Best sound card and Speakers

[microterf]

Hey all,

I'm looking for some new speakers. I currently have the bose series 5. They work fine, except for a few things.

1. The bass seems a little weak. (I have an older Klipsch 2.1 that had much louder bass) the SQ seems better on the bose though.
2. It's USB, and I have had problems with it cutting out in games a lot. Have to unplug and then replug back in and it would work.
Talked to bose support, couldn't figure out the issue. But would rather avoid USB speakers in the future.


That being said, I'm looking to spend no more than $500 on the speakers.

I also have no clue what's a good sound card. I'm running a Rampage III extreme motherboard that has onboard sound, but I have no clue if it's any good or not.
Slot wise, I have 4 PCIe x16 slots, and 1 x4, and one PCI Although I have my 5870 in the second slot down now, and will probably run 2 or 3 video cards once the 6970/gtx 580 series come out, so the last question I have is how will a PCIe sound card affect the link speed of my video cards then??

Thanks in advance for any help, as I am a complete idiot when it comes to sound cards and speakers.

 

[p4nz3rm4d]

soundcard: Creative PCI Express X-Fi Titanium
speakers: its really up to ur own taste, but heres a link:

http://reviews.cnet.com/best-pc-speakers/

the PCI soundcard wont affect the link speed of ur GPUs...

Hope this helps!!!

 

[JackMomma]

Love Klipsch speakers... those ProMedia packages are a classic. They have always been my favorite for the home theater sound, a lot better deep range than bose has for sure.

I have abandoned the Sub however and gone with M-Audio AV40 studio speakers... and have liked the change for the most part. Clarity is fantastic, but I have recently plugged in my old 5.1 as a background set so i can still game. If I could go back now I would probably have hunted a bit more for a 2.1 set. In more recent looks, I never seem to find much above that $200 mark.

That said, the new logitech Z series speakers (like the Z623) have actually impressed me alot. I work at best buy and we have a display set out that is, to me, a lot better than the older 'THX certified' speakers they sold before... my roomate had a pair and they never quite sounded right to me.

I also run a PCI X-Fi XtremeMusic card and love it, very audible difference between it and the on board audio... This was something I ignored for a while, and tried to fix with software audio enhancement, but this was worth the upgrade.

 

[Lutfij]

^ an addition to the above post:

Soundcard : Creative X-Fi Titanium HD
Speakers: Don;t look towards BOSE for anymore audible solutions. They have their speakers made for cheap in china and they mark up the prices. For the amount you spend on them, you'd be better off buying something else. Klipsch, M-audio, Alessis are some names to look into.

Studio monitors are a great way for music enthusiasts as they are mean't to be positioned closer to the listener - upto eye level. This helps in hearing mids, lows and highs perfectly. One more thing you can add with the monitors (if your really nagging about your sound) is get a mixer (console) to control the levels/equalization

This isn't much but take a look at this

 

[microterf]

I got a x fi titanium fatalty, and a z-5500. What's the difference between the fatality and the HD

 

[Lutfij]

Review for:

Creative Titanium HD its a thorough review and it explains ALOT of its new features

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty

 

[Guest]

I myself have logitech z2300 speakers (2.1), I know they are at the lower end of your budget but I would at least check them out. The build quality is very good and the bass is very impressive. I would also check out the Z5500 that have been mentioned, I am very impressed with logitech's speakers!

 

[microterf]

I myself have logitech z2300 speakers (2.1), I know they are at the lower end of your budget but I would at least check them out. The build quality is very good and the bass is very impressive. I would also check out the Z5500 that have been mentioned, I am very impressed with logitech's speakers!

I ended up getting the z5500, haven't had a chance to listen to them yet though. I have them and the bose hooked up now at the same time, so when I get back tomorrow I'm going to compare them.

 

[microterf]

The codecs in most amplifiers aint it better than ones on a soundcard normally. Good speakers you need more than a card you need a amp aswell

Would I need an amp for the z5500 and the fatality pro?

 

[MEgamer]

the z5500 is active computer speakers.

 

[MEgamer]

actually the top soundcards have better SNR then some of the midrange £400-600 pre amplifiers, and other mid priced electronic sources.

 

[Lutfij]

Follow this thread.

Amplifier FAQ in laymen terms

Guide for amplifier for speakers

Speaker buying guide

Another guide for amp and speaker

these are quick reads, so knock yourself out!

Edit : If i'm not mistaken, you have the X-Fi MB 2. Now that isn't much to people who have dedicated sound cards but for the ROG board, this means, Creative have added support for THX sound encoding (I think thas what its called). The logitech Z-5500 should have optical connectivity. Hook your speakers up to the Rampage III Extreme's card (via the optical) and pass it through its paces.

 

[microterf]

Confused. Are you saying I should use the onboard card instead of the x fi?

 

[Lutfij]

SCRATCH THAT! I Just found out they didn't include the X-Fi MB 2. For the Rampage III Formula, however, the onboard IS an X-Fi

Supreme FX X-FI 2
SupremeFX X-Fi 2 delivers incredible gaming audio experiences to ROG die hards. It features hardware-accelerated EAX 5.0 and OpenAL for ultra-real cinematic in-game audio. It even comes with THX branding, which makes games, music and movies sound way better! SupremeFX X-Fi 2 also implements gold-plated jacks and high quality capacitors to ensure high definition adventures in audio.

it uses a software/hardware combo. I'm not suggesting to stick with the onboard. Just take a shot with the onboard and post back here with your experience. If you feel the experience is 'hollow' then your in need of a sound card.

95% chance you'll buy a new card after you hear the onboard

 

[microterf]

Lol, maybe I didn't make it clear. I already bought.the x fi fata1ty.

 

[Lutfij]

lol, then use it. Compared to the onboard , the x-fi is superior. Compared to the the Titanium HD, the Titanium HD is superior. Haven't you been reading the links? :S

 

[microterf]

Yes, I read the links. Thanks. I am going to use it, just left state right after hooking it up. Gonna mess around with it later today.

 

[microterf]

Best answer selected by microterf.

 

[Maziar]

This topic has been closed by Maziar