, nothing, there won't be such a thing as a sound card market for much longer, with the obvious exception of professional audio. The only reason to buy a sound card anymore is the DAC, including preamp. Rather than messing around with an entire card for what should be a tiny component for most applications, we should be encouraging mainboard manufacturers to spare an extra two dollars for a high quality conversion and avoid that component road altogether. For most people, the analog output from onboard audio serves just fine. It's that fraction of individuals for whom the sound card market still remains, a fraction that can be quickly taken away by mainboard manufacturers.

Graphics processing will also by next decade probably be consolidated into the CPU, with component GPUs no longer being capable of serving their former purpose. The sound card market is perhaps a prelude to what is going to happen there.

 

[Maximilian]

Poor creative, i remember the days where everyone raved about the audigy 2 ZS, and i found one for £24.99. Still have it, not much use to me now without a coaxial or optical output.

 

[NanoStuff]

Originally posted by: Soviet
Poor creative, i remember the days where everyone raved about the audigy 2 ZS, and i found one for £24.99. Still have it, not much use to me now without a coaxial or optical output.

I'm willing to bet my balls that it does have coaxial. Look harder.

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: NanoStuff

Originally posted by: Soviet
Poor creative, i remember the days where everyone raved about the audigy 2 ZS, and i found one for £24.99. Still have it, not much use to me now without a coaxial or optical output.

I'm willing to bet my balls that it does have coaxial. Look harder.

It definitely does...just not in full format. Nothing a little adapter can't fix.

 

[Maximilian]

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: NanoStuff

Originally posted by: Soviet
Poor creative, i remember the days where everyone raved about the audigy 2 ZS, and i found one for £24.99. Still have it, not much use to me now without a coaxial or optical output.

I'm willing to bet my balls that it does have coaxial. Look harder.

It definitely does...just not in full format. Nothing a little adapter can't fix.

My card looks like this one

I dont see a coaxial doodad.

 

[NanoStuff]

It's right there, it even says "digital out"

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: NanoStuff
It's right there, it even says "digital out"

LOL pwn3d

 

[Maximilian]

Oooo i see it. That thing at the end. Ok, looks like the rest of the ports on first inspection.

 

[Ghouler]

Originally posted by: Soviet
Poor creative, i remember the days where everyone raved about the audigy 2 ZS, and i found one for £24.99.

This is a steal! Great prices on sound cards at the moment. I saw X-Fi Xtreme Gamer for $50 the other day.

I did not know Creative had hard times. Now I read on their website:

"Net income for the first quarter was $1.3 million,
with earnings per share of $0.02, including a net investment gain of $4.4 million. This
compares to a net loss of $21.0 million with a loss per share of $0.25 for the same period
last year."

http://www.creative.com/corpor...releases.asp?pid=12829

So --
they are actually making small profits again after last year when they had losses, rite?

 

[ourfpshero]

if you are a gamer- creative labs is still the only sound card manufacturer. x-fi extremegamer is the lowest end card that has full audio acceleration. do NOT buy the extremeaudio-which is a codec card only.

 

[macpeteo]

Need a bit of advice folks, I want a Audio card that has the two rows of pins to support a Mic/Headset jack from the front of the PC. My MoBo has it but the audio does not work. Bought a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio which has the connectors but the Mic volume is so bad that I cant be heard using Vent. Tried everything, it does not have or support the +20 DB Boost (and the forums on the Creative web site attest to that).

So, what other Sound Card supports this? I don't need the CD plugs (single row of pins but I do need the front panel Mic/Headset jacks to be on the card (two rows of pins).

Seems like most cards don't have this even though just about every desk top I see has the front jacks (and a cable head at the other end) so what are these Audio Card manufactures thinking??

Thanks,
Macpeteo

 

[tenax]

Originally posted by: Ghouler

Originally posted by: Soviet
Poor creative, i remember the days where everyone raved about the audigy 2 ZS, and i found one for £24.99.

This is a steal! Great prices on sound cards at the moment. I saw X-Fi Xtreme Gamer for $50 the other day.

I did not know Creative had hard times. Now I read on their website:

"Net income for the first quarter was $1.3 million,
with earnings per share of $0.02, including a net investment gain of $4.4 million. This
compares to a net loss of $21.0 million with a loss per share of $0.25 for the same period
last year."

http://www.creative.com/corpor...releases.asp?pid=12829

So --
they are actually making small profits again after last year when they had losses, rite?

wow...1.3 million in revenue for a company that used to have a clinch on offboard soundcards (never mind webcams and other stuff they sold)

that's nothing for revenue..imagine what their expenses must be like..i'm curious about the size of their workforce, no matter what they are paying them. to put it in perspective, a ceo at a company as established as that is likely makes at least half a mil a year plus stock options..and half a mil would be very light these days...then you've got your vps etc..they sound deader than a doornail if this keeps up.

i bought my first creative product ever as i wanted to try a usb soundcard (sb live 24!) and between the bloatware installed, the old tech in general, really showed me how stuck in the past this company is. people have talked for years about how crappy their drivers and bloatware are..and they still have not responded..they deserve to croak. and oh yeah, i returned the sb live for a refund within 12 hours

 

[btcomm1]

Do not buy any card with X ram on it, it crashes UT3.

Oh yeah, I have an audigy 2 right now and I love it, you can use the advanced settings to slide up the bass and treble I love that feature, makes the sound so much better. I've had it for a long time and it so far has served me well.

 

[macpeteo]

Ok, I'll try again. I'm looking for a audio card that has the "Front Panel Header Audio Connector". I currently have the Creative Sound Blaster XFi Xtreme Audio S/N 70SB079000000

Any one know of one or is using it with head phones?

Thanks,
Macpete

 

[ourfpshero]

Originally posted by: macpeteo
Ok, I'll try again. I'm looking for a audio card that has the "Front Panel Header Audio Connector". I currently have the Creative Sound Blaster XFi Xtreme Audio S/N 70SB079000000

Any one know of one or is using it with head phones?

Thanks,
Macpete

the x-fi extremegamer has that connector-i have one- it gives weaker sound than the regular jack tho