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Best soundcard

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If your a gamer definitely get 5-piece system (2 front, 2 surround, 1 subwoofer). You'll be able to take advantage of EAX and/or A3D (depending on soundcard and gametitle). I can personally recommend Altec Lansing and by all means if you have the money to burn- get a Klipsch 5.1 system. My brother got one and its FREAKING awesome. Its even more worth the money if you watch DVD's (Its THX rated), and plays great music.

If you just want to listen to music but spend less than Klipsch, try looking into a 3-piece Cambridge speakers. I've got Cambridge Soundworks, and love it. My Altec Lansing 5-piece system is better for gaming; however, even if it is far less powerful (alot cheaper too).

As for soundcard, most folks are recommending the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz, but I don't have any experience with this card so I can't say for sure.

""Turtle Beach Santa Cruz.

Klipsh 2.1 speakers""

Geez, there is nothnig even close to MX300 and MS Sound System 80 combo as far as 2.1 setup goes.

..this is very useful and helpful place for information...

Quote:
Geez, there is nothnig even close to MX300 and MS Sound System 80 combo as far as 2.1 setup goes.

I used an MX300 with a two speaker system for about a year and was never really impressed with A3D. On many games I actually *disabled* A3D because it made things sound worse (distorted delays in sound etc.).

I've found a true 5.1 system far more convincing for positioning of sounds behind and to the side.

Ritesh

Ah, duh, you guys all missing the points....was just giving options.

For Music, a 2.1 system is way the go. Your basically only worried about wav and mp3 sound quality. TBSCw/Klipsh2.1 does that very very well for a pc if your not wanting to spend massive dollars on Sirroco Spirit speakers or something.

Of course 5.1 is better than 2.1 for movies and games...

And for the other reply: sure there is, how bout a TerraTec 6fire with Sirroco Spirit speakers? blow dat away. all about preference and price.

The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the empires state building, along came goblin, wiped the spider out

For Music, 5.1 system is a lot better than a 2.1 system. I have Klipsch 2.1 before and I notice a big difference when I add another Klipsch 2.1 to my system.

5.1 is only better for music if you constantly just have to be surrounded by walls of sound. Thank you but not for me.
5.1 is not better than 2.1. Whats happening is you just think it sounds cool to have the sound coming at you from every direction...which is...just your personal preference to what sounds cool. That does not equate to whats "best" for music. A good 2.1 setup is far superior for replication of good music sound.

edit: 2.1+2.1 does not equal 5.1...but then i'm sure you know that... :smile:

The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the empires state building, along came goblin, wiped the spider out

gg, you've maid mi laf, hehehe, i bet you had $7.99 set of 2 speakerz and Pentium Pro 166 without MMX at the time, hehe.

By the way, I was talking bout 2.1 set and not 2.0, or they are not different;?>

And of coarse you have never heard MS SS-80 to start with, so why bother explaining.

..this is very useful and helpful place for information...

Quote:
5.1 is not better than 2.1. Whats happening is you just think it sounds cool to have the sound coming at you from every direction

If you play a two-channel source in a four-channel system, most sound cards will simply duplicate from the front left and right to the rear left and right. So in effect, the four-channel system ends up sounding like headphones. When a sound comes from the left on a 2.1 system, it only comes from the front left. On a 4.1 or 5.1 system, it comes from both the front left and rear left, dominating the whole left side and sounding *quite a bit better* than a simple 2.1 system.

Personally, I think MP3s and CD tracks sound much better in 4.1 than 2.1 because it surrounds me like headphones. Of course, good headphones are ideal for music.

Ritesh

I don't, cause i mostly play games with my pc, which i use 4.1 or headhpones for. But when listening to music...its meant for stereo...2 speakers. The effect i get on headphones is much different from the effect of 4 speakers. With headphones off a signal processing amp you get a sterio field in front of you. Basically what they call a soundstage which is also attainable with 2 speakers for music and 4.1 for games and 5.1 for movies. Not saying music sounds bad on a 4 or 5.1 system, on the contrary it sounds very good. But a 2 speaker system or headphones can give you a much better reproduction of what the music was meant to sound like and when you get down to the details sounds better to most music listeners. When you get to the level of Klipsh speakers for the pc and beyond the differences really start showing up with nice sound cards. Most guys into high quality music prefer 2 speaker setups or headphones for music, 5.1 for games and movies. But, like i said, some people prefer to just be surrounded by sound...which is fine...nothing wrong with that.

The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the empires state building, along came goblin, wiped the spider out<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by williamc on 05/30/02 11:36 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

Just to throw in my two cents, I prefer four speakers over two for music, but I'd rather have two great speakers than four slightly worse ones.

<font color=blue>Hi mom!</font color=blue>

Quote:
But a 2 speaker system or headphones can give you a much better reproduction of what the music was meant to sound like and when you get down to the details sounds better to most music listeners.

??? Like I said before, with a stereo source the rear channels on a 4.1 system simply duplicate the front channels. So the "details" of the music are *exactly the same*. It just comes from the entire side instead of the front corners. There's no difference in the details.

Now signal processing is a whole different animal and can make music sound very different (concert hall, live, church, etc.). But there is no need for signal processing with a 2-channel source. In fact, the musicians almost certainly intended their music to be listened to *without* signal processing enabled. This is regardless of what equipment is used to listen to it: headphones, 2.1, or 4.1. Note that there's no difference between 4.1 and 5.1 for music because the center channel isn't used. Unless you enable Creative's silly CMSS mode which upmixes a stereo source into five channels (yuck).

Ritesh

To the origional poster: I hope this thread hasnt totally alienated you if your still out there. Just buy a set of Klipsh speakers and be happy=)

To Ritesh:
Two totally different kinds of signal processing... I was talking about what headphone amps do to fix the "blobs in the head" you get on headphones which is where you basically hear a symphony in your head. The signal processors on a headhpone amp can correct that and make it sound like its coming from a stage in front of you instead. It doesnt actually change the dynamics though,just sounds like its coming from a stage in front of you instead of from inside you.

Totally different animal, i agree that the kind of signal processing your talking about which is something creative specializes in is bad. I would prefer 4 speakers to headphones without the signal processing amp i mentioned. Makes a huge difference in how real and live the music sounds.

Never said 4 speakers changed the music or sound somehow...just the soundstage...if you don't know what i'm talking about just forget about it its not that important-P Don't try to make it into something i'm not saying.

The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the empires state building, along came goblin, wiped the spider out
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