Ac97

LOL, like a tin can and a string compared to the TBSC, I don't recomend the Sounblasters.

<font color=blue>You're posting in a forum with class. It may be third class, but it's still class!</font color=blue>

i thought soundblaster cards were better. If not, then why are they more $$$ than the tbsc cards; it would make no sense to pay more for less!

The greatest risk of all is not taking one!

Creative charges more because...buyers like you believe that if they pay more, they get more. Creative got their reputation of being a "high quality" sound card maker by charging more. They are also one of the most powerfull and most corrupt companies in the computer industry.

<font color=blue>You're posting in a forum with class. It may be third class, but it's still class!</font color=blue>

then which sound card will you best recommend me for some klipsch 5.1 speakers that i'm gonna get? and give me reasons to... if you can (would be nice) a link to some proof also.

The greatest risk of all is not taking one!

Well, a lot of cards are so similar in sound quality for recordings (including multichannel music soundtracks) that picking one based on that alone leaves you with a lot of choices, such as the TBSC, GTXP, Accoustic Edge, and Fortisomo II. A technical comparison of sound quality can be found <A HREF="http://www.pcavtech.com/soundcards/compare/" target="_new">HERE</A>, which shows that for standard PC cards, the TBSC rates the highest, while you'll find the Creative cards quite a ways down the scale!

When you add things like 3d sound imaging, things get a bit more complicated. The best 3D imaging to date is A3D 2.0, which is only supported by Aureal Vortex 2 chip cards. A3D 1.0 is still good though. A comparison of the performance hit taken with various cards can be seen <A HREF="http://www.tomshardware.com/video/01q3/010925/audiocard..." target="_new">HERE</A>

<font color=blue>You're posting in a forum with class. It may be third class, but it's still class!</font color=blue>

Wow, those help me out alot. I am seriously considering getting a gametheater xp or a TBSC instead of an Audigy. I dont really care about Advanced HD. I have also heard of alot of people not being able to get Promedia 4.1's and 5.1's to work with it. So with all that in mind i believe that i will get the TBSC. Its a really cool card. The OEM TBSC is 2 bucks more than the OEM Audigy so i will just get the TBSC to eliminate any potential problems and the such.

Thanks alot for all that. I wish they compared the sound quality of the audigy in there too, I guess it was before it was released.

hmmm... thanks for the insight. Now crashman, what would be best then for my promedia 5.1 speakers? I would use a sound card for gaming, for hearing music, and perhaps in the near future i may do equalizing and stuff... because i play guitar by ear (esp. accoustic), and i'd want to tweak sounds on existing songs to hear just guitar parts and not drums or keyboard or vocals, etc... So which specific sound card then would u recommend now?

The greatest risk of all is not taking one!

Well, you might want to look at a semi-professional soundcard and some good programs for editing the soundtracks.

<font color=blue>You're posting in a forum with class. It may be third class, but it's still class!</font color=blue>

well again crashman... i ask, what do you recommend? or where is a useful sound card website where i can do comparisons w/ non-audigy cards and look at semi-professional cards that fit my needs and will be best for my speakers? oh, and out of simple curiosity, what do you use?

The greatest risk of all is not taking one!

I use an Aureal SQ2500. I like my A3D 2.0. Anyway, you can find a review <A HREF="http://www17.tomshardware.com/video/02q1/020115/index.h..." target="_new">HERE</A>, otherwise I wouldn't know much about semi-professional cards.

<font color=blue>You're posting in a forum with class. It may be third class, but it's still class!</font color=blue>

well crashman, the review you gave me simply told me how good audigy was for games... something i do alot. The other card seemed pretty focused on heavy music stuff w/ inputs and outputs and all that music stuff. NOT WHAT I WANT. All i just wanted my sc to do, is to tweak songs i already have dl'ed (not made... i don't make, or plan to record music from scratch) so that i can hear only the instruments i want. So i guess i was right... the audigy is better. Now i don't know why you were dissing it so much in your earlier replies, if the article YOU LINKED ME TO said its good for gaming and ok for that other stuff. weird... isn't it??!?!

The greatest risk of all is not taking one!

I have a Game Theater XP and have been very happy with it. For the price you cant beat the quality and features.

---------------

Stupidity should be painful.

TBSC is good for gaming, and doesn't have Creatives history of poor drivers, corporate abuse, and poor support to end users.

<font color=blue>You're posting in a forum with class. It may be third class, but it's still class!</font color=blue>

I too use the SQ2500 for playing sound, but I have a problem with that card for recording which is mono. Also the AUX and Telephone connections on the internal edge of the card are Mono.

I haven't figured the line in. Stereo or Mono?

Every working computer must be improved .... or replaced ...

Line in is stereo. AUX is stereo (I use it for my other CD device). Telephone is mono on ALL cards because it's four pins, 1 in (mono), 1 out (mono), 2 ground. It would have to be at least 5 pins to be stereo.

<font color=blue>You're posting in a forum with class. It may be third class, but it's still class!</font color=blue>

Another question Crash, I have onboard sound (AC97, but with sigmatel drivers(is this good?)) but atm im using a sb16 PCI. Now I know both of these cards are software based, but im wondering if i revert back to the onboad will it be likely to take up much more CPU power (cycles) in comparison to the sb16, considering that this must have taken up a lot anyway.
Also, if I did get rid of the SB, im building a comp out of scraps and im wondering would I be better off keeping the AWE 64 card (you helped me realise that this is the card that I have) or the SB16, because I would like to keep the best one.

My sig's faster than yours, and it overclocks better too....

The AWE64 would operate with the lowest overhead and highest sound quality. The AWE64 was the first one to use an EMU sound processor I believe.

<font color=blue>You're posting in a forum with class. It may be third class, but it's still class!</font color=blue>

I see, that solves the prob of which sound card to throw into my 'spares for sale'. However im still not sure on what to use in my current comp, the sb16 pci or the onboard ac97

My sig's faster than yours, and it overclocks better too....

Probably the SB16 PCI, as it does have SOME hardware features that would be handled by the processor with the onboard AC97.

<font color=blue>You're posting in a forum with class. It may be third class, but it's still class!</font color=blue>

Hmmm my stereo says AUX is one channel.

Every working computer must be improved .... or replaced ...

Your stereo has little to do with your soundcard. Besides they are probably defining one channel as one stereo channel, using the word channel differently.

<font color=blue>You're posting in a forum with class. It may be third class, but it's still class!</font color=blue>

Ok Crash, ill stick with it for now, now that means I have to give up my beloved AWE 64 ISA, boooohoooooo  
Oh well, im unlikely to ever own a mobo with ISA slots again, it was outdated, and will go.

My sig's faster than yours, and it overclocks better too....

It's a beautiful card dude, I have an AWE64 Gold sitting in my drawer.

<font color=blue>You're posting in a forum with class. It may be third class, but it's still class!</font color=blue>

I have a AWE64 in my K6-2 450. Combined with my Gravis Blackhawk, it's great for when I need to satisfy a craving for some old DOS game (usually Descent 2).

The AWE64 has to be one of the best ISA cards ever made. I have a Media Vision card with better fidelity, but with a little more noise. Tried the Media Vision card on a system a couple months ago, if you ignore the noise the fidelity is breathtaking!

<font color=blue>You're posting in a forum with class. It may be third class, but it's still class!</font color=blue>

Hi JPWRana,

I think it might be too late , but anyway....

Normally I wouldn't recomend lives, but to the gamer/musician they are not bad for the money. For games and compatibility they totally suck compared to what you can get these days. BUT!!!!! For high end musician features they are quite ..er.. adaptable.

The thing is that the same hardware, the EMU10K1 is available on more expensive musician quality eqiuipment. I believe there is at least one hack for making said musician equipment cards drivers work on sblives. As unethical as it may be to take advantage of it, that gives you quite a bit of power for very little cash.

Frankly, I've heard stuff done on a live that you would be hard pressed to distingush quality differences on when compared with "professionaly" done peices. In other words an amazingly fine quality of work is possible.

Summary: gamer card = suck
low cost ameteur musician editing tool = pretty damn affordable