soundcard/speakers - which more important?

[newbie~wan]

I am building my first system and am looking for a good sound card/speaker team. I realize both are important to the contribution of good sound, but which tends to be the greater bottleneck to good performance? My roommate picked his speakers up for only $20 w/ subwoof and they sound good, but then maybe he's got good card, i'm not sure. Any info helps, thanx

[newbie~wan]

Oh, one more thing. I see some boards come w/ built in sound. When I compare boards w/ sound to boards w/out, they often appear to have same specs and price, meaning the onboard sound is basically free. If I want my system to sound good playin mp3s should I get a separate card or is it ok to go w/ the onboard.

[eagle1]

I have a system with a SB Live and a system with onboard sound and let me tell you that speakers does indeed make a difference.

In fact, I have the one with integrated sound (made by the folks at C-Media) connected to my stereo system via RCA and it sounds perfect. Everything from MP3's to games sounds wonderful.!

My system with the SB Live have some cheapo speakers so... you get the idea.!
Although when I connect the SBLive to my stereo via RCA, it does indeed perform better than the integrated one! Maybe because the card has more options and you can tweak it better.!

[newbie~wan]

where will i do all this tweaking? in the bios or in the os?

[eagle1]

Creative includes alot of software for Windows so yes, you "tweak" the audio from within Windows!
You can even apply effects and alot of things that I can't do with the integrated one!

[newbie~wan]

thanx cheif

[gfunkmartin]

I would get a good sound card because a good one should help take some of the load off of the processor. Speakers are definitely important, but it would be better to get a true stereo and plug your pc in as an aux input so you could use it w/ your home theater

[Yar1182]

I'd say speakers are more inportant too. If you have the lowliest sound card and top of the line speakers you'll still have decent sound. On the other hand if you have a top of the line sound card and the cheapest speakers you will suffer. I suggest you go middle of the road if money is an issue. Get a $30 turtle beach sound card (definete step up from onboard sound) and a decent $35 3 piece lab tech computer speakers. If your a audiophile you'll want the new kiplish (sp) speakers and a hercules game theather XP sound card.

[edwelly]

I have a SB card with a digital output and a set of Boston Acoustic digital spkrs and they ROCK. It sounds better than my home stereo in which I have over $2k in that.
Sound card cost me about $75 and spkrs were $250 but it was soooo worth it.
---edwelly

[NDC]

Speakers without a doubt! You can have the best soundcard on that system and if you use low-quality speakers, you won't notice any difference. On the other hand, get some quality speakers with an inexpensive soundcard, you will notice a big difference!

[This message has been edited by NDC (edited 08-10-2001).]

[Warthog]

Speakers are definitely important, but it would be better to get a true stereo and plug your pc in as an aux input so you could use it w/ your home theater

That of course is the best option (I do it), also the option that requires the most $$$.

Ed - what do you have for your home stereo? Perhaps if your Boston Acoustics pc speakers are beating your home theater setup, maybe you should get some Boston Acoustics home theater speakers http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif

In my experience sound card doesn't matter as much as long as you DON'T have onboard sound. You can get an ok 3-piece setup for $30-50.

How much are you willing to spend? Klipsch setups are $300-400.

Warthog

[This message has been edited by Warthog (edited 08-10-2001).]

[newbie~wan]

Thanks for the help everyone. I think i'll go w/ the cheap soundcard and decent (30-50 dollar speaker setup). the only question left is:
What defines a cheap soundcard? What specs and price range, that is.

[Warthog]

As someone else said, you could get a Turtle Beach for $30. Also, what a lot of people have is the Soundblaster Live Value, $40. I have that one.

Warthog

[Pete1]

I must tell you....I picked up some Boston BA635 speakers at a garage sale three weeks ago for 5 bucks. Had to fix one of the jacks. Did that. Plugged them in and the sound is fantastic. (two satellites and one woofer). WHAT A BUY! Retail about $50. I would recommend.
Oh yes, I'm running a cheapo Soundblaster PCI 128 with these speakers.

[This message has been edited by Pete1 (edited 08-10-2001).]

[card_magic]

I just got a Muse XL sound card... I'm pretty pleased with it so far. But do NOT get an Aureal Vortex. The company went out of business, so there are no new drivers. And even installing the drivers they DO have is a huge pain. Its incredibly lame. So, get some decent little sound card, and hook it up to nice speakers. I've got Klipsch RF3's hooked up to mine (my computer is not my only audio source).. sounds awesome.

-Jim

[Warthog]

card_magic has GOOD advice. Aureal DID go out of business, DO NOT get that card.

Warthog

[emjarrh]

When I bought my new computer, it came with onboard sound (MSI MS-6280 K7T266 Mobo) with AC97 Onboard sound and Altec-Lansing ATP3 speakers... it sounded okay, but in certain games and in DOS mode it was all crackles. I upgraded to a Sound Blaster Live! and, honestly, the only difference I could tell was that the crackling was gone. It kinda made me frustrated that I had to blow $75 CDN just so I could get rid of the crackling, but sometimes the options that come with the SB Live make it worth it (like playing Quake III using the EAX "Chipmunk" mode after a particularly brutal day at work... heh heh heh).

[YMK]

Speakers are WAY more important. Even the earliest of soundblasters which cost 10 bucks or less are capable of cranking out 44.1Khz 16Bit Stereo sound which is CD quality. You'll get great sound from even these $10 cards if you have good speakers. I'm running a pair of Altec Lansing ACS-5 and a Polk Audio EX-12 12" subwoofer in a sealed box. The sound is awesome! PS-I have onboard sound which I want to upgrade to SB live because of the 4 speaker surround.

[scotter]

you sound will only be as good as it's source no matter what speakers or sound card you get though cheap speakers will sound better on a good card more than good speakers will sond on a bad card
I would go the good sound card first then up grade the speakers when you can

[conjh13]

emjarrh: I too have an MSI mobo (mine's 694D) with the same onboard sound as yours - AC97. I also noticed that crackling, but only on win2k. I now have dual boot - win2k + win98SE, and under win2k, it still crackles, but under win98, it works just fine. So I'm curious, what OS do you run?

By the way, my SB 16PCI that I installed crackles even more under win2k than the onboard does.

Also, on my bios I have a setting that allows me to enable/disable sound blaster for my onboard sound. Enabling it helped minimally.

[Warthog]

Ok, we're not talking about big money here. A soundcard is cheap - $30-40?? C'mon, do BOTH the speakers AND the soundcard. It's not like this, "Which should I upgrade - mobo or video card?". That's bigger money, bigger decision. Anyhew, I still say speakers are more important BUT I also say get a better soundcard. Good luck http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

Warthog

[jad1097]

I think quality speakers are more important because crappy speakers sound crappy regardless of the sound card. So buy some good speakers first then in the future you could buy a good sound card for around $80 or so, like this one (http://www.voyetra-turtle-beach.com/site/products/santacru/) .


I would stay away from SB sound cards all together since they tend to have so many problems. Of course that could be due to so many people having them.


[This message has been edited by jad1097 (edited 08-11-2001).]

[Warthog]

Personally, I don't have any issues with the SB cards. Jad is probably right, lots of people have 'em, more problems show up.

An awesome $400 soundcard won't really affect the sound of sucky speakers.

Warthog

[radio1_mike]

Well, the beat goes on.

Speakers: They make the greatest difference.

Decide what you'd like to spend and get the best-sounding speakers you can afford. I've had good luck with Altec Lansing and Yamaha previously. But just try out all the speakers in your price range at one of those speaker kiosks at like Best Buy or whatever.

Sound Card:

Any SoundBlaster compatible system, be it Integrated(Mobo) or Card has the capability of giving great sound.

When you pay more for a card; you're probably getting: 3D-type sound, better connection options, better CPU utilization, higher quality amplification and less noise.


But, if you're buying a mobo with Integrated Audio, I'd buy the best speakers I could afford. Then if the sound STILL is not up to par, or if you have gaming issues, then I'd look into an SB Live!, Philips AE, Hercules GT XP or whatever.

HTH-
Mike



[This message has been edited by radio1_mike (edited 08-15-2001).]

[HomeYield]

This whole thing is like which came first, the chicken or the egg? They go hand in hand. You can't have one without the other. It all really depends on what your going to be doing with it. If you want to do alot of mixing and editing the you'll want a better sound card with more features, if you want your computer to be your stereo then you'll want better speakers, if you are just gaming then go with a mix of both. Generally speaking one is as important as the other but your wants and needs will dictate which one will set more precedence.

[alphageek]

It's like getting a Ge-Force3 and a cheep 13" monitor. The frame rates are there, but not doing you much good. I did notice a significant quailty difference between my SB128 and Philips Acustic Edge, even though I don't have the best speakers.

[Thud]

I always buy the best I can afford. I have a SB Live Value that I bought about 2 yrs ago, and it's still serving me well. These are still good cards and can be had for very reasonable prices.
For speakers, I have a set of Labtec Pulse 242's that I absolutely love, considering I only paid $64 for them. For me, this is a very adequate setup. I'd reccomend something along those lines, then you can upgrade to something a little more "high-end" later, if you're so inclined. Best of luck!