Sound Blaster Live vs Audigy (1,2,2 ZS)/Other cards under £30

eatingrich · Sep 1, 2008, 12:53 PM

Hey, I posted a thread in the hardware section about looking for a decent sound card under £20, but I'd stretch to £30 if it bought me a significantly better card.

However when looking around for sound cards I seem to find either generic cards for less than a tenner, or a sudden shoot up to expensive cards. There's also the option of buying an older card but then you risk getting one thats a bit obselete for modern gaming etc.

So - A user generously offered to sell me his Audigy 2 ZS, which looks like a good card and the impression I've gotten is that the Audigy series is probably the best <£30 card series you can go for.

However I've also seen on ebay stuff like Sound Blaster Live cards for less than a tenner.

What do you think is best, seeing as you lot are more audiophile than me?

Now obviously it depends on other things, such as speakers etc, and the issue is that I'm not an intense audiophile myself.

I'll use it mainly for: Games, listening to music (casually), but the girlfriend will also use it for Cubase and Sibelius (though not professionally). Similarly I plan to get a microphone at some point and do some casual, amateur recording.

The main issues that I'm aware of are things like making sure the card doesn't add anything to the load on the CPU, thus slowing down games etc.

I find the whole thing a minefield to be honest, so any help would be greatly received! Thanks!

**dj_stick** · Sep 1, 2008, 11:28 PM

ive owned a Live 5.1 (SB0600), an Audigy ES (SB0160) and an Audigy 2 ZS (SB0350).

each time there was a small step-up in audio quality, not much, but noticeable

you mention you don't want any CPU overhead for games? using a hardware accelerated card like a soundblaster will actually take some of the load off the cpu - not much by today's standards, but a little

as for using a microphone, i definately recommened getting an external preamp/mixer, as the build in mic preamp is designed for headset electret condensers, and is quite noisy

eatingrich · Sep 2, 2008, 07:39 PM

Cheers for the reply,

I'm presuming all the cards you mentioned are hardware accelerated?

Robert McClelland · Sep 2, 2008, 08:07 PM

Audigy cards are better u get better mod support Vaule sucks and live also.

**dj_stick** · Sep 2, 2008, 11:21 PM

audigy value, audigy se, audigy ls and live! 24 bit ARE not hardware accelerated - most others are

eatingrich · Sep 3, 2008, 12:35 PM

I presume Audigy 2 is hardware based?

zhengxiuwen · Sep 8, 2008, 11:30 AM

I'm a Chinese man,and I want to ask a question.Live 5.1 (SB0600), and Audigy (SB0090),which is better?Another question is who can use kx ?

eatingrich · Sep 8, 2008, 12:04 PM

I'm guessing an Audigy is a step up from a LIVE.

See DJ Stick's post further up.

**dj_stick** · Sep 8, 2008, 01:26 PM

both the SB0060 Live! and SB0090 Audigy cards are fully kX compatible - the Audigy will, however, have more DSP resources for more dsp plugins

zhengxiuwen · Sep 9, 2008, 03:03 PM

Thank you.And I glad to talk with you.Do you known ,I'm living in Xi'an ,shannxi.

Sep 1, 2008, 12:53 PM	#1
eatingrich HardwareHeaven Lover Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 159 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Sound Blaster Live vs Audigy (1,2,2 ZS)/Other cards under £30 Hey, I posted a thread in the hardware section about looking for a decent sound card under £20, but I'd stretch to £30 if it bought me a significantly better card. However when looking around for sound cards I seem to find either generic cards for less than a tenner, or a sudden shoot up to expensive cards. There's also the option of buying an older card but then you risk getting one thats a bit obselete for modern gaming etc. So - A user generously offered to sell me his Audigy 2 ZS, which looks like a good card and the impression I've gotten is that the Audigy series is probably the best <£30 card series you can go for. However I've also seen on ebay stuff like Sound Blaster Live cards for less than a tenner. What do you think is best, seeing as you lot are more audiophile than me? Now obviously it depends on other things, such as speakers etc, and the issue is that I'm not an intense audiophile myself. I'll use it mainly for: Games, listening to music (casually), but the girlfriend will also use it for Cubase and Sibelius (though not professionally). Similarly I plan to get a microphone at some point and do some casual, amateur recording. The main issues that I'm aware of are things like making sure the card doesn't add anything to the load on the CPU, thus slowing down games etc. I find the whole thing a minefield to be honest, so any help would be greatly received! Thanks! __________________ Check out my gaming blog for stuff about Windows Phone, retro gaming and Xbox - www.zombiesatemyxbox.com

Sep 2, 2008, 07:39 PM	Thread Starter #3
eatingrich HardwareHeaven Lover Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 159 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Cheers for the reply, I'm presuming all the cards you mentioned are hardware accelerated? __________________ Check out my gaming blog for stuff about Windows Phone, retro gaming and Xbox - www.zombiesatemyxbox.com

Sep 2, 2008, 08:07 PM	#4
Robert McClelland PAX Tweaker, PAX Expert. Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Somewhere in Wood County Ohio Same Town :) Posts: 10,613 Rep Power: 196 System Specs	Audigy cards are better u get better mod support Vaule sucks and live also. __________________ "XTREME AUDIO IS CRAP!" "There no support for it. It's crapist card on face of the earth it should be throw into the sun" http://www.speedtest.net/result/1949536385.png

Sep 3, 2008, 12:35 PM	Thread Starter #6
eatingrich HardwareHeaven Lover Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 159 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	I presume Audigy 2 is hardware based? __________________ Check out my gaming blog for stuff about Windows Phone, retro gaming and Xbox - www.zombiesatemyxbox.com

Sep 8, 2008, 12:04 PM	Thread Starter #8
eatingrich HardwareHeaven Lover Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 159 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	I'm guessing an Audigy is a step up from a LIVE. See DJ Stick's post further up. __________________ Check out my gaming blog for stuff about Windows Phone, retro gaming and Xbox - www.zombiesatemyxbox.com

Sep 8, 2008, 11:30 AM	#7
zhengxiuwen DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 5 Rep Power: 0	I'm a Chinese man,and I want to ask a question.Live 5.1 (SB0600), and Audigy (SB0090),which is better?Another question is who can use kx ?

Sep 9, 2008, 03:03 PM	#10
zhengxiuwen DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 5 Rep Power: 0	Thank you.And I glad to talk with you.Do you known ,I'm living in Xi'an ,shannxi.