Skip to main content ↑ ↓

Notice

Please note that most of the software linked on this forum is likely to be safe to use. If you are unsure, feel free to ask in the relevant topics, or send a private message to an administrator or moderator. To help curb the problems of false positives, or in the event that you do find actual malware, you can contribute through the article linked here.
Topic: Best Sound Card for 2006 (Read 5222 times) previous topic - next topic
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Best Sound Card for 2006

I scoured this discussion branch for a good 15 minutes or so, and I really couldn't find the answer I was looking for, so I'll just ask it outright.

Traditionally when I'm looking buy a new soundcard I just hop over to Creative's site and see what the latest greatest version of SoundBlaster is. But after reading some posts on here (particularly the one about Creative's bogus SuperRip), I started wondering whether or not Creative really deserves that brand loyalty. Maybe they do, but I figure it's probably good to ask the question anyway.

You audio professionals out there: say you're me. You're building a brand new gaming rig and you wanted to get the best soundcard out there . . . how would you be spending your money?

Again, apologies if this has been gone over with a tractor and a backhoe . . .

Best Sound Card for 2006

Reply #1 –
Best soundcard for gaming = Creative X-Fi.

It's only when we discuss soundcards for movies/music that we actually can compare various soundcards.

Best Sound Card for 2006

Reply #2 –
I would personnally buy an E-MU 0404

Best Sound Card for 2006

Reply #3 –
Quote from: Zelbinian on
You audio professionals out there: say you're me. You're building a brand new gaming rig and ...


Well, I'm not an audio pro... 
If you're building a gaming rig, Creative is still your best choice.
I think most people here will agree that the latest Creative products can provide good quality audio, too, be it at a relatively high price point.

http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/multim...ative-x-fi.html
This review establishes the X-Fi as a very good sound card, but also shows you have to leave Crystalizer and other funny stuff disabled if you want a proper frequency response...
(you can scroll down to "24bit Crystalizer", then to "RMAA 5.5" and just check the graphs)

Best Sound Card for 2006

Reply #5 –
I know people who play fine without all the fancy gimmicks and "effects" that EAX provides.  All audio cards are Direct3D compatible, and with modern processors, even if a card weren't accelerated, it wouldn't matter much.  It probably is, though.

It's your pick. I prefer to get the best quality in a simple product.

Best Sound Card for 2006

Reply #6 –
Quote from:  link=msg=419914 date=0
All audio cards are Direct3D compatible, and with modern processors, even if a card weren't accelerated, it wouldn't matter much.


This is a good point. And the EMU 0404 costs about the same as the basic version of the X-Fi.
Hmmm... difficult choice (well not for me, I'm not a gamer )

If we take price into consideration, I'd think something like the Hercules Fortissimo4 could be up there with the best too. Arguably its specs are already so good that you wouldn't be wanting any better, and it comes at just about half the price...

Oh and looking at the thread subtitle again: "the next big thing" in audio hardware will definitely not be a sound card... those have been pretty boring ever since the M-Audio Audiophile, I think. This was one of the first affordable cards of such quality. Even though the EMU may get you a 10dB (!) lower noise floor now, it doesn't really matter much...
"The next big thing" would perhaps be that Genelec would start producing an active PC speaker set

Best Sound Card for 2006

Reply #7 –
Fortissimo 4 is awesome, I just bought it and am really happy with it. Anyways, the noise when the HDD is working is audible via the Hercules just like it was with the Realtek AC'97 on board chip. This isn't such a big problem, though, because you can hear it only when my amplifier volume is turned up at max.