Value Sound Card?

[sawhizzo]

Hi, I'm in the market for a new sound card, and was wondering if it was going to be possible to find one that works for under, say, $50. I had an Aureal Vortex that I've been very happy with for the past 3 years, but when I got Ghost Recon, it wouldn't play any sound. So I pulled that out and went with the the onbaord sound of my MSI KT133(A?) motherboard, which now runs sound, but sends random pops out that don't sound healthy for my speakers. And my mp3s dont' seem to play as well anymore, either. Any suggestions?

Also, if anyone knows anythign about cheap digital cameras that double well as web cams, I'd love any suggestions on that front too.
Thanks!
sean

 

[Insane3D]

First off...Welcome to Anandtech!


Now, for a nice budget soundcard that rivals most other "high-end" consumer cards, take a look at either the Philips Rythmic Edge II for a great 4.1 soundcard, or the Philips Seismic Edge II 5.1 soundcard. Both cards are based on the Thunderbird DSP that comes on the high end Acoustic Edge, but for a much lower price. The cards are $29 and $39 shipped respectively @ Newegg.com. Great cards for a great price!

 

[Derango]

If you want to spend just a tad bit more...check out the Santa Cruz. Very nice sound card. Good price too.

 

[Insane3D]

Originally posted by: Derango
If you want to spend just a tad bit more...check out the Santa Cruz. Very nice sound card. Good price too.

The Santa Cruz is a nice card, but it can't match the abilities of the Thunderbird DSP in the Philips cards...

 

[gf4200isdabest]

I second the spend 60 bucks and get a Santa Cruz motion. Just got one in my new rig. Damn fine sound card

 

[Beau]

Sound Blaster Live Digital 5.1 + Free Fedex 2nd day shipping = $37

 

[Beau]

Sound Blaster Audigy + Free 2nd Day Fedex = $67

 

[Mem]

I would go Philips AE over Santa Cruz for sound quality and Audigy OEM for the gaming sound card.

 

[sawhizzo]

Ok, thanks to everyone for their input...just one extension question: What kind of life are these cards going to have? For instance, the only thing preventing my Aureal Vortex from not still being a good card is that complete lack of drivers for it...am I going to run into this same problem with both/either of these cards?

Thanks again!

sean

 

[Insane3D]

Originally posted by: sawhizzo
Ok, thanks to everyone for their input...just one extension question: What kind of life are these cards going to have? For instance, the only thing preventing my Aureal Vortex from not still being a good card is that complete lack of drivers for it...am I going to run into this same problem with both/either of these cards?

Thanks again!

sean

The life of these soundcards will be fine. The only reason the Vortex has no support is because the company that made the sound chip, Aureal, is out of business. Creative Labs sued them into the ground then ate them up...so to speak.

 

[Insane3D]

Originally posted by: Beau6183
Sound Blaster Live Digital 5.1 + Free Fedex 2nd day shipping = $37

Oh yeah, that's a great suggestion. Let's see, he has a KT133A board with the Via 686B southbridge that has known problems with the SB Live series. Also, the Santa Cruz, Audigy, and SB Live cards can't output any stereo source in true 5.1, they just mirror the front channels to the rears like the rest of the consumer cards. But hey, you guys want to pay more for inferior soundcards, that's cool. IMO. <--(disclaimer)

 

[JHeiderman]

Also, the Santa Cruz, Audigy, and SB Live cards can't output any stereo source in true 5.1, they just mirror the front channels to the rears like the rest of the consumer cards. But hey, you guys want to pay more for inferior soundcards, that's cool. IMO. <--(disclaimer)

That is correct but no sound card in existance can make true 5.1 from a stereo source. Hence the name STEREO ( 2 channels). Real 5.1 is just as the name states 5 discrete channels of audio and a low bass channel. Don't make it sound like any other sound card is going to give you true 5.1 from stereo because it just does not work that way. A sound card CAN apply some audio processing to bring out certain sounds to the rear and center speakers but that would be called Dolby Pro Logic and it was created oh.. about 15 years ago give or take. You can't get any more than 2 channels of sound out of stereo. You'll never get any more than what you start with.

Now... on the topics of sound cards for sawhizzo to buy. My vote is the for the Philips line of sound cards. Great cards for a great price.

- J

 

[Insane3D]

Originally posted by: JHeiderman

Also, the Santa Cruz, Audigy, and SB Live cards can't output any stereo source in true 5.1, they just mirror the front channels to the rears like the rest of the consumer cards. But hey, you guys want to pay more for inferior soundcards, that's cool. IMO. <--(disclaimer)

That is correct but no sound card in existance can make true 5.1 from a stereo source. Hence the name STEREO ( 2 channels). Real 5.1 is just as the name states 5 discrete channels of audio and a low bass channel. Don't make it sound like any other sound card is going to give you true 5.1 from stereo because it just does not work that way. A sound card CAN apply some audio processing to bring out certain sounds to the rear and center speakers but that would be called Dolby Pro Logic and it was created oh.. about 15 years ago give or take. You can't get any more than 2 channels of sound out of stereo. You'll never get any more than what you start with.

Now... on the topics of sound cards for sawhizzo to buy. My vote is the for the Philips line of sound cards. Great cards for a great price.

- J

Actually, the QMSS of the Philips outputs 5 distinct channels to each of the 5 speakers. While this is not true DD 5.1, it is very similar, and in some cases it sounds better...especially in certain DVD's.

 

[Insane3D]

Here is a great review of the Philips Rythmic Edge II (PSC703) and the Philps Seismic Edge II (PSC705)...


Philips Soundcards @ Digitlife

 

[Derango]

Originally posted by: Insane3D
Here is a great review of the Philips Rythmic Edge II (PSC703) and the Philps Seismic Edge II (PSC705)...


Philips Soundcards @ Digitlife

You sound like you get money each time you sell one of these things

 

[TheWart]

my Phillips Acoustic Edge sounded so good that six months later i bought another one to go in my new rig! man they are sweet, driver support rocks, and they bring my Z-560s and Promedia 4.1s to life!

 

[sawhizzo]

yeah, the Live doesn't work, or doesn't seem to. I'm not really much of a techie, but I can get most hardwear to work on the base level, and neither I nor my dad could get soundblaster live he bought to work in mine or his machine, so that's out, unless someone has a fix for me. As for 5.1, I don't really need it unless the lack of it is going to prevent me from hearing anything. So, thanks for all the input guys! Wish me luck.

 

[sawhizzo]

Oops...guess I need to refresh before posting...heh heh.

 

[Insane3D]

You sound like you get money each time you sell one of these things.

Nah. I just know how good the Philips cards are, but not too many people know about them. To many people just blindly buy Creative or the SC just because it's what everyone else has. Sure, the Audigy and the SC are great cards, don't get me wrong, but the Philips DSP is just a bit better IMO. Also, the prices are awesome right now. Just trying to help the guy out...he can buy whatever he likes.

 

[Mem]

Yep it`s his money his choice ,just to confuse him more(I don`t mean too) the Hercules Fortissmo II is another good sound card and cheap price wise ,Review here ,btw whatever you decide it will sound miles better then the onboard sound,don`t forget to do any of the sound cards meantioned any justice, use some half decent speakers .

 

[Gonad the Barbarian]

In the last month I've played around with an Audigy, Live 5.1, SB128, and a Fortissimo II. The Live was the bottom of the bunch as far as sound quality, even behind the SB128 (which is suprisingly good, not far behind the other two). The Audigy and Fortissimo II were pretty close to each other, with the Fortissimo II getting the edge with headphones because of the built-in amp.

 

[RanDum72]

Another vote for the Fortissimo II. Probably packs the most bang/buck. Plays music very well plus it also has good gaming performance.
IMO, its the ultimate value sound card.

 

[kami]

$50? You could almost get an Audigy for that price w/ ground shipping. Audigy won't have the problems that the Live does with Via chipsets (and i experienced none on both Apollo Pro 133a and Kt266a).

Hercules and Philips also make good sound cards. Fortissimo 2 is incredible bang for the buck. It is a shame Aureal went outta business, I loved my vortex2! I used it for almost 4 years and its sound quality was above the SBLive. However, my Audigy even surpasses the Vortex2 in music sound quality (I have it hooked up to my HT system which I blew over 2 thousand dollars on so it's pretty easy to tell differences! I also play the music using the MAD decoder with 24bit resolution Soooo much better than the default winamp decoder).

I just searched for the link, but can't find it...maybe someone else knows: a while ago there was a hardware site that had a huge soundcard ronudup. The Audigy won in both of the music areas, and Hercules cleaned up everywhere else as far as I remember. Philips didn't do too good (sorry Insane3d!).

 

[RanDum72]

Audigy won't have the problems that the Live does with Via chipsets (and i experienced none on both Apollo Pro 133a and Kt266a).

Actually, it still does. Most KT266A based boards corrupt the EPROM of the Audigy so it shows up as 'EMU10K' under sound and audio devices of the control panel. Thus it won't let you upgrade to the latest drivers and causes propblems with sound randomly dissapearing/ no support for 4 speakers. My Abit KR7A-133 ate three Audigy cards. After the fourth replacement, I decided to swap it with the Santa Cruz in my KG-7 based board. No problems after that. The Audigy worked well with an Epox 8KHA+ (another KT266a board) but i heard it has problems with other brands such as MSI. It said to be ACPI related. Check the Creative forums, especially the European site.

 

[Bovinicus]

A few cards that you might be able to obtain in that price range are the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz, Phillips Acoustic Edge, and Soundblaster Live!. A recent driver release from Creative improved the sound quality and positional audio of their Live! cards. This is true at least under Windows 2000 and XP. Any of those cards should fit the bill nicely. Check them out and see which one has the right price and features for you.