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Recommend me a good sound card

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NOVAA

Member
Joined
Jan 12, 2010
I just recently purchased a pair of corsair sp2500 speakers for my computer, and now I need a good sound card to pair with them.

I listen to a fair amount of music, play lots of videogames, and watch movies thru the speakers, so I would like a quality card. But most of my movies are streamed a lower quality, so it doesn't need to be movie centric or anything.

In addition, my headphones are logitech g35s, which are usb driven, and I'm happy with then so there's no need for a front audio port or headphone amp if I can help it.

Budget it whatever, I'm willing to spend $200 on a soundcard if it's worth the money, but I would like to spend less ideally.

Thanks in advance.
 
I just recently purchased a pair of corsair sp2500 speakers for my computer, and now I need a good sound card to pair with them.

I listen to a fair amount of music, play lots of videogames, and watch movies thru the speakers, so I would like a quality card. But most of my movies are streamed a lower quality, so it doesn't need to be movie centric or anything.

In addition, my headphones are logitech g35s, which are usb driven, and I'm happy with then so there's no need for a front audio port or headphone amp if I can help it.

Budget it whatever, I'm willing to spend $200 on a soundcard if it's worth the money, but I would like to spend less ideally.

Thanks in advance.

As Theocnoob mentioned, you might want to check out the D2X. I went from on board audio for the last 6 - 7 years, to one of those and the sound is amazing (to me). Nice and clean and no noise that I can hear.
 
I have the PCI version of the D2X and the PCIE STX both from ASUS. I have had many an aftermarket soundcard.. Xfi Xtreme music, Audigy, Audigy 2, Audigy SE, Xfi Xtreme Audio, Auzen Meridian, Auzen Xplosion, SB64, 128, 256, LIVE!, and more I can't remember.

By FAR the best soundcard I've ever heard was the Meridian. It's the one you want. ASUS soundcards are quite flat by comparison. I got a good deal that's the only reason I'm not on all Auzen.

Using a TV tuner card I was able to hear Peg Bundy on Married With Children walk over linoleum, carpet, then on to tile. I've never heard that quality from anything under $3000 as a source. Just the Meridian. the ASUS D2 on the same source was perhaps 30% as impressive.
 
Ok so I'm defiantly going to look at the meridan, sort of a downside that you can't find it on newegg, but if its as great as you say, ill certainly look into it. At $170, I would consider that a decent price too.

Back to your first post though, how much of a difference do you think the cable will make? I am no audiophile by any stretch of the imagination.
 
The simplest way to put it is that a beefier cable with better quality copper = a more full bodied sound. You'll hear faint sounds that were not there before. It also slightly decreases the 'punch' of the sound. You won't feel a drum beat in your chest quite as much but it will be more clearly defined. The principle is similar to blowing through a narrow straw or blowing through a wide tube. The air in the wide tube doesn't come out with as much force, but there are more eddies and details in it.

I have a problem with that speaker setup not letting you swap the actual speaker wire out. They're using EPS cables as speaker cables. I guess since they make PSU's they have a lot kicking around but I don't think that was a good design move.

You will notice about a 5% (maaaax) improvement from swapping the cable.
 
The simplest way to put it is that a beefier cable with better quality copper = a more full bodied sound. You'll hear faint sounds that were not there before. It also slightly decreases the 'punch' of the sound. You won't feel a drum beat in your chest quite as much but it will be more clearly defined. The principle is similar to blowing through a narrow straw or blowing through a wide tube. The air in the wide tube doesn't come out with as much force, but there are more eddies and details in it.

I have a problem with that speaker setup not letting you swap the actual speaker wire out. They're using EPS cables as speaker cables. I guess since they make PSU's they have a lot kicking around but I don't think that was a good design move.

You will notice about a 5% (maaaax) improvement from swapping the cable.

Based on that description, I think I'll skip that for a while. Like I said, I'm not an audiophile and I doubt I'd be able to even tell the difference between two different cables.

Thanks for the help anyway though, I'll probably be looking into the Auzen soon. Are there any cheaper ($75-$100) that would still provide a big jump over onboard audio?
 
The hit from a $100 soundcard is pretty huge. I wouldn't bother. Get something over $150. Auzen's Xplosion is a good $100 card but the sound quality is much lower and there is a bit of detectable noise in the signal.
 
The Xplosion is a terrible card, not worth the money, even if you upgrade the op amps. Honestly Id rather run an xfi then the xplosion. I have a prelude, its ok. Its not awsome but it helps makes my stuff rattle.
 
I have the PCI version of the D2X and the PCIE STX both from ASUS. I have had many an aftermarket soundcard.. Xfi Xtreme music, Audigy, Audigy 2, Audigy SE, Xfi Xtreme Audio, Auzen Meridian, Auzen Xplosion, SB64, 128, 256, LIVE!, and more I can't remember.

By FAR the best soundcard I've ever heard was the Meridian. It's the one you want. ASUS soundcards are quite flat by comparison. I got a good deal that's the only reason I'm not on all Auzen.

Using a TV tuner card I was able to hear Peg Bundy on Married With Children walk over linoleum, carpet, then on to tile. I've never heard that quality from anything under $3000 as a source. Just the Meridian. the ASUS D2 on the same source was perhaps 30% as impressive.

8788 is an amazing sounding chip.
 
The Xplosion has a very detailed and warm sound. It just has a high noise floor. It's much more musical than anything Xfi based up to this point.

Care to explain what that means in english lol, being musical sounds good though. I have a 2.1 system which I plan on keeping indefinitely, I have no plans or temptations to give surround sound a try anytime soon, so having XFi's awesome positional audio support is useless for me. Would the explosion be worth looking into, or should I just spend the extra $60 for the Meridian?
 
Care to explain what that means in english lol, being musical sounds good though. I have a 2.1 system which I plan on keeping indefinitely, I have no plans or temptations to give surround sound a try anytime soon, so having XFi's awesome positional audio support is useless for me. Would the explosion be worth looking into, or should I just spend the extra $60 for the Meridian?

Nope. That is in English. I can't bring it down any more than that. I'd be using terms that actually mean crapp audio like 'crisp' and 'clean'. Crisp and clean means distorted and very flat. You don't want that. :salute:

You can google 'warm sound' and 'noise floor' and 'musical' sounding or check them in wiki if you want. I don't have the wrists for 8 paragraphs atm :) :).

You still don't want an Xplosion. The extra sixty or so bucks to get a Meridian 2 would about double the sound quality. The very mild 'sssssssssssssssssssssssssss' you will hear from onboard or a lower qual soundcard like Xplosion may drive you mad. It doesn't sound BAD. It sounds great for the money, it just isn't worth buying unless you're between that and canned soup for a month.

If you want to get better sound out of the Meridian than stock you can buy it with upgraded OPAMPS (they slot in like a nintendo cartridge). They will improve the sound quality for an extra $10-200 depending on which you want.
 
The Xplosion has a very detailed and warm sound. It just has a high noise floor. It's much more musical than anything Xfi based up to this point.

I disagree, I thought it sounded flat, and tinny. It had no substance, or soul. I tried it on an analogue harmon/kardon and a 5.1 onkyo, and really it was terrible. I went from that to my prelude and it was worlds apart. I dont have anything recent anymore, this card is 3 years old now.

Edit:

The Xplosion sounded ok for movies..
 
I disagree about it sounding flat or tinny. What it sounds is noisy. It's like running a good stereo through a noisy room and being on the other side. It lacks definition but it definitely has a character and soul to the sound. Definitely no comparison to the higher end cards, but it shouldn't be for <$100, either. You should check the Meridians out. They do sound better than the Xfi solution. No compare for gaming, of course. They are purely for music. In any case, it looks like neither of us recommend an Xplosion for differing reasons.

What is definitely flat is any Xonar card I've ever heard. I do have 2... but they have a very flat and neutral sound, as well as an extremely low noise floor. They lack any warmth but they had such utterly low noise- especially the ST with the seperate power that I was willing to put up with that. I was unable to find a meridian when building either of my systems but I would jump on one especially the V1 if I needed a soundcard. They really sound great.
 
I disagree and liked the Xplosion, but that definitely does not mean it was not flat or tinny either... It did not have a warmth that I look for in speakers, and with my Grado headphones I thought it sounded... Accurate. At Under $100 its a good deal, but its not going have the best op-amps or other circuitry in it.

But then again, I think me and TheOCnoob have completely different ears:) I appreciate hearing his side of things, but some how we seem to find allot to disagree with when it comes to what we hear! Its not that he is wrong, its just that I am MORE right ;)
 
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