Live!

Bmxpunk86pl · Jul 1, 2002

hey i have a built in ac '97 sound card and I got the Sony MDR-CD180 headphones and I was wonderin if i upgraded to like a Live! or a Audigy or a santa cruz if i would notice better sound quality in music and games.

What do u guys think?

thanks,
adam

Cown · Jul 1, 2002

Bmxpunk86pl said:
hey i have a built in ac '97 sound card and I got the Sony MDR-CD180 headphones and I was wonderin if i upgraded to like a Live! or a Audigy or a santa cruz if i would notice better sound quality in music and games.

What do u guys think?

thanks,
adam

Dont think your gonna hear eny differances, because your using headphones the surround sound and all that stuff cant be activated cuzz headphones only support stereo... but thats just i guess i might be wrong :eh?:

o770 · Jul 1, 2002

i think so.
i had used onboard sound for over a yr once, it was the cmedia 8738 which never compared well with the output sound on a real sound card. i compared it with a soundblaster pci16 and sound was poorer.

now ive heard from ppl in the forums that the onboard sound is much better and some have even the support for stuff like eax and so but my opinion really remains the same: output sound on a sound card is still of better quality than on a onboard chip.

Monaco · Jul 1, 2002

I just switched from a Live! to a mobo that has built-in CM8738 sound.

As far as I can tell, they both sound the same to me. I'm using a very good stereo and amp system, and there just isn't any real difference.

If you are doing recording, there is MUCH less noise on the Live's line-input, but that is not something most people will ever use.

AC 97, now, I have a rig with onboard AC97 and it sounds noticeable worse than the Live! or CM8738. I would definately upgrade AC97 as soon as possible, if music is important to you.

o770 · Jul 1, 2002

Monster of Rock, would you mind testing yours with RMAA and compare results with this?

unfortunately i havent that mainboard anymore so i cant perform any tests to compare with my sound card but i wish i could. what you think? would you mind doing it?

Penguin4x4 · Jul 1, 2002

Onboard CM8738 is the same DSP on the Santa Cruz/Game Theater, right?

Monaco · Jul 1, 2002

Monster of Rock, would you mind testing yours with RMAA and compare results with this?

Sure, no problem

I'll download it and let you know.

I did not do any tests on it really- I used the line in a few times for various things on both the Live! and the CM, and the Live! was just better sounding and easier to work with.

* ok RMAA it will not run, says it cannot complete loopback connection. Any suggestions on how I can make it work?

Zuck Gou :) · Jul 1, 2002

You have to connect the line-in to the line-out on your sound card using a 1/8th sound jack cable.

Monaco · Jul 1, 2002

oh duh, that makes sense, loopback!! :beer:

Thx Zuck, I'll dig around for one.

Richard · Jul 1, 2002

No. Definitely not.

The C-Media 8738 is mostly found "on-board", but can be found on cards like the Guillemot Maxi Sound Muse.

The Cirrus Logic CS4630 is superior and can be found on the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz and Hercules Game Theater XP.

I compare the Cmedia 8738 with the SBLive!. Which doesn't say much for either. Although, the Live! does sound slightly better.

The CS4630 (Santa Cruz) is about as close as you can get to semi-pro sound quality without getting into the very expensive cards.

http://www.pcavtech.com/soundcards/compare/index.htm

Take a look at the above link and read through some of his findings.

Penguin4x4 said:
Onboard CM8738 is the same DSP on the Santa Cruz/Game Theater, right?

Richard · Jul 1, 2002

Definitely.

As to which to go with? If you're primarily a gamer go with the audigy. If you're primarily into music. Go with the Cruz.

I do think the Cruz has excellent quality with headphones. And if stereophonic sound is something that you are into rather than surround sound. Then the Santa Cruz is a great choice.

Bmxpunk86pl said:
hey i have a built in ac '97 sound card and I got the Sony MDR-CD180 headphones and I was wonderin if i upgraded to like a Live! or a Audigy or a santa cruz if i would notice better sound quality in music and games.

What do u guys think?

thanks,
adam

Penguin4x4 · Jul 1, 2002

Richard said:
No. Definitely not.

The C-Media 8738 is mostly found "on-board", but can be found on cards like the Guillemot Maxi Sound Muse.

The Cirrus Logic CS4630 is superior and can be found on the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz and Hercules Game Theater XP.

The CS4630 (Santa Cruz) is about as close as you can get to semi-pro sound quality without getting into the very expensive cards.

http://www.pcavtech.com/soundcards/compare/index.htm

OK, thank you. I was confused about the Cirrus Media CODEC's.

Also,
Hercules Game Theater XP=(Turtle Beach Santa Cruz - Good Drivers)

<Direct comparison of Hercules and Santa Cruz Drivers>

o770 · Jul 1, 2002

Monster of Rock said:
oh duh, that makes sense, loopback!!

Thx Zuck, I'll dig around for one.

nevermind.
that test is subjected to so many variations. it couldnt give us a reliable comparison, unless both sound devices was tested using the very same equipment.

Monaco · Jul 1, 2002

yah, that makes sense. There's just too many variables in a PC.

I'm gonna give it a shot still, and compare my CM8738 and SB Live! on the same system, I'm curious about that benchmark

o770 · Jul 1, 2002

by the way, u dont need to dig for one. just unplug output cable from the speaker and connect it the to line-in on the sound card.

o770 · Jul 2, 2002

i got better results than that on the website with my SB0100. check it out!

@crilicM@n · Nov 15, 2002

Penguin4x4 said:
Onboard CM8738 is the same DSP on the Santa Cruz/Game Theater, right?

Not shure 8738 is a DSP... I took a look on some of those cheap cards and i saw in one of them: HSP

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