what is the BEST sound card?

[jamiet757]

well, let's hear it, what is the absolute best sound card. I need at least 5.1. Thanks!

[Drag]

sound blaster elite pro

[ted3]

Best sound or best performance? For performance a Xfi with 64MB is a good investment, for professional audio use the same card will be totally useless.

[Drag]

Best sound or best performance? For performance a Xfi with 64MB is a good investment, for professional audio use the same card will be totally useless.

the best card has 64mb x-ram, look!
http://www.soundblaster.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=208&product=14064

[tjelaw]

You should define your needs first before others can help you pointing out the "best" soundcard for you.

If its performance in games its the Creative X-fi Fatal1ty series, which also will do fine in 5.1 sound, watching movies with pretty good sound quality.

But if u want something like specific hardware decoding for watching movies and absolutely the best sound quality, there are other cards. X-meridian for example.

[SlicerSV]

TerraTec Aureon 7.1 Universe. or firewire if you wanna go external.

honestly, hardware acceleration for audio is a thing of the past, with the processors we have today the .00000005% load that 3D sound processing puts on a proc is completely un-noticeable. so what we need to look for is the QUALITY of the sound card, nothing beats an Aureon in this regard.

notice, however, that if you live outside the UK/EU it'll cost you a lot to get it.

[gr8golf]

Ripped from Slickdeals.net

Fry's has Creative XoundBlaster X-Fi Fatality FPS for $150 - $50 rebate = $100 with free shipping. Next best on PriceGrabber is $140 after $40MIR. Thanks CrazyHorse.

Fillable rebate form. Thanks XvVectorvX

[bad aim]

X-Fi's are very popular right now. If you're not using it for gaming but for audio creation/editing/etc., I'd get this. ;)

http://www.zzounds.com/item--RMEHDSPMADI

[serialk11r]

Aren't there cards used for professional audio stuff that are like 700 bucks?

[nn_step]

for what exactly?
Because the best audio editing card is not the best Gamers card and vice versa.
The Important question is what is the primary use is this card to be?

[bad aim]

Aren't there cards used for professional audio stuff that are like 700 bucks?
Oh, yes! I posted the RME for shock and awe. :D
Creative's Emu line is great and economically priced.

[frankR]

For analog audio quality the M-Audio Revolution 5.1 is great bang for your buck. It uses the same high end DACs as much more expensive professional audio card.

For gaming or features richness it's not the best.

[mcnbns]

Chaintech AV710. A $30 card that uses the Envy24 chipset.

Its 5.1 functionality is a bit lacking, but if you only use headphones or a 2.1 setup it's extremely good.

[GoriLLakoS]

Has anyone tried the razer sound card to tell impresions?

[Losphoron]

I have aureon 7.1 space and Altec lansing mx5021 ... How is this pair ?'
I hate Creative ... my subjective opinion
FrankR i just bought a raptor 74gb Adfd.Is active cooling needed?

[JoeBar]

Has anyone tried the razer sound card to tell impresions?
Would like to know also...

[serialk11r]

I have aureon 7.1 space and Altec lansing mx5021 ... How is this pair ?'
I hate Creative ... my subjective opinion
FrankR i just bought a raptor 74gb Adfd.Is active cooling needed?
Actively cooled hard drive?????? 120mm fan is like overkill already... One guy i think has seagate cheetahs with no cooling at all...

[FragTek]

Auzen X-Meridian FTW.

[Omastar]

Auzen X-Meridian FTW.

He'll love the way Auzentech never updates their drivers on older products, so when they do release an update to the X-Meridian, you can all but count on no future driver releases for the X-Meridian. And it lacks functional EAX support, too. Great for audio, but sucky for gaming.

[wedfighter]

Prodigy XT with custom opamp will be best bang for bucks ;)

[Spencer]

It's quite hard getting impressions on the Razer card because it's quite hard getting Razer hardware in general except online. Their distribution is so lacking.