X-fi's have been reported to be much more better quality than the old audigy by most people, although i haven't been able to get my hands on one of them yet.. between the gamer and the normal one as linked, there is not much difference, but the gamer one has
ASIO support, which is good if you wish to record using it.
consumer/amature? OMG. I want the best even I'm not a pro!
Is there any post about the best sound card?
i refer to the x-fi and mainstream cards like that as 'consumer' because its not the normal card for people who are serious about recording uses (not that there's anything wrong with it, there's just better ones out there for the job), and likewise pro audio cards aren't usually associated for uses like, say, all day gaming and movies (and like before, not because it can't (think game studios, movie productions need to use them all day for their projects), just that you've probably busted your savings on it and rather make some use out of its designed potential) the best sound card.. is debatable and alot depends on how much you want to spend, while some are hard to acquire even by going to some music (instruments) shop... although i can recommend a few good brands..
www.digidesign.com
www.m-audio.com
www.presonus.com
etc.
volume is determined mostly by you.. you have to remember to turn it down
hehe..
There is a couple of rules you should remember:
- most soundcards are sufficient for playback, but what determines audio quality is four factors:
the source, the medium (cables etc), conversion quality (digital<>analogue, etc), and the equipment used (ie speakers, headphones etc)
- most soundcards are adequate for recording, and the same factors above applies, but in reverse, so therefore >
- you can take quality away from the audio file, but you can't add more quality to it, only try and make it better.
To answer your original question of this thread, you can't create good sounding audio from crap source by magic, there are too many factors to consider on the cause of the noise. There is however methods of reducing the noise or 'fixing' the audio, and most of them are by trail and error, and for those who have exceptionally good hearing still take from experience, others by knowing a bit about playing music and music theory.
Try these:
- If the noise is constant beat (like a tempo beat - *...*...*...*... etc) you can try using the noise sampler in audacity and sample one cycle and see if it takes it out.
- try eq'ing it out by using the hi and low pass filters, eq graphs etc. If you can amplify what makes the noise worse, then the logical thing is to take it out by cutting it at that frequency.