Tough Decision

[Guest]

I am upgading from a Diamond MX300 card. The lack of drivers and support scares me. I am torn between a couple of sound cards.

SB Audigy Gamer $149 Canadian$
pros
-industry leading cards
-cutting edge tech
-popular as hell
-game people seem to follow creative

cons
-via chipset issues
-3 irq's!! I had to disable my 2nd serial port to get a free irq for my current sound card.
-driver issues
-needs good speakers

TB Santa Cruz $99 Can$

Pros
-good stable card
-good drivers
-better price then audigy
-sounds good on cheaper speakers
-partnership with dell must mean something

Cons
-lacks tech of audigy
-lacks game developer following
-lacks features of audigy
-lacks major lock on market as Creative.

These pros and cons are from what I have read in reviews and on this forum. I appreciate the replies from my previous post. Folks, i just want a card for these reasons:

-something that will sound good on 3-piece speakers as well as 5-piece and doesn't need major expensive speakers at that.

-something that will be compatible with most mobos.

-something that will get support (drivers,company not going under, etc..) in the next couple of years and not become a piece of history. (as in the case of my mx300, latest driver is from `99)

-good all around card that will run current games

I know this a lot of crap to put in a post, but I was wondering if anybody had any insight into my problem. Any info will be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Larry

 

[FatBurger]

SB Audigy Gamer $149 Canadian$
pros
-industry leading cards - <font color=blue>Does that make the card better?</font color=blue>
-cutting edge tech - <font color=blue>Stretching it a bit...</font color=blue>
-popular as hell - <font color=blue>Does that make the card better?</font color=blue>
-game people seem to follow creative - <font color=blue>Not all of them</font color=blue>

cons
-via chipset issues - <font color=blue>Not necessarily, it can work.</font color=blue>
-3 irq's!! I had to disable my 2nd serial port to get a free irq for my current sound card. - <font color=blue>You shouldn't need to.</font color=blue>
-driver issues - <font color=blue>Absolutely</font color=blue>
-needs good speakers - <font color=blue>Why do you say that?</font color=blue>

TB Santa Cruz $99 Can$

Pros
-good stable card - <font color=blue>Yes</font color=blue>
-good drivers - <font color=blue>Yes</font color=blue>
-better price then audigy - <font color=blue>Yes</font color=blue>
-sounds good on cheaper speakers - <font color=blue>Why do you say that?</font color=blue>
-partnership with dell must mean something - <font color=blue>Uhh...ok</font color=blue>

Cons
-lacks tech of audigy - <font color=blue>Shouldn't that be a Pro?</font color=blue>
-lacks game developer following - <font color=blue>True</font color=blue>
-lacks features of audigy - <font color=blue>And vice-versa</font color=blue>
-lacks major lock on market as Creative - <font color=blue>So?</font color=blue>

<font color=orange>Quarter</font color=orange> <font color=blue>Pounder</font color=blue> <font color=orange>Inside</font color=orange><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by FatBurger on 01/13/02 10:28 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Guest]

i bought a sb audigy to replace my live, but it had the same kind of problem(pop/crackle)as the live with my via based motherboard. i got a santa cruz later, and it works wonders. Quality is a lot better than my old live card.

 

[Novakain]

From your requirements, I'd buy the TB Santa Cruz:

1. The Santa Cruz's virtual surround sound technology is better than that of the Audigy, so it will sound better on a three piece speaker system.

2. Far less people have peoblems with the Santa Cruz than they do with the Creative cards.

3. Both Turtle Beach and Crystal (the manufacturer of the Santa Cruz's processor) have been around for a number of years. This is by no means a guarantee that they'll be around forever but they're not fly-by-night companies.

4. As far as I know, the TB Santa Cruz will run anything that supports directsound and EAX 1 and 2, which are what most of the current games are using.

 

[Crashman]

No, your not upgrading from a Diamond MX300 card. I don't believe there is a non-professional card which can match it in sound quality, or ANY card that can match it in 3D positioning. So any replacement would be a downgrade. XP has drivers built in, so don't worry about support.

What's the frequency, Kenneth?