Turtle Beach Santa Cruz

[eBax]

I have been watching the different soundcards lately and saw many of the posts people had to say. While checking the prices of the Audigy2, TBSC and the M-Rev I figured I will check eBay and see what kind of deal I could get.

I found and purchased a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz for $39 + $6 shipping and figured I got a good deal. I then noticed the local electronics store put the same one on sale for $49 (previously $79).

What's up? Is there a new product coming out? How old is this card?

I'm no audiophile and I wanted to upgrade from on-board sound to help the CPU in gaming.

This is an o.k. deal right?

eBax

[madcow235]

I believe Turtle Beach is discontinuing it in the next few months. But i can tell you the sound is top notch

[Romebaby]

Yes, it's a good card. I wouldn't worry about it, you got a pretty good deal. You would've had to pay tax on the 49 one.

[Gnerma]

The Turtle Beach Santa Cruz is a pretty old card. Check out this review from October 27, 2000 (http://www.3dsoundsurge.com/reviews/SantaCruz/santacruz.html). That does not mean its sucks since the sound card market moves a lot slower than the video card and CPU markets. The Santa Cruz was just ahead of its time.

However you pay half the price for a santa cruz for the two new cards you mentioned for a reason. Those two are truly part of the 'new school of consumer PC audio' whereas the TBSC is mostly part of last gen. Although.. it uses the same spu as Hercules' current line of Gametheater XP and a better spu than the fortissimo 3.

[eBax]

Thanks for the replies guys, feeling better about the purchase.

I am no audiophile and I can't justify spending more than $50 for something I can't utilize or take advantage of. I submit that I did get it to relieve the CPU of processing sound. As I mentioned before, I am running onboard sound and would like to use my 5.1 sound for gaming purposes. I thought the TBSC filled that role adequately for the price.

Just for kicks, is there a better card that meets the above criteria than the TBSC?

Thanks again,
eBax