Looking for professional grade soundcard with 7.1 channel surround?

[dhruv990]

Hey I'm looking for a professional sound card preferably under 250$ which has 7.1 channel surround as well.
I want to use it for recording and ofcourse watching movies and playing games(which is why I want a 7.1)
Can you name me a few good products? I would especially like it if you could tell me about an M Audio product as they're easily available in my my country (India)
Thanx in advance!
And BTW I love this place always get the answers I'm looking for in a few hours. Special Thank you to tomshardware forums!

 

[Ubrales]

Take a look at these. Creative, and Asus are good brands.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102024
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102033
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132006

M-Audio:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829121013
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829121008 ?

 

[blakmumba]

Asus Xonar HDAV 1.3 Deluxe video/audio enhancement sound card

 

[someguynamedmatt]

I doubt you'll be able to get an Auzentech sound card, as I can barely ever find a single one in my country... They're always my first recommendation...

I'd also really discourage getting a card from Creative, as their drivers are absolutely horrible, speaking from personal experience. Of course, there are a lot of people who would swear on the exact opposite, so I guess I'm just biased. Just my opinion, for what it's worth...

I'd probably give Auzentech my number one rating.
http://www.auzentech.com/site/products/x-meridian2g.php
IMO, that's one of the absolute best 7.1 surround cards you can get for a reasonable price. The only place that regularly carries it, though, is Auzen's online store; maybe Amazon if you're lucky - that's probably a problem for you.

Then you have the Asus Xonar D2. It's basically the same as the above X-Meridian, only with a
little better out-of-the-box sound and a higher pricetag. Definitely one of my favorites for 7.1, too.

And then there's the third option - the Creative X-Fi Titanium HD; the one Ubrales suggested. That's the ONLY creative card that I'll ever recommend, just because it's their only card that stands out and makes itself worth purchasing. The bad thing is that it's in the same price range as the Meridian, but is just a little inferior in about every way possible - features, sound quality, customization, basically everything. It's just not as good of a card, sadly enough. All of Creative's other cards compete with Asus and Auzen's other offerings, and fall flat in the same way. Sorry. If it's the only thing available, though, it's still a nice card, and worth going for, despite everything I said. Just wouldn't be my first pick is all.

 

[dhruv990]

I doubt you'll be able to get an Auzentech sound card, as I can barely ever find a single one in my country... They're always my first recommendation...

I'd also really discourage getting a card from Creative, as their drivers are absolutely horrible, speaking from personal experience. Of course, there are a lot of people who would swear on the exact opposite, so I guess I'm just biased. Just my opinion, for what it's worth...

I'd probably give Auzentech my number one rating.
http://www.auzentech.com/site/products/x-meridian2g.php
IMO, that's one of the absolute best 7.1 surround cards you can get for a reasonable price. The only place that regularly carries it, though, is Auzen's online store; maybe Amazon if you're lucky - that's probably a problem for you.

Then you have the Asus Xonar D2. It's basically the same as the above X-Meridian, only with a
little better out-of-the-box sound and a higher pricetag. Definitely one of my favorites for 7.1, too.

And then there's the third option - the Creative X-Fi Titanium HD; the one Ubrales suggested. That's the ONLY creative card that I'll ever recommend, just because it's their only card that stands out and makes itself worth purchasing. The bad thing is that it's in the same price range as the Meridian, but is just a little inferior in about every way possible - features, sound quality, customization, basically everything. It's just not as good of a card, sadly enough. All of Creative's other cards compete with Asus and Auzen's other offerings, and fall flat in the same way. Sorry. If it's the only thing available, though, it's still a nice card, and worth going for, despite everything I said. Just wouldn't be my first pick is all.

I too don't want Creative Soundcards, though they are good for casual use like playing games, watching movies, I don't think they'll be really good for recording audio from Mics, Guitars and what not. The M Audio ones you mentioned only have DTS Pass Through I'll need a decoder for those, I'll try to look into the Auzentech though. Thank you for the help!

 

[blackhawk1928]

Hey I'm looking for a professional sound card preferably under 250$ which has 7.1 channel surround as well.
I want to use it for recording and ofcourse watching movies and playing games(which is why I want a 7.1)
Can you name me a few good products? I would especially like it if you could tell me about an M Audio product as they're easily available in my my country (India)
Thanx in advance!
And BTW I love this place always get the answers I'm looking for in a few hours. Special Thank you to tomshardware forums!

Just wondering, but kind of sound system do you have that you plan to use this new card for?

 

[dhruv990]

Just wondering, but kind of sound system do you have that you plan to use this new card for?

Well I'm going to mount a set of Creative 7.1 system, and have M Audio AV40s which I use for mixing and music production(not good enough I know but still beats any average daily use speakers as fas as monitoring goes). I wanted to get an all in one card. If I can't then I have heard people using two cards at the same time maybe I'll do that.

 

[gamerk316]

Well, ASUS is more geared toward audio production then Creative/Auzentech, so if you want a gaming level card with good enough quality for professional audio, I'd look there. But M-Audio also deserves a look.

 

[dhruv990]

Well, ASUS is more geared toward audio production then Creative/Auzentech, so if you want a gaming level card with good enough quality for professional audio, I'd look there. But M-Audio also deserves a look.

I already have an M Audio card which is awesome. Hence the desire to own an M Audio with surround sound. Plus hardware isn't easy to come by here.