I need a recommendation for a new soundcard

[kryptobs2000]

Right now I'm using the onboard sound on my kv8 pro, I'll be getting a dfi ut for christmas and be using the onboard sound on that. I have 7.1 speakers and I'd like support for thx, dolby 5.1, eax 4 hd and all that crap if possible. I don't really like creative soundcards because.. well I just don't want to support them (altho I own their speakers :p: ) but I don't like how they have a monopoly and prevent innovation. Any other good soundcards? I'd normally just do some research myself, but I just don't know of where to start so I can't really type anything in to google per say. Anyone got any recommendations tho or should I just give in and get an Audigy 2? I don't need anything amazing quality wise as long as it's reasonably good. Mainly I just wanna get it so there is no cpu usage when using the onboard soundcard or I'd just stick with that.

edit: I use linux too, so good support would be nice, but not a must. Should beable to get it working in Linux either way.

[Reflex1]

i got an audigy 2 since they came out and mim very happy ...and will probably be the best option. or wait for the audigy 4 pro to come out (but it has all the junk most people dont need: external drive blah blah)

or look into terratec soundcards if u wanna be different :D

[kryptobs2000]

yeah, even tho I'm anti-creative I might just go with an audigy 2. Which I can get for 100$ or less, and the audigy 4 which is almost the exact same costs 200+ from what I've seen. One question tho. Whats the diff. in all the audigy 2's? Like... I think the zs supports 7.1 and the audigy 2 only 6.1 I'm not sure. But like the audigy 2 zs gamer, zs platinum etc... Do they all have hardware decoding (or is it encoding) of all the diff. crap like dts, dolby, eax etc... ?

[Reflex1]

i dont know what u really mean with encoding/decoding ...but all the audigy 2's 'support' EAX, dolby and THX technology ...

i'd just get whichever u can get cheapest as they are all so alike

[kryptobs2000]

Lots of soundcards support it, but with software not hardware. So it will encode or decode in software, meaning it'll take cpu cycles to do it, vs the soundcard itself doing it.

[b|gf|sh]

Check out the Chaintech AV710, Via Envy24 chipset, meant to be a steal at something like $20 compared to higher priced Creative cards etc.

[Vatican]

Personally I think Creative SB is the best for sound cards, but you could always check out the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz ~ http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=29-118-102&depa=0

I had one myself for a while, it worked fine.

[sdgserv]

If you are a gamer..audig. Zs and up. Nothing else better.
Music..M-Audio 7.1
Terratec DMX 6 fire 24/96..a leap in sound quality and a leap in price

[mrnuke]

i have the logitech z-5500 speakers. What would be the best option that would have optical or coaxal connections so i can hook them up? I game(most), watch dvd's, listen to music, etc. Thanks

[madgamer]

Isn't there a herculese 7.1 soundcard thats supposed to have pretty good sound quality? I had a turtle beach soundcard in my old system and it wasnt bad, although I like my audigy 2 better. I would almost have to say to just bite the bullet and get a creative card though.

[slair76116]

mrnuke i have the logitech z-5500 speakers. What would be the best option that would have optical or coaxal connections so i can hook them up? I game(most), watch dvd's, listen to music, etc. Thanks

If you game ADGY 2ZS would be the way @ $80 that aint much to pay....You get EAX HD(4)and all that dolby ex and dts es...bla bla crappy drivers but good card....For music it would seem that the M audio would surfice... :toast:

Oh and i think if you use the optical cable all you'll get is stereo sound so i think you'll have to use the coax for gamming(thinking your speakers are 5.1..?)

[Donnie27]

Right now I'm using the onboard sound on my kv8 pro, I'll be getting a dfi ut for christmas and be using the onboard sound on that. I have 7.1 speakers and I'd like support for thx, dolby 5.1, eax 4 hd and all that crap if possible. I don't really like creative soundcards because.. well I just don't want to support them (altho I own their speakers :p: ) but I don't like how they have a monopoly and prevent innovation. Any other good soundcards? I'd normally just do some research myself, but I just don't know of where to start so I can't really type anything in to google per say. Anyone got any recommendations tho or should I just give in and get an Audigy 2? I don't need anything amazing quality wise as long as it's reasonably good. Mainly I just wanna get it so there is no cpu usage when using the onboard soundcard or I'd just stick with that.

edit: I use linux too, so good support would be nice, but not a must. Should beable to get it working in Linux either way.

WOW slow Thread. Audigy 2 ZS =P. These cards have very good drivers now, not like the bad old days and their updates are just as easy and just like Windows update site.

Donnie

[shadowing]

I'd go with the Audigy 2 ZS. It doesn't lag your pc in games.

[sado]

the chaintech... very good price.. and very good sound, cant say it rivals the audigy 2 zs.. but it puts up a good fight for the price

[The Mofo]

i got one of these coming from Korea. Should be here by friday

http://www.audio100.com/5/images/432_5.gif

HDA Digital X Mystique 7.1 gold. Does 5.1 in just about everything, including through Coax AND Toslink. Something the Soundblasters cant do. Excellent card.

Review can be found here...

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=511204

[tinker77]

the Creative brand cards are very good and I've never had a problem with one of them.

[Rabidmoose171]

Check out the Chaintech AV710, Via Envy24 chipset, meant to be a steal at something like $20 compared to higher priced Creative cards etc.


Yea its a freakin awsome card, and the software is very minimal... only 25 bucks brand new from newegg.com

[STEvil]

Isn't there a herculese 7.1 soundcard thats supposed to have pretty good sound quality? I had a turtle beach soundcard in my old system and it wasnt bad, although I like my audigy 2 better. I would almost have to say to just bite the bullet and get a creative card though.

GameTheater XP, maybe? Or Fortissimo.. I've got a GTXP and its great but i'm not using it right now..

After creative refused an RMA on a DVD drive + decoder card (DxR 3) I swore i'd never buy from them again, and I havent yet.

[The Mofo]

Im telling you guys, HDA Xmystic 7.1 is the only way to fly.

[b|gf|sh]

Been using my new Chaintech AV710 for a few days now, such a big difference over onboard sound :slobber: Listening to stuff I've not heard in a long time cos everything sounds fresh with this soundcard :D

Lacks a global equilizer in the control panel though, so gonna pick up a hardware equilizer at some point now :)

[kryptobs2000]

Wow, havn't had a look at this topic for awhile lol, I forgot about it. Seems to have sprung up alot more interest than I last looked. I still havn't gotten a new soundcard, it's not a top priority but I still plan to. Anyone know if the AV710 is supported in Linux as I've been trying to get back into it. The HDA Digital X Mystique 7.1 gold also looked pretty good, but I doubt it's supported in Linux, I'll see if I can find anything. And thanks for all the input guys :)

[blueworm]

Wow, havn't had a look at this topic for awhile lol, I forgot about it. Seems to have sprung up alot more interest than I last looked. I still havn't gotten a new soundcard, it's not a top priority but I still plan to. Anyone know if the AV710 is supported in Linux as I've been trying to get back into it. The HDA Digital X Mystique 7.1 gold also looked pretty good, but I doubt it's supported in Linux, I'll see if I can find anything. And thanks for all the input guys :)
The AV710 is said to have near audiophile sound quality.
As far as linux support you need to use the snd_ice1724 alsa driver. IIRC it does not have hardware mixing in linux so this could be a show stopper if you plan on using TeamSpeak. That is unless you have the patience to configure dmix.

[kryptobs2000]

Whats 'audiophile sound quality'?

[blueworm]

Whats 'audiophile sound quality'?
Audiophile=person who spend's national debt of small african country on Hi-Fi.
Here are googles definitions. Here (http://www.google.es/search?hl=es&lr=&oi=defmore&q=define:Audiophile)

[Disposibleteen]

Audiophile=person who spend's national debt of small african country on Hi-Fi.
Here are googles definitions. Here (http://www.google.es/search?hl=es&lr=&oi=defmore&q=define:Audiophile)
lol, like your definition there

[illmatik]

That mystique looks pretty impressive. I'm in the market for a new card myself, although I like to do a lot of pro audio sequencing/recording so I'm going to be opting for something that has very low latency and solid ASIO drivers.

[pmlfrew]

Hi Guys,

In the market as well for a new soundcard, thinking bout the audigy 2 ZS, but I had an old Soundblaster 5.1 platinum or whatever it was called and when I installed all the software and drivers, it basically crippled my system. Just wondering can the drivers alone be installed now, or what is the minimum you can install with this card, so you can get good functionality (I want dolby digital 5.1)? Aslo what's the difference between the budget version of the card and the ZS?

[evilentity]

I've owned a Live!, an audigy, an av710 and 2 e-mu 0404's. The creative cards are a little faster than the av710 in games, and support more of the effects that games use, but for movies and music, its better than any soundblaster or audigy. It still doesn't hold a candle to either e-mu before or after mods.
Unfortunately, the emu's are worthless for gaming.

[amd4me]

SB audigy 4 is a great card.

[ferrari_freak]

Well, everywhere I've heard that the Audigy 4 Pro has no difference in slound quality what-so-ever over the Audigy 2 ZS...

Usama aka Ferrari Freak

[STEvil]

Personally i've been watching Terratac and Yamaha..

[kryptobs2000]

I decided after how long has this thread been up? like 6 months lol, I'm getting the Hi-Tek HDA X-Mystique 7.1, and I'm gonna have a home theater speaker setup, now where do I get this card lol?

[ferrari_freak]

I've seen it at Xoxide. http://www.xoxide.com/bluegears-xmystique-ddl-gold.html Costs $99.99

Usama aka Ferrari Freak

[Cyrilix]

I'd suggest the M-Audio revolution 5.1...

It's way underrated IMO. It has a better DAC than the 7.1, I think it even has some form of hardware acceleration for gaming (or at least the website makes it seem that way), and the drivers are very good and easy to install, unlike Creative drivers. I have one of these cards, and the sound quality is phenomenal for something that's around $100 CAD yet supports games.

[thezfunk]

I have M-Audio 7.1 and I LOVE it. I can play games with EAX 2 without a prob. IF there is a FPS hit I can't tell. Can't be beat for Music althought that new one everyone is mentioning looks interesting (X-Mystique 7.1). I will NEVER buy Creative sound cards.