audigy gamer is a worthy value?

[pc2_c]

hi

i need a sound card but i can't vote for anyone. i have look around but im not be able to decide. nevertheless i have read some reviews and i have a preference for the the Creative Audigy gamer, Turtle Santa Cruz and the Philip Acoustic Edge.
i have a good idea what the Audigy could be but im not sure if this is the best brand because i have seen some bad comments not about the hardware but about its drivers. it might seem they aren't stable.
in the other hand the sound card seems to have a very good, clear and deep sound without creaks, squeaks nor striders. i like music and i would like a valid sound card.
for the other sound cards, i really know nothing about. i have just read the Philip Acoustic Edge is a worthy value card. im not really quiet sure.
i want to precise that my old sound blaster 128 is plugged directly to my stereo amplifier.
i think i need also to upgrade my multimedia speakers if i want to plug them my sound card back.
some help and some advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[williamc]

Don't think you could wrong with either the Audigy or the Santa Cruz, but i wouldn't pick the Acoustic Edge as a gaming card personally.

You meantion hardware in passing but what hardware do you specifically have? The hardware problems with the audigy and its older live brother were primarily with VIA chipsets which are a year and a half or more old at this point. As far as i know the Audigy works fine on all current hardware and all pentium and AMD chipsets, just not some older VIA ones.

For speakers, you should go to a local pc store and listen to them-) if they don't have em hooked straight up to a pc you won't hear nearly their best sound though. The most popular speakes right now are Klipsh 2.1 and 5.1 setups, Logitech's 4.1 setup, and Creative's cheap and lackluster quality Inspire 5300 setup.

You should post what your hardware is though that your thinking about upgrding, it helps make the decision usually.

My personal favorite setup for sound right now is the Herculees Game Theatre XP sound system and Klipsh 5.1 or Logitech 4.1 speakers. The Herculees card is basically the same as the santa cruz except it has a breakout box instead of connections on the back of the card.

Hope all that info helps some. Tomshardware has a decent review of the audigy in the audio section as well as a comparison of 13 different current speaker sets. Don't know of any good current reviews of the GTXP or Santa Cruz cards at the moment.

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