[DallasStar]

Post what soundcard you have here and what you think about it and what you recommend. This will make it easy for those who want to buy a new soundcard because they can just go into one thread and see. It may also make for a great conversation . If you ever buy a new soundcard, make sure to post what you think of it here .

[e-Seeker]

Well, I'd def. go for the Audigy... It really made me happy Its audio processing is the best I've seen (heard) so far and combined with a high-end speaker set it really makes the experience unprecedented!

...until you find out that it went DEAD!

Yup, there's a lot of ppl out there who had the same problem, and the only solution to it is that you have your Audigy replaced... OC, you could be among the lucky ones and not have this problem

Hopefully, I explained everything in the company I bought it at and now I'm waiting for the new one...

btw. tx to everyone who helped resolving this issue, dallasstar & Necrosis included

[Wounded Paw]

Anything but Creative cards! (Audigy, Extigy, Live!, they all bite and usually screw up)
I like my Santa Cruz for gaming, very little CPU cycles, no problems at all, good sound and supports A3D 1.0, EAX etc.
For more professional sort of audio work still DO NOT use Creative. Don't believe their hype they are not good enough for that. I like M-Audio (Midiman) cards especially now that their XP drivers are more robust.

[e-Seeker]

Anything but Creative cards! (Audigy, Extigy, Live!, they all bite and usually screw up)

Well, I'd have to agree for Extigy but as for Live! and Audigy they never gave me any problems (SW problems, HW for Audigy, as talked about for sooo much)

[Necrosis]

Originally posted by Wounded Paw
Anything but Creative cards! (Audigy, Extigy, Live!, they all bite and usually screw up)
I like my Santa Cruz for gaming, very little CPU cycles, no problems at all, good sound and supports A3D 1.0, EAX etc.
For more professional sort of audio work still DO NOT use Creative. Don't believe their hype they are not good enough for that. I like M-Audio (Midiman) cards especially now that their XP drivers are more robust.

I don't think Creative is all that bad. I've owned a number of their cards and never had any of the problems people seem to be having with them. I have owned the TBSC. myself and thought it was a great card. If you would like to have no problems what so ever with your rig get the TB. However, if you need connections get the Hercules Game Theater XP. If you drop by the Hercules forum you will see some folks are having driver issues with this card. I haven't had any problems with it. There are a few things I do not like about the GTXP.

1. The cable that goes to the rack to the PCI card is huge!

2. No DSP environments. Which I find odd since other cards are based off the same logic have these. Oh well, I have other means.

I have also owned two of the Philips line which I was very pleased with.

[e-Seeker]

...on how to get 4 speaker output on the Extigy?
It's the same thing when used as 2, 4 or 5.1 speaker setup?!
Sure, you can get it when enabling CMSS, but it only upmixes to the rear channel as some sort of 'ambient speaker reflection'
Seems to be the same problem in EAX games, as it doesn't process the rear channels correctly...
...have tried both WaveOut and DirectSound output... whatever...
Kinda gets on my nerves when I can't use the power of my speakers...

...newest drivers installed
...firmware up-to-date

TIA!

[phrozen_ash]

personally I have been happy with my SB Live Platinum and Audigy. I even did some recording with my Aduigy and it sounded really nice for something done by four ameteurs working in a big closet. Oh, and I never experienced the strange EEPROM problem with my Audigy like some others have mentioned. All-in-all, a great card for your buck, and if you don't want the fancy platinum series the Gamer and MP3 are pretty good from what I hear.
<br>
<br>-Elimus

[e-Seeker]

Originally posted by phrozen_ash
personally I have been happy with my SB Live Platinum and Audigy. I even did some recording with my Aduigy and it sounded really nice for something done by four ameteurs working in a big closet. Oh, and I never experienced the strange EEPROM problem with my Audigy like some others have mentioned. All-in-all, a great card for your buck, and if you don't want the fancy platinum series the Gamer and MP3 are pretty good from what I hear.
<br>
<br>-Elimus

always glad to see an enthusiast! ..as you might have read, the EEPROM problem can occur even after several months of normal use, hope it doesn't happen to you, though; I've lost my nerves

I went for the Platinum edition clearly cuz of the Audigy drive, to be more precise - the optical I/O and MIDI I/O - planning to buy a MD player and a MIDI keyboard...
...and, of course, the REMOTE; got kinda lazy lately

[DaSnIpE]

I lvoe my audigy, and those compaq drivers made it the best soundcard ever.

I have the Live Value, Live5.1, and the Audigy, and none have disappointed...yet. hehe


Maybe next time I'll try something new tho, but I think Audigy is greater than GTXP so maybe when something better than it comes out I will.

[e-Seeker]

Originally posted by DaSnIpE
I lvoe my audigy, and those compaq drivers made it the best soundcard ever.

I have the Live Value, Live5.1, and the Audigy, and none have disappointed...yet. hehe


Maybe next time I'll try something new tho, but I think Audigy is greater than GTXP so maybe when something better than it comes out I will.

Yeah, know what you mean, I froze when I got the Audigy, just couldn't believe the difference... I still have (somewhere in storage) the SB16, AWE32, Live!, Extigy and the usable Audigy... Wouldn't know 'bout any other cards, as Creative somehow became a standard to me, but will def. check something new out when I get the chance to do so...

[DaSnIpE]

I'd like to see more mainstream competition in Sound Cards and Video Cards, in Video it's starting to shape up again, but in Audio Creative has more market share than nvidia has in it's market still for sure

[e-Seeker]

Originally posted by DaSnIpE
I'd like to see more mainstream competition in Sound Cards and Video Cards, in Video it's starting to shape up again, but in Audio Creative has more market share than nvidia has in it's market still for sure

...guess the same could be applied to HDD market...
|sorry if OT|

Yeah, well, Creative's 'out' there a long time...

[Kelsenellenelvian]

SOUNDBLASTER AUDIGY SERIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Louie6666]

I'm a big abit fan & I love my AU10...only issue i've ever had is playing diablo, the au10 just dosen't like it everything else loves it never had any other issues, its never had issues with the silly fsb's I've used either...

[Shodan]

Well, i am VERY happy with my Terratec DMX 24/96.

Absolutely marvelous. Cooler Front Module than the Audigy Platinum. Better sound. Cleaner Sound. The only thing it lacks is the EAX 2.0 support... well. i think A3D is better anyways...

As for Speakers i say go Creative. the Desktop Theater series (i've got the old 2500) is far better than many others i've heard so far....

[fornicatarachnid]

Turtle Beach Santa Cruz for me coupled with Abit SP 50 speakers

After some initial XP driver problems which have now been sorted its a good, reliable card and I would recommend it to anyone

[Funkybuffalo]

I can't believe that in all this discussion no one has mentioned the Philips Acoustic Edge. I have one and love it. I upgraded from a Herclules Muse and I can't say enough good things about it. It sounds great, I have never had any compatability problems with it, it has EAX 2.0, it has a very good connector array (unless you need optical in/out), and the QSound audio is great. So as not to be biased, I believe it does have a little higher CPU usage than the TB, and the treble did seem a little prominant when I first got it, but I quickly became accustomed to it and enjoyed the highs being brought out a little more than I was used to (to may thumping systems where the bass drowns out EVERYTHING). At the price I think it is a great card and have recommended it to two other people who also have no complaints after buying it. If you are looking for a budget card, the next step down (the rythmic edge I believe) is the same chip w/ a few less connectors and 4 channel sound. It sounds just as good (I have 1 friend w/ it) but I think you can get one for 30 - 40 bucks.

[K6-III]

I've been very happy with my Acoustic Edge PSC706 as well. Excellent driver support and sound quality!!!

[gibbon565]

So would you guys recommend getting an audigy over a Hercules game theatre XP? bearing in mind that I wont need all the connections anyway. I was interested in the theatre XP as I was getting it at the right price around 40 to 50 pounds adn the are usually well over 100. What do you guys think?

[Necrosis]

What can I say about this card?

Installation was a breeze; helps if you read the newgroups. The sound is definitely smoother and cleaner than the first Audigy. I uninstalled my Game Theater, rebooted and made sure no scraps of Hercules stuff was left. The only thing I did not install was the Media Source Launcher which does have a bug (stated by Creative). Basically if you install it may work or it just sits there and does nothing. You can click it to your heart's content or until you finger falls off. I don't really care about a stupid "launcher" anyway. DVD Audio sounds great; just wish I knew a local place that sold them. Otherwise, I'm very impressed with the card. One thing I would like to mention is with Ogg Vorbis playback CPU utilization is a bit higher than with my Game Theater. However, other sound formats barely make it over 2%. If you own anything older than an Audigy I think it "maybe" time to upgrade.

[DallasStar]

Originally posted by Necrosis
What can I say about this card?

Installation was a breeze; helps if you read the newgroups. The sound is definitely smoother and cleaner than the first Audigy. I uninstalled my Game Theater, rebooted and made sure no scraps of Hercules stuff was left. The only thing I did not install was the Media Source Launcher which does have a bug (stated by Creative). Basically if you install it may work or it just sits there and does nothing. You can click it to your heart's content or until you finger falls off. I don't really care about a stupid "launcher" anyway. DVD Audio sounds great; just wish I knew a local place that sold them. Otherwise, I'm very impressed with the card. One thing I would like to mention is with Ogg Vorbis playback CPU utilization is a bit higher than with my Game Theater. However, other sound formats barely make it over 2%. If you own anything older than an Audigy I think it "maybe" time to upgrade.

so in your opinion, how does it compare to other cards (other than Audigy 1)?

[Necrosis]

To put is simply it plays music like a Santa Cruz and games like an Audigy. The different between my Game Theater is it seems to sound "louder" if that makes any sense. It also installed unusally quick; much quicker than any other Creative card I have seen. Compared to other cards I think the Audigy 2 is a real contender; price just sucks. The Terratec DMX Fire has Asio 2 support; Audigy 2 doesn't However, the Extigy will support Asio 2; hopefully that means Audigy 2 will as well.

[DallasStar]

ic, thanx for the information.

[RIV@NVX]

Originally posted by Necrosis
To put is simply it plays music like a Santa Cruz and games like an Audigy. The different between my Game Theater is it seems to sound "louder" if that makes any sense. It also installed unusally quick; much quicker than any other Creative card I have seen. Compared to other cards I think the Audigy 2 is a real contender; price just sucks. The Terratec DMX Fire has Asio 2 support; Audigy 2 doesn't However, the Extigy will support Asio 2; hopefully that means Audigy 2 will as well.

You mean Platinum EX, not extigy.

[reno]

I'm wondering, are the newest Audigy 2 drivers unified device drivers? Kinda like nVidia?

[RIV@NVX]

Originally posted by reno
I'm wondering, are the newest Audigy 2 drivers unified device drivers? Kinda like nVidia?

Yup. Work on Audigy 1 too - it is displayed as Audigy in device manager.
I guess it is because both are 10k2 based.
I think that it doesn't work on Live.

[DallasStar]

do you guys suppose that there'd be a nice sound improvement on the audigy with audigy2 drivers?

[reno]

...because if they were, and if they are...I want em!

[gibbon565]

I've noticed that the prices of the audigy cards have really come down since the release of the audigy 2 . I still have a sound blaster live 5.1 card HOLD ON! it's still great
but anyway's I was wondering if it is worth updating to the Audigy? as alot have reviews have said there is little difference in quality and performance what do you guys think

[Necrosis]

Originally posted by gibbon565
I've noticed that the prices of the audigy cards have really come down since the release of the audigy 2 . I still have a sound blaster live 5.1 card HOLD ON! it's still great
but anyway's I was wondering if it is worth updating to the Audigy? as alot have reviews have said there is little difference in quality and performance what do you guys think

To put it bluntly...NO. If you are going to get a new card get the Audigy 2. I think it is what the Audigy should of been. I went from a Live 5.1 Platinum to an Audigy Gamer. The sound was a better but it really wasn't worth the cash.

P.S. I just sold my Hercules Game Theater XP 6.1 w/ 7.1 drivers for $40.00. No one can match Necrosis's Computer Discount Warehouse!