sound card quality

[scotsman1]

What difference will a good sound card make, will it make my ears tingle
with new fills i been missing as in a new set of speakers do to a hifi system.

I've got a hauppauge pvr250 tv card that i wont be needing and i've
noticed them selling on ebay for over 50 quid ( quid = pound ) i might
as well sell and buy a sound card from ebay now i have a dvd recorder.

Whats the best makes? Soundblaster Audigy seem popular but whats the
biggest difference i should notice.

thanks

[thecoalman]

but whats the
biggest difference i should notice.

If you play a lot of games you'll see quite a difference. Many of the features on the newest soundcards are not utilized by your average audio files etc.... The Audigy 2 cards also support DVD Audio which if your audio freak is quite an improvement over regular CD.

A good set of speakers doesn't hurt either...

[Faustus]

Creative cards are really considered subpar by people who deal with audio. I'd suggest a medium end M-Audio card. Otherwise stick with onboard.

[scotsman1]

It's a bottom of the range soundblaster card i have, soundblaster live i think but i always wondered what a good sound card would do to my sound quality.

[waheed]

I have a Audigy 2 Platinum and it does make a difference in gaming and DVD movies over onboard audio. I would guess you would also need a decent set of speakers to take advantage of the quality difference.

[Faustus]

Ah found a good discussion.

BE ENLIGHTENED!
http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7941

Those are examples of great cards, but a bit pricey for most, including me BTW. However if you really want a good dicussion of why creative hasn't made a sound card worth owning in years I could dig one up.

That being said its all a moot point as most of us, including me, us crappy speakers anyway.

[stiltman]

Speakers?


Oh yeah, I'm constantly turning them off after the Mrs uses the computer

I don't use my computer for sound

At work, I gave the Station Manager my really nice speaker system. Made browning points, and got rid of something I never use

[waheed]

You might also want to check out the forums section of www.3dss.com

Its a site all dedicated to audio:

http://www.3dss-forums.com/cgi-bin/wwwthreads/wwwthreads.pl?Cat=

[thecoalman]

That being said its all a moot point as most of us, including me, us crappy speakers anyway.

If you really want to annoy your neighbors try these:


http://www.klipsch.com/product/product.aspx?cid=712

They'll even put a ass kicking on a lot of home stereo systems. They also make a nice portable sound system, they're standalone so you only need something with a mini-jack such as a Ipod to provide the audio. They fall into the pricey range too so they may not be for everybody.

[Faustus]

That being said its all a moot point as most of us, including me, us crappy speakers anyway.

If you really want to annoy your neighbors try these:


http://www.klipsch.com/product/product.aspx?cid=712

They'll even put a ass kicking on a lot of home stereo systems. They also make a nice portable sound system, they're standalone so you only need something with a mini-jack such as a Ipod to provide the audio. They fall into the pricey range too so they may not be for everybody.

I know them. I had a 2.1 version of them. Very nice speakers, but they are an exception. PC speakers blow. Lets face it.

[thecoalman]

I know them. I had a 2.1 version of them. Very nice speakers, but they are an exception.

In truth they blur the line, you could use them for anything, don't need a comp. Most comp speakers do blow though but most people aren't looking for that "I can feel it" sound.

[waheed]

I own a set of 6.1 Megaworks THX 650D. Not the best on the market, but they blow you away and cost me £250 at time of release over 2 years ago.

[Faustus]

Want some real sound?