I currently have a Gamesurround Fortissimo II card, which I bought purely because at the time as it was the cheapest I could find with optical digital input and output which I use for recording to and from my minidisc player. I have never had any problems with it but I have found a site selling a soundblaster live platinum for £60. As I use my PC for playing music CDs, mp3s and DVDs as well as games, the livedrive and remote would come in handy. What I would like to know is, will the sound quality be better/worse than my Fortissimo II, and does the livedrive have optical in/out?
My speakers are a pair of Videologic (PUREdigital) Scirocco Spirits, which have served me well, I do not wish to replace them so does anybody know of a PC speaker manufacturer that will sell sub-woofers seprately?
Thanx in advance for helping a (posting at least) noob!
I'd say don't bother with the Live!. Fortssimo II is on par if not better sounding than the Live! and it's IMHO just not worth it to buy a Live! any more (it being a fairly old card and having notorious problems with some system configurations especially with VIA mainboards). If it was an Audigy Platinum (at the same price) then I think it would be a good deal with all the gizmos of the drive.
Concerning a subwoofer, if your budget is inadequate, you won't be able to get one. If you're looking around $100 US, you might be able to find a small one, but they generally are weak and disappear behind your regular speakers. If you want bass, get a full 2.1 or 4.1 solution, as the subwoofers included with them are generally "sufficient" for most peoples needs (not mine, though).
After seeing peoples distain for creative solutions in general i'm sticking with my current card. I have however found a subwoofer. A klipsch promedia SWS. They are $150 or about £95 here in the UK. Any ideas as to the quality? I know klipsch have the reputation for quality but haven't heard anything, positive or negative, about this solution
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