Best Sound Cards ??

Mon Jan 03, 2005 1:46 pm

Hi everyone,
maybe some of you computer specialists can advise me on a really good sound card. It is for a friend who is buying a new computer. He is into recording music, etc and wants to make sure he has a good sound card but we are both clueless as to which is which.
any help would be great!!
thanks!

Mon Jan 03, 2005 2:58 pm

Does he want a high end, music workstation type? OR one that will get good sound, and also be good for games?

If he wants the 2nd kind, the Creative Audigy 4 is nice. Has all the connectors he needs to make music, and is capable of DVD quality bit rates. Sounds good, and is great for games as well. The external connection bay is a nice touch too as its much easier to use that way.

If he wants a high end professional card, he will be spending between $800-3000 for one.

Let me know his budget if he wants a high end card, and I'll recommend him one.

Mon Jan 03, 2005 5:18 pm

what is the recommendation for a high-end one? I am curious...

Mon Jan 03, 2005 5:43 pm

Originally posted by Heart Collector
Does he want a high end, music workstation type? OR one that will get good sound, and also be good for games?

If he wants the 2nd kind, the Creative Audigy 4 is nice. Has all the connectors he needs to make music, and is capable of DVD quality bit rates. Sounds good, and is great for games as well. The external connection bay is a nice touch too as its much easier to use that way.

If he wants a high end professional card, he will be spending between $800-3000 for one.

Let me know his budget if he wants a high end card, and I'll recommend him one.

Ok i will let you know when I talk to him about the details. Thanks Heart!
I do not think he is into or plays that many video games though., if that helps you at all with your recommendation.

Tue Jan 04, 2005 4:24 am

I'm very satisfied with my Hercules Digifire 7.1 for games.

Tue Jan 04, 2005 8:35 am

Originally posted by Tommy Boy
what is the recommendation for a high-end one? I am curious...

Me too! I have a pretty low threshold of 'sound card satisfaction' I think. After Soundblaster hit 16 bits, I never noticed a difference in any soundcard that I heard. I've heard some crappy speakers though.

Tue Jan 04, 2005 11:10 am

Just get a crappy SB 512

Tue Jan 04, 2005 1:32 pm

Heart... He has a really low budget.. he is looking to spend as little as possible... like a hundred bucks ??

Tue Jan 04, 2005 4:25 pm

Get a Soundblasdter 512. It is hardware accelerated, but has no EAX, You can probably buy it from Circut city for $10.

Tue Jan 04, 2005 5:17 pm

lol
i think thats what i have

Tue Jan 04, 2005 5:26 pm

I have the audigy 2 platnum and have loved it. It has been problematic with sp2 though, my base level is at low and i can not change it under the speaker setting panel. LOVE the audio effects. Makes every little thing sound so much more richer, cleaner, and superb quality. You can get a audigy 1/2 and get hacked drivers, if you don't want to dish out 15american ? 250 canadian "paid that" for mine.
'
Creative resently upgraded the eax update, from eax 3 to eax 4. And when i install the .......Digital rights management, something music related, it just destroys most of my setting in general.

Considering, you want a REALY GOOD sound card, go for the audigy 4...... speaking of which, was there a audigy 3, or wa that the zs/ zs gamer?, well audigy 2 atleast, backed by a 300+ speaker system, and you got your all in one media center.

Tue Jan 04, 2005 5:57 pm

I currently have an Audigy 2 ZS and It hasn´t Given me any problem yet, It costed me just 80 euros