Any Suggestion for a Nice Sound Card??

[ChineseTechie]

The title speaks for itself. It doesn't need to be fancy, but a decent one is what I'm looking for. Any advise??

ChineseTechie

 

[Porphyria]

That really depends on what you intend to use the card for....gaming, in place of a home stereo, recording purposes, or just general all around stuff?
I don't have the greatest gaming rig set up, but as far as for a stereo or for recording, the EMU cards are amazing. I have the 1820 installed on my other computer where I do all my recording. It's crystal clear for playback, as well as having enough outputs to satisfy whatever speaker configuration you have.
A few of my friends have newer SoundBlaster Audigy cards, and they say they work well, but I've never tried them myself.

 

[mystical monkey]

what is your budget.

 

[C_Conqueror]

I used this 6 channel (5.1)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829120102
for my my 5.1 logitech speakers for a while until I got a new motherboard with a built in 8 channels. It was nothing fancy but it worked for me.

 

[ChineseTechie]

I just want to use the sound card for gaming and playing songs. The onboard sound card I have really sucks. I have a decent 2.1 system. It's old but it's still working quite well. When I use those speakers on my older computer, the thing can go so loud, it's not even funny and quality is really good too. But using the same speakers on the computer I have now, I can hardly make out what the person is singing. I'm exaggerating but the quality is just not right. So let me know if you guys have good experience with a good sound card.

Thanks!!
ChineseTechie

 

[azkickerboi69]

yeah i have also built-in sound on my pc
the sound was a bit weird coz im using
this creative 4.1 speakers
but i used that motherboard cd
it gives a good effect for now

im not yet satisfied with that

 

[ChineseTechie]

Budget...

what is your budget.

Well.... I'm thinking about a mid-range price. I don't want the cheapest but I don't need the nicest one either.

 

[sllewe]

Well i would recomend anything from the audigy line from creative. And if your in the US newegg is running a great deal on a nice card found here

Just look for 24-bit 7.1 192KHz on a card and you should be good to go.

Sean

 

[lupus6]

Well in my PC im running a Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS and i havent had any problems at all, it can run 2.1-7.1 speakers and it even has a digital audio port, If your budget is around $100-$120 i would suggest going with this card, its great for gaming and its a good all around soundcard.

-Lupus6

 

[C_Conqueror]

no offense but i would never pay that much for a sound card

 

[vegasgmc]

You can get an SB Live or Chaintech Excell for under $30. Ive gotten a few older SB Live Digitals for $20. They sound really good.

 

[sllewe]

no offense but i would never pay that much for a sound card

Well if you heard the way they sound...you would lol. Cheap sound cards are no better then onboard IMO. But as vegasgmc said, you could get an older model for cheap.

Sean

 

[ChineseTechie]

Well in my PC im running a Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS and i havent had any problems at all, it can run 2.1-7.1 speakers and it even has a digital audio port, If your budget is around $100-$120 i would suggest going with this card, its great for gaming and its a good all around soundcard.

-Lupus6

Well, $100-120 is out of my budget. I guess mid-range means different things to people. I was thinking more like $50-70. I mean I don't need the nicest stuff. I pretty decent one will do. The computer I got is old and it's not worth it to spend too much to upgrade it. I would rather get a new computer.

cT

 

[lupus6]

well then i would suggest going with a soundblaster live 24-bit. It only cost about $30-35 at Best Buy, my friend has got one and he hasnt had any problems, it runs 5.1 speakers pretty good too. hope this helps.

 

[ChineseTechie]

I checked out the soundblaster live 24-bit online. This sound pretty good to me. I'm going to go take a look.

Thanks lupus6!!!

cT

 

[lupus6]

no problem

-Lupus6

 

[joman2055]

i like my sound blaster audigy ls. it was pretty cheap and sounds really nice.

 

[C_Conqueror]

Well if you heard the way they sound...you would lol. Cheap sound cards are no better then onboard IMO. But as vegasgmc said, you could get an older model for cheap.

Sean

You are probably right, so maybe a will try one got any recomendations for around $50.

 

[vegasgmc]

Check these
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829120103


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829102177

 

[panther01]

i like my sound blaster audigy ls. it was pretty cheap and sounds really nice.

Beware the Audigy 2 series soundcards. Make sure your system is compatible with them. I got one a while ago, and ended up having severe lockups, none of my games worked...pretty messy, sports fans. I still don't know exactly what the problem(s) was, there are other people who have posted threads on this site citing very similar probems to mine, and I saw no resolutions. Looks like a driver thing. If Creative could figure it out so that these crashes did not happen, then I would feel comfortable reccomending the card. for the short while that my games did work, it sounded great.

If anyone has any further updates on the Audigy 2 problems, let me know!

 

[sllewe]

Make sure your system is compatible with them.

Just wondering, what OS were you using?

 

[panther01]

Windows XP, have clean install on brand new 120 GH HD