Thinking of sound card to get...

[kojicolnair]

I'm thinking of getting a new sound card eventually and I'm currently looking at the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro. Is this a very good card for the price or is there anything better around? I don't know much about sound cards as I've been using a 15$ one i got forever ago =P

 

[phamily]

hmm, i have to say i think that is a huuuuge waste of money. If you've been living with that 15 dollar sound card forever, there is really no point in buying that set up. Getting the extreme audio is a reasonable upgrade.
What kind of speakers are you using right now anyway?

 

[smokedyou911]

To the op, and phamily, the xtreme audio is awful. It lowers your fps's noticeably, and dose not make games sound great ether. What speakers do you have? Do you wear headphones?

 

[kpo6969]

The X-audio is the fake X-fi. Either the X-gamer or X-music would be a better choice.

 

[kojicolnair]

I'm planning on getting new speakers at the same time as the sound card actually =P

 

[chookman]

If you are getting decent speakers, ie Logitech surrounds or something i would go with an X-fi music or gamer. If you are big on games also and have the budget the fatal1ty my also be the go with the RAM. But the Elite is way overpriced and not worth it at all. I run a fata1ty with both my Sennheiser HD555's and coaxial out to my AVR for movies and the like and the sound on both is awesome.

 

[kojicolnair]

Actually I think I may wait and get an Auzen X-fi at some point in a month or so =P

 

[NCCReliant]

Stay away from Creative Labs, just go to their forums and everybody is complaining about lack of support, look at their drivers download page, XP hasn't had an update since Oct '06. And there was one that was from MS update, which made things worse.
Buyer Beware, Creative is on the verge of going bankrupt, just look at their sales figures, and returns figures, they're barely a sound card market now, and are focusing on MP3 players and other crap.

 

[systemlord]

Stay away from Creative Labs, just go to their forums and everybody is complaining about lack of support, look at their drivers download page, XP hasn't had an update since Oct '06. And there was one that was from MS update, which made things worse.
Buyer Beware, Creative is on the verge of going bankrupt, just look at their sales figures, and returns figures, they're barely a sound card market now, and are focusing on MP3 players and other crap.

I'm running XP and to date have never had a problem with it in any way. As for Vista give it some time and they'll get it right sooner or later. This is the reason why I don't have Vista right now, I refuse to be a beta tester for MS or anybody else.

 

[chunkymonster]

I'm on the look out for a new sound card as well and am holding out for the Auzentech X-Fi Prelude to hit the American market. Auzentech using the X-Fi chip is going to be like getting the same audio performance and quality without all the crap and bloatware from Creative. Although, the first release of drivers will use the Creative drivers for the initial market release, but subsequent drivers are going to come from Auzentech maximize the hardware.

Prelude linkage!!!!

 

[max derelict]

I'm thinking of getting a new sound card eventually and I'm currently looking at the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro. Is this a very good card for the price or is there anything better around? I don't know much about sound cards as I've been using a 15$ one i got forever ago =P

I'm not a gamer and use an RME card, but in my internet machine I have a Creative card that kicks *** - if you only need stereo or 2.1. EMU0404: rock solid ASIO and WDM drivers and way better quality audio (music) than most of the gamer cards. Discovered that it has good game sound with the only one that hooked me, Far Cry. Unlike any of the game cards it records (ADC) beautifully, though a little harsh in the top end compared with my HDSP. It's 2 in 8 out internally but physical I/O is stereo dig, stereo analog. Not for surround sound. Has the same AKM DAC and standard JRC opamps (audiophiles hate them but if good enuf for RME they are good enough for me) as my ADI-2 converter or $$$ Prism for that matter. These feature in the Audigys too but the enhancement/environment/resampling circuitry does music no favours to my ears. Unlike many pro audio cards it seems to handle games very well. Needs 512K buffer tho, not an ultra-low latency card. Oh yeah, no EAX, that may be a problem for some gamers