will a new card help me

[CalsonicGTR]

i just got some new speakers. they are pretty good but i am using this ancient SB ISA card which came with my original computer in 1996. when i play my mp3's, they sound like crap. will the SB Live! fix my sound woes?

 

[eh?]

yep, without a question, pci runs at 33 mhz with a 32bit bus, where as ISA runs at 8mhz with 16bit bus, big differnce

 

[TranceBear]

i just got some new speakers. they are pretty good but i am using this ancient SB ISA card which came with my original computer in 1996. when i play my mp3's, they sound like crap. will the SB Live! fix my sound woes?

Define your crappy woes. There are issues with VIA chipsets and SB sound cards. I would do a good ole' google search and read on!

 

[RainMaQer]

Yeppers. I just made a similar change. I was using a Sound Blaster 16 Value ISA for about 2-3 weeks. Got an AS4000 or something like that... pretty much the equivelant of AC97 on board sound... and just that little jump was VERY noticable. When online if I scrolled down a long page fast enough while listening to music... the sound would skip and scratch Has to do with processor usage. This newer card uses a lot less processor power so that problem is gone. But it's still quite a bit I'm sure. The SBLive is like 30% processor usage at the max. Which is really good.

 

[funnyperson1]

yeah for like 60$ look for a Turtle Bech Snata Cruz Card theyll do justice to your new speakers...

 

[freddiedaman]

not too sure if a new soundcard will cure all your problems, I had a AWE-64 (ISA) in a PII-300MHz before, and it actually sounded pretty well! Still the Santa Cruz is a darn good card, quite a difference actually Have you tried the new speakers on another comp?

 

[NASsoccer]

i would also recommend the santa cruz over the live card. IMO it is the best bang for the buck sound card on the market and you surely would notice the difference.