[oc jason]

I actually dont need a SC but i dont think that the AC97 or 6.1 sound on an 8k3a is as clear as i want. I listen to mp3's on 160-192kbps quality. I sometimes here distortion and static at higher volume levels. And wondered if it is just the way it was recorded or maybe the CRAPTACULAR soundcard that i got. its like a Creative 64 16bit or some crap, had it for years.

I use quality speakers, AIWA Home Stereo. 4-Channel over 100 watts, got 2 big 3way speakers (8in sub and a mid and a tweeter) and then 2 other smaller surround speakers. Multiple EQ and Surround Settings.. anyways it sond friggin great.

I just want clarity, and i hear the audigy is the HEAT, and it is not to expensive.

What would u recommend. if not audigy

[Violator]

Well personally I went off Creative when I had their Live1024 card. Swapped it out for my GTXP and never looked back since

[zangler]

the audigy is everything it says it is....i picked one up for $70 off the net, and you can probably get it cheaper now.....yes it will be CLEAR.

[Malakai]

Audigy is the best sound card, hands down.

comparitavely test it against the others like a Santa Cruz, you really can tell the diff.
sparkling clear high's and booming bass are like 50$ or less away, and if you already have a creative card and it plays well with your comp, u will be fine with the drivers.

my audigy with some little 5.1 setup i got sounds way better and clearer than the expensive home stereo i had.

-Malakai

[Pinky]

I'm pleased with my turtle beach santa cruz, but those I know with the audigy have good things to say about that as well.

Sanata Cruz was $60 retail at compusa last week

[Arkaine23]

Sorry Mal, but I don't wanna hear my soundcard dissed even slightly either. Although from a hardware standpoint an Audigy is slightly better.

Santa Cruz roxx!

[rashly]

how does the audigy compare to the live 5.1 though?

[Avatar28]

Originally posted by oc jason
I actually dont need a SC but i dont think that the AC97 or 6.1 sound on an 8k3a is as clear as i want. I listen to mp3's on 160-192kbps quality. I sometimes here distortion and static at higher volume levels. And wondered if it is just the way it was recorded or maybe the CRAPTACULAR soundcard that i got. its like a Creative 64 16bit or some crap, had it for years.

I use quality speakers, AIWA Home Stereo. 4-Channel over 100 watts, got 2 big 3way speakers (8in sub and a mid and a tweeter) and then 2 other smaller surround speakers. Multiple EQ and Surround Settings.. anyways it sond friggin great.

I just want clarity, and i hear the audigy is the HEAT, and it is not to expensive.

What would u recommend. if not audigy

Well, first I'm not sure that I personally would consider an AIWA stereo as "quality" speakers. Then again, I have over 2 grand worth of audio equipment in my Home Theater (my mains alone list for like $1000). It's not connected to my PC though. So that's just my own opinion. I'm also pretty picky when it comes to sound and have yet to find a bookshelf system that I care for so take my opinion for what it's worth. I will conceed that what you've got is fairly decent and probably better than most computer speakers though. And AIWA DOES have some of the more decent bookshelf units.

If you're wanted quality, I hear that the Phillips sound cards have some of the best sound quality out there, but they more CPU usage than some others do. The Audigy is a good card. I wouldn't mind having one, but will probably not get one because of the the way that Creative has been with driver support of late. If I were to build a multimedia box to go with my home theater, I would most likely go for the Phillips card since CPU usage won't be a major issue for me.

If you're not in a hurry, I believe that I have heard rumors of an N-Force MCP based sound card. If true, that would probably be the card to get.

[Dylruss]

yeah here is just one of the posibilities.

http://forum.oc-forums.com/vb/showth...ght=sound+card

[oc jason]

thanks for the opinion above. yes it is decent for me but not the greatest out.

i will use a onboard 6.1 sound of the 8k3a till i deceide what ot do

what type of speaks u got Macintosh? those rock

[Avatar28]

Originally posted by oc jason
thanks for the opinion above. yes it is decent for me but not the greatest out.

i will use a onboard 6.1 sound of the 8k3a till i deceide what ot do

what type of speaks u got Macintosh? those rock

Actually, they're made by Mission. And I was off, they list for $850. If you go to audioreview.com you'll see that people are pretty happy with them. I certainly love them.

[Malakai]

i meant no diss by my comment, i had to mess with the drivers for A LONG TIME with the audigy to get it working right. took like 3 reinstalls of XP to figure out creatives nomad USB drivers were destabilizing XP.

THe santa cruz divers are a snap, and i encountered no compatibility problems with them at all.

but i have owned both cards, and the Audigy sounds noticably better than it. sorry, but that is my honest opinion.
but if you arent prepared to play around with the driver installs with WinXP and a via chipset, than get a santa cruz.

but for less than 50$ for a retail audigy, if your ready to possibly fight for a few hours with the drivers, once its working the audigy OWNZ

-Malakai

[Stoanhart]

Here's how my audigy installation went. Plug in card. Turn on computer. install drivers. open winamp. press play. hear nothing. fiddle with drivers for an hour, hear nothing. turn up volume, feel REALLLLLLLLLLLY STUPID and then be happy!

[Robbie]

you might have the OUT PUT volume turned up too high.

Rob

[oc jason]

ya that might be it, i had to turn my AUX/VIDEO down to 4 insted or 6 ill go into volume controls and lower it a bit. Now that i think of it when my stereo is halfway up it is louder than i like it, and i think i should need to about 2/3 to max to get that loud so maybe the output IS too high.

[buckhunter]

I have my Hercules XP GT tied in to my Onkyo 120Watt Reciever. My friends and family get together once in a while and Karaoke. The Herc works very well for me especially since I needed the low power usb ports. I have my mouse sensor, tv remote sensor, and game pads plugged in to the Herc Game Theater Rack. The Rack is an awesome hub for all my audio connections and usb ports.

As far as Audigy goes, it was a nightmare for me and a lot of other Windows XP users. The Audigy MP3 I bought comes with a firewire port that eats a second IRQ. If you get that card you better have two available and if you have to share IRQs with ACPI you are in for hard system freezes and loud high pitch squeals of death. Below is a link for thousands of users that had Creative Labs problems. There service was Hi Tech - NO TOUCH. I finally called them at MY expense and paid a lot of money to sit on hold and not get my problem solved.
http://www.petitiononline.com/creative/petition.html

Good Luck with Creative,
Satisfied Hercules XP GT user.
How nice that my video card vendor ATi, bought Hercules!

[zangler]

i have been running xp with an audigy since the card came out, and i have had no problems. all you have to do is a full install, except for the creative launcher (i think that is what it is called....pretty much their own quick launch bar). then re-start the computer and install the xp patch from creative. presto! everything works, even ac3 pass through for my dolby digital sound for movies. i really dont know why so many people are having these troubles.

[Menardsguy]

I am completely happy with my game theater xp. The hardware is capable of handeling up to eight individual channels eventually when software comes out.

[Wolfmist]

Just to add to the fray, I have a Santa Cruz. Its great. My previous sound card was a SBLive!. I would have gotten an audigy, except for the fact that creative is one of those companies like AOL, Real networks, who ever makes that damn gator software, who ever keeps putting those damn doubleclick cookies on my computer, the record industry, the movie industry, Firestone (because of their service, not the tires), etc. What I'm really trying to say is I don't like Creative, and I don't recommend anything from them.

[TruckChase!]

I'm not going to go into details because I don't have time, but I have a Audigy and I hate it. Get the Hercules top-o-the-line card. Trust me, you won't have any of the problems you see all over the 'net with a clabs card. (crackling, etc.)