Sound Cards

[murphyslabrat]

Looking at purchasing an dedicated audio-card. I'm looking to spend about $80, give or take...a lot. I am flexible, if the extra money is worth it. The only stipulation is that it have optical spdif.

Right now, the options are:
Creative X-FI Titanium (non-fatality)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829102024

HT | OMEGA STRIKER
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829271001

 

[Absolution75]

The X-FI you linked is kinda the de-facto soundcard to get, however it should be noted that you won't recieve a sound quality increase over onboard if you're just going to use optical (digital is digital).

 

[terentenet]

Yeah, for digital, go with an X-Fi. You can't go wrong with it since the card won't be responsible for the audio quality, but the receiver.

 

[videogames101]

If your using good, high impedance, headphones, the Asus Essence STX is THE card to get.

 

[videogames101]

Double Post

 

[cmdrdredd]

For a non-gamer the XFI is really a waste. The only reason to have it is for the EAX effects that AFAIK aren't on other sound cards.

 

[isp]

I'd go with the striker or possibly something from Asus...

 

[JSt0rm]

http://www.apogeedigital.com/products/duet.php

give or take a lot

 

[murphyslabrat]

http://www.apogeedigital.com/products/duet.php

give or take a lot

LOL, that is a lot. I really like it....but I don't think that it would be in my budget....plus I'd have to get a firewire controller too.

And I said I like it, I mean I think it's REALLY cool.

As for the optical requirement, it's just for the speaker setup. My headphones are still using the regular jack.