¿ The best SoundCard for Gaming ?

[Guest]

I want to buy the best sound card for games, who can give me 7.1 sound.
what you think about these cards?


Auzentech Auzen X-Fi Forte 7.1 Low Profile PCI-E

ASUS XONAR D2

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro PCI-e


My headset Senheiser PC 350, As I have read, this headset needs an amplifier because the high impedance. ( Sorry for my english , im spanish )


Greetings.


I have been using five years ago SteelSeries USB soundcard emulating the 7.1 sound, I need the same system but with better sound quality.

 

[gamerk316]

The best gaming soundcard is the ASUS Essence ST/STX, but its pricy for most people; the Auzentech Forte and HT Omega Claro are a bit cheaper...

Moving down a notch, you have the Auzentech Prelude and ASUS Xonar D2/D2X.

Moving down again, you have the ASUS Xonar D1/DX and HT Omega Striker.

Moving down one more time, you have the ASUS Xonar DS for about $50 or so.

Below that, is anything made by Creative. And yes, I'm including the Titanium.


If you need a soundcard with an amp, go with either the Forte, Essence ST/STX, or Claro. The STX is the best of the lot, but costs more then most GPU's...

 

[thefivetheory]

I vote for the Forte. Great card. Has a headphone amp (like the Essence) and IMHO sounds better in games than the Xonar cards.

If you were going to use this card just for music, probably the Essence would be better, but I think for games the Forte is your best option.

 

[davcon]

I own a Forte and it's Auzentech's best gaming card and is definitely better then anything Creative offers and is much cheaper.
I can't comment on the Asus Xonar D2 since i've never heard one.

 

[gamerk316]

The D2 is great, just stuck at a REALLY bad price (I can't justify it being more then a Forte...). Subjectivly, Auzentech does better at the low end of the sound spectrum (which for gaming is good), but I haven't exactly pulled out wave analyzers and looked at the incoming signal either...it comes down to personal taste more then anything I guess...

 

[inspector71]

Guys the creative cards themselves not talking about the garbage drivers they use...Are excellent cards. I see a qaulity card being knock down all the time because of its driver issues and thats a shame.

 

[model]

what about via envy?
i like the name.
dunno how it performs.

 

[gamerk316]

Guys the creative cards themselves not talking about the garbage drivers they use...Are excellent cards. I see a qaulity card being knock down all the time because of its driver issues and thats a shame.

No, they aren't. They lose to most modern Onboard sound devices when it comes to signal quality, and have significantly reduced features when compared to their compeititon. Realtek offers a chipset on that offers a 110dB SnR, compared to the Creative Titanium, Creatives best model, which is 2dB worse.

You could justify Creative back in the days when EAX mattered and onboard chipsets still could only handle 32 sound channels and had a ~80dB SnR. Those days are long gone. These days, you buy a soundcard for its features, which Creative cards lag behind in when compared to the competition. Throw in their endless driver issues, and the fact that better cards can be found for less money, and its a no brainer.

what about via envy?
i like the name.
dunno how it performs.

I heard about it a while back, I THINK its another C-Media based chipset. I'll look into it when I get some free time.