Audigy 4 Pro

[Poppa_Meth]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829102181

A friend of mine just got an X-Fi Platinum which sounds awesome. I have a SB Live in mine which I'd like to upgrade but not drop $175 on. Newegg has the one above, though out of stock at the moment for $99. Has an external interface as well which solves the problem of not having a 5.25" bay available for a front port in my PC. I haven't kept abreast of sound cards lately though. Anyone have any input as to the quality of the Audigy 4 Pro? It seems the Audigy 2 is more of the standard below the X-Fi.

[rallynavvie]

All I know is the Audigy 4 chipset has been out for a while, it came out almost dead in the middle of the release of the Audigy 2 and the Audigy X-Fi chips. Oddly, I don't think there was an Audigy 3.

The silly thing is that the difference you heard on your friend's computer is more likely attributed to his speakers rather than the card itself. The only time I think the card would have made a difference is if the game he was playing used the most recent version of EAX. For music and other non-"3D" sounds your card will work just as well. Heck I use a crappy onboard chipset for my sound and it works just fine other than when I want to play the latest games.

[Poppa_Meth]

I doubt the speakers are the issue. I have Logitech X230s and he has some cheapy little Creatives. The big difference I could hear was going from the onboard SB Audigy MB sound to the X-Fi. There was huge jump in the fullness of the sound even with the same speakers. The main reasons I'm looking for a new one are.
1) I want something with gold plated connectors. My SB Live doesn't have them and has built up some corrossion. It was fine until I switched to new speakers. Now it crackles and loses sound in the right speaker from time to time. I have to get down in the floor and twist the jack around to regain connection. I'd like to avoid that in the future.
2) I want the front inputs because I'm doing a little guitar work again and it's easier to record into Audition this way.

[ViRaL1]

No, no Audigy3. There was the Audigy, the Audigy2 and the Audigy2 ZS. I guess you could call the ZS the Audigy 3. I think that was where they made the jump from 6.1 to 7.1 channel audio.

[Poppa_Meth]

Yeah no Audigy 3, which was more of a marketing tactic I believe. From what I've heard if you look at the chip in teh Audigy 4 it has a version number of 3.xxx something. Just a minor upgrade over the Audigy 2ZS from what I've heard. I may wait and just get an X-Fi. It seems to have a much better software interface and completely redesigned chipset.