What sound card to buy?

[btrost]

I'm looking for a new sound card. I have an old Turtle Beach Montego Card, and I'm perfectly happy with the quality of the sound. Unfortunately, it isn't really very compatible with WinXP, and I can only get reference drivers. Consequently, it doesn't work with some games such as Neverwinter Nights.

I don't really want to spend a great deal of money, as I'm far from an audiophile or anything. I've heard good things about the Hercules Fortissimo 7.1 card, which costs about $70 Canadian. Would this be a good card for me to buy? If not, could you suggest something better? I'm willing to pay a little more, but I don't want to pay anything like $200 for the Audigy 2, which I heard sucks anyway.

Thank you for any replies.

 

[mitcharf]

You can get the Audigy2 on newegg for $80 American right now. I've got one and I'm very happy with it.

Mitch
www.mitcharf.com

 

[skligmund]

I've heard good things about the hercules. I almost bought one myself the other day, but I'll stick with the MUSE 5.1 DVD for now, because I haven't ANY problems with it, and it sounds pretty darn good too. Not bad for 30 Bucks American.

Water cooling is for the weak. Get liquid nitrogen.

 

[lwj81]

I would recommend the Santa Cruz.

 

[umheint0]

Stay away from Creative. Get the Fortissimo III 7.1. It will more than suit your needs, and is one of the cheapest cards out there for the features and performance you get.

Don't forget that if you bought an Audigy2 off E-bay, not only do you have to cover the exchange (already up to $130), but then you need to pay duty on it and an additional $5 to $20 to cover handling costs, you're now up to about $175, which makes it nearly the same cost if you had bought it new. Forget it.

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[mitcharf]

You can buy an Audigy2 new for $80 on newegg. No need to go through e-bay or spend $200.

Mitch
www.mitcharf.com

 

[umheint0]

Yeah, well, unless you bothered to find out newegg only ships within the states. As the author stated a price in Cdn, I'm inclined to believe they are canadian, and therefore can't buy dick off newegg, just like me.

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[mitcharf]

Bite my head off why don't ya? Geez.

If you have any friends in America they might be willing to buy it for you, and then ship it to you. I'm sure the cost would still be under $100.

Mitch
www.mitcharf.com

 

[umheint0]

It's mostly because I'm bitter that I can't get american stuff cheap.

No, you still have to pay duty and tax and handling fees for the borde guards, plus the additional shipping costs of actually getting it here. it's not cheap at all. you really have to be careful.

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[mitcharf]

Do they actually search packages you ship to Canada? I know when I've driven across the border my car wasn't searched.

Maybe it's technically illegal to do something like that, but I think they're a lot more concerned about people who make a living smuggling this sort of thing than they are about someone who just wants a single sound card smuggled to them.

But then, I've never tried to do it, so I could be way off base.

Mitch
www.mitcharf.com

 

[umheint0]

If you act suspicious, they may search your car. Chances are they wouldn't give two shizzy's about a sound card, as long as you packed it away. However, if you ship stuff over the border, 2 to 1 it'll arrive opened because of the border guards. It also would end up costing a lot more to drive down and back. Gas, hotel, food, etc.... It's not worth the trip.

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[Twitch]

Just out of curiosity, don't Canadian retailers import products from the same places as American retailers? I realize AMD and Intel and nVidia are American products, but the finished products all come from oversees. The only things actually made in the U.S. that I know of are...what? Corsair RAM and Visiontek graphics cards?
Is it a simple matter of exchange rates? I have friends from Canada, and they've always made it sound like there's not that much of a difference, but maybe they are just liars.

I guess I just don't understand how it works. I knew things are more expensive in Canada. What about things like monitors? What about ATI graphics cards??? Sheesh, if there's anything that should be cheaper in Canada, it's ATI!

<-----Insert witty sig line here.


<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Twitch on 03/18/03 02:21 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[umheint0]

Nope. As far as processors go, most Canadian retailers are a month behind the states. It can also go for a lot of other hardware as well. Some things like video cards and monitors are cheaper. Hard drives sometimes are. Once in a while something is cheaper here than down south, but it is so random it isn't worth watching for deals

The companies that actually have the processors up here usually buy them from US retailers, rather than Cdn wholesalers, which makes them more expensive. Sound cards are usually the same price up here as down there. It's just not cheaper to try to get them off E-Bay or other US retailers.

XP 2500+ Barton
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