Sound Card- In Need Of- Ideas ALL

[jokostel]

well my sb live has bit the big one... only the black output port works now.... dont ask me how or why thats the case but it is http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif ( i havent got a clue one day it works with all other ports next not... did fully reinstall it to no avail http://www.sysopt.com/forum/frown.gif )

but i need youre opinions ive been out of the sound card game for a while and just need some recommendations for snd crds..

i do have the infamous kt133a/686b chipset combo(kt7a) funfun http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

just tired of the dang issues just to get the silly Sound Blaster Live to function properly ... http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

thanks
jokostel

jokostel@hotmail.com

[DemonKnight]

Herculese Game Theater XP. Thats what I'm going to get for my new system.

[jokostel]

i think ill look into that card,
i belive newegg has the card... http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

i was thinking about the turtle beach santa cruz... hear anything about this snd crd http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif
\thnx
jokostel aka Loki

[LordLocksley]

I have had a Game Theatre XP for a while now, and LOVE it.
It sounds great, has an excelent SW package, and the Features on the satelite box are superb.
It has also stabalized my machine since removing my SB-Live X-Gamer.

[crazyray]

Take a look at www.viahardware.com (http://www.viahardware.com) and the forum therein. The Santa Cruz has become very popular with people using VIA chip based mobo's.

[jad1097]

I read a few reviews of the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz card and it will be my next sound card. It also uses less CPU cycles than all of the above mentioned cards.

Here is a review (http://www.zdnet.com/products/stories/overview/0,8826,377986,00.html) and a head to head comparison (http://www.zdnet.com/products/stories/reviews/0,4161,2770325,00.html) of five cards.

[This message has been edited by jad1097 (edited 07-16-2001).]

[SickPup404]

Don't know if I'm lucky or good, by I've got the KT7A-RAID and SBLive! and works without a problem. Have applied the ZT BIOS update and the VIA 4.31 4in1 drivers in order according to the manual twice now without a hitch either time. (first time, I fubar'd something with Partition Magic).

[Warthog]

From what I know, the Santa Cruz is basically the equivalent of the SB Live in terms of price/quality. If I were you, I'd get that.

Warthog

[RobRich]

Philips sound card user here myself. I personally use the Rythmic Edge, plus have had great sucess with the Acoustic Edge in terms of resale systems. The entire edge family is based upon the powerful QLab's Thunderbird digital signal processor. Supported hardware features include QSound 2D-to-3D spatial rendering support, 3D audio acceleration, QEM 3D sound enviroment mapping, and a myriad of other advanced options. The prices range from $40-100, with each version offering a different number of channels for sound out. As for 3D audio processing, this card scores about the same in most tests as the SB Live for processor utilization.

I also recommend VideoLogic's SonicFury, assuming you can actually find one for resale outside of western Europe. The SonicFury offers an adaptive DSP technology that offers total sound acceleration. Even MP3 playback can be accelerated in hardware with this card! The DSP is fully scalable and programmable, thus allowing for a wide range of support across multiple audio standards.

Robert Richmond

[radio1_mike]

I have a Philips Acoustic Edge. Can't say enough good things about it.

I'd also consider a Hercules Game Theatre XP.

[j moy]

WAIT EVERYONE FOR THOSE LOOKING INTO NEW SOUND CARDS!!!
I've got the Hercules Game Theater XP... THE GREATEST SOUND CARD IN THE WORLD now... get it from Best Buy they have it for the cheapest and it's retail.. not OEM. SO!? what are you waiting for... go get it! it's supposedly on sale... but it's almost never-ending because it's been there for 3-4 months? 130$!! why pay extra shipping and etc.. gotta go to the store because it's not on their site...

[nunyadam]

have you checked in your sound card property's .
It sound's like you have set it to digital sound instead of anolog.
You can find that in audiohq under the speaker tab.

nunya

[This message has been edited by nunyadam (edited 07-16-2001).]

[tazman]

I've used the Hercules Game Theater Rack for about 3 months and on a daily basis put it to work. Combined with the Altec Lansing ADA890 4.1 speakers - I rattle pictures off the wall on the other end of the house!

[BBA]

Definitely a toss up between TBSC and Herc GTXP.

Both are based on the same chip. Both are vastly superior to the SB-Live ( should be in it's grave already ).

In audio quality testing, the TBSC was better than the GTXP, but the GTXP has more features/inputs/outputs.

The TBSC has better SMP support in W2K than the GTXP. That may change when Windows XP is officially out.

I would not recommend a SB-Live at this stage. The philips is not even a contender.

[jokostel]

thanx all i was not aware that the xp and the santa cruz were based off the same chipset..(see ive been out of the snd crd game for a while...lol)...

soon as i get some more dineros... itl be mine.. :0
jokostel

[Warthog]

BBA - but is the "superiority" in SQ noticeable? Personally, I've never noticed a distinct difference when upgrading. Went from an AWE64 onboard to an SB Live...whatever. I'm sure if I did A/B testing (going from one to another on the same audio sample) I'd notice or if I went back to the AWE64 http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif but other than that...

Warthog