sound card recommendations

[pocketExistentialist]

It can't be a Creative card. I'm not a creative hater, I've used their products for awhile, but I just built a new SFF system and their cards since the Live! are all so friggin huge they won't fit. 16 cm is the maximum length for a PCI card in this system, and I'm not quite happy with how the onboard ALC650 audio sounds when playing DVDs, plus I'd like some kind of stereo expansion algorithm. The speakers are Klipsch PM 5.1s, thanks in advance.

 

[Bovinicus]

I really like my Philips Acoutic Edge. It does positional audio very well, and the musical playback is nice too. I hear it does a really good job with 5.1 setups. I noticed quite an improvement in sound quality all around compared to my SB Live! value. Just make sure you enable full hardware acceleration; Windows 2000 had it set one below full acceleration by default. Upping it increased the sound quality noticeably. Also, read the manual about QMSS and enabling it. QMSS is a really wonderful technology.

I hear the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz is also an excellent card. In fact, it is one of the few, if not the only, card to support some hardware MP3 decoding. MP3s are the Cruz's sweet spot. They also have excellent driver support.

 

[Brian48]

Well, I wouldn't say that Voyetra has excellent driver support these days. They haven't updated their drivers for almost a year now and it doesn't look like any new ones are coming out any time soon. They've certainly haven't renew their license for the newer build of the Sensaura engine. Luckily, what they do have out there is fairly stable.

Anyway, for you what you want do with your sound system, I agree that the Acoustic Edge is probably your best bet. It was my favorite sound card until the Audigy2 unseated it. The Santa Cruz is good, but not as good as the AE when it came to DVDs. Another card to consider, if you don't need the coax and other I/O options of the AE, is the Philips Seismic Edge. The new version (as low as $20 OEM - PSC705) uses the same Thunderbird Avenger DSP as the Acoustice Edge. Except for the exclusion of the I/O and associated bells & whistles, this card is essentially identical to it's higher-end brother and uses the same drivers. Just make sure you don't get the older version with the model# PSC704.

 

[LazyBastard]

I'm using an OEM Hercules Gamesurround Muse XL in my SS51G. With my Klipsch PM 4.1's.
Although, since you've got 5.1's, I'd go for the retail Muse 5.1 card. Actually, I think the only difference is the drivers, but I could be wrong. The Muse 5.1 is only about $30 retail. The OEM version is only about $20.