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Topic: a good soundcard for the people (Read 6689 times) previous topic - next topic
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a good soundcard for the people

hi

i'm planing to buy a pc, but i don't know what soundcard to choose (i just need a simple analog stereo outpout).
i read lots of interesting discussions here about it already but i'm not sure.

it seems that many are using an old sb128 because it doesn't resample to 48khz and has good sound quality.
are the new models exactly the same or not as good?
are the drivers simple and stable? (under windows xp, only for winamp and some gaming)


if not are there other soundcards without the 48khz resampling problem, not from creative, not too expensive? (maybe the turtle beach santacruz or the fortissimo2 ?)

thanks

a good soundcard for the people

Reply #1
Quote
Originally posted by bigboo

it seems that many are using an old sb128 because it doesn't resample to 48khz and has good sound quality.
are the new models exactly the same or not as good?
are the drivers simple and stable? (under windows xp, only for winamp and some gaming)


You will want a model that uses the ES1371 chip (Ensoniq). I don't know what the new models use, or if they're different in this regard or not.

Considering the age and popularity of the card, I'd assume the drivers are fairly ok (though it is rumored that the Creative drivers are not as good as the others, jusk ask Peter )

Edit: typos

--
GCP

a good soundcard for the people

Reply #2
Do yourself a favor and stay away from SB cards altogether.  Two good low cost cards I can recommend are the Midiman Audiophile www.midiman.com/products/m-audio/audiophile.php or the Echo Mia www.echoaudio.com/.  I stepped up from a SB Live! to a Mia and couldn't believe the difference.  Not a gamer's card but if you're somewhat serious about listening to music off your PC you should give 'em a listen.

a good soundcard for the people

Reply #3
If you want something cheaper, the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz aka Videologic Sonic Fury is still a good option, better if you use Peter's resampling SSRC WinAmp plugin.

a good soundcard for the people

Reply #4
thank you everybody


Audiophile 2496
24 Bit 96 kHz 4 in/ 4 out PCI Digital Recording Interface with MIDI
(MSRP: $229.95 USD)

MIA 250$

yeah it's seems very good but
ahhhhh it's not very cheap, i live in france and i never seen this card sold here and with the taxs it may become very expensive (maybe 300€ or something)

i didn't know that the turtle beach was resampling to 48khz aargh, if i can i prefer not to use peter's ssrc plug-in (it's too much cpu intensive just to listen to music in background)

 

a good soundcard for the people

Reply #5
Quote
Originally posted by Garf
(all Creative drivers suck of course, jusk as Peter )


Did you mean "Just ask Peter", or "Just as Peter" ?

Anyway, avoid posting such general subjective statements against a given brand, they might need money one day or another

a good soundcard for the people

Reply #6
Quote
Originally posted by Pio2001


Did you mean "Just ask Peter", or "Just as Peter" ?

Anyway, avoid posting such general subjective statements against a given brand, they might need money one day or another


'Fixed'

--
GCP

a good soundcard for the people

Reply #7
sb128pci drivers are actually very good, i haven't been able to find any specific glitches.
Microsoft Windows: We can't script here, this is bat country.

a good soundcard for the people

Reply #8
Quote
Originally posted by bigboo
Audiophile 2496
24 Bit 96 kHz 4 in/ 4 out PCI Digital Recording Interface with MIDI
(MSRP: 9.95 USD)


You can buy it for 9 plus shipping at www.midi-store.com

Quote
i didn't know that the turtle beach was resampling to 48khz aargh, if i can i prefer not to use peter's ssrc plug-in (it's too much cpu intensive just to listen to music in background)


The resampling is quite good, not as good as SSRC resampling, because there's a slight rolloff over 15 KHz, but is definitely better than the SB Live in this respect, which actually distorts high frequencies at the resampling process.

a good soundcard for the people

Reply #9
Does anyone know whether this Audiophile 2496 card be used with Linux?

a good soundcard for the people

Reply #10
I like the Santa Cruz suggestion. While it may not be in the same class as the pricey ($150+) "audiophile" sound cards, it's superior to Creative's offerings and the Santa Cruz offers great game compatability, 5.1 outputs, digital out and a price tag of about $49.

a good soundcard for the people

Reply #11
Quote
Originally posted by renfe
Does anyone know whether this Audiophile 2496 card be used with Linux?

My friend uses AP2496 with ALSA on Linux.

a good soundcard for the people

Reply #12
i highly recommend the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz.  I got mine about a month ago and i have no problems.  It has great quality so far, several outputs, including the versajack (which is like a godsend), and a lot of great options and it actually makes itself faster via the dynamically configurable twin dsp.  and on top of all that it just dropped to ~$49 (i paid $80).

i kno u said you only need analog stereo out, but even looking forward this is a great card, as it can do stereo, 4 speaker, 6 speaker, and digital out, as well as possibly multiple stereo analog inputs.

its also quite stable, as i never have problems with the drivers or anything.

i guess i really cant say enough good things... oh yea did i mention hardware sensura virtual ear?

lol

hope it helps!

a good soundcard for the people

Reply #13
I think Creative is not as bad as the people said,
...
but for the price/performance.... you should go to : TurtleBeach SantaCruz.

a good soundcard for the people

Reply #14
Quote
Originally posted by ookzDVD
but for the price/performance.... you should go to : TurtleBeach SantaCruz.


What chip has this sound card?

Crystal?
"Taking a jazz approach and concentrating on live playing, I wanted to use several different rhythm sections and vintage instruments and amps to create a timeless sound that's geared more around musicality and vibe than sonic perfection. The key was to write with specific rhythm sections in mind, yet leave open spaces for soloing." Lee Ritenour

a good soundcard for the people

Reply #15
Quote
Originally posted by unplugged


What chip has this sound card?

Crystal?
Cirrus Logic Crystal 4630 SoundFusion DSP... It's a lot better than Creatives EMU10Kx crap...

The card is sold by Turtle Beach in the US as Santa Cruz, and by VideoLogic in Europe as SonicFury...

a good soundcard for the people

Reply #16
Am I the only one here who had bad luck with the Santa Cruz?  I bought one of the retail cards, installed it on Win98SE, and the thing kept crashing my computer every 30 seconds (literally).  Yes, I removed all traces of the PCI128 drivers first (not hard to do, the drivers are pretty simple).  I wonder if the card I got might have been bad hardware-wise.

a good soundcard for the people

Reply #17
I've heard that there are problems with Win98 with DirectX 8 installed and the Santa Cruz.

I have Win98SE with DirectX 7.1 (or 7.0?)  and a Santa Cruz, and from time to time, the Control Panel of the card locks, but the computer and the sound card are still usable via the Windows mixer.

This happens from time to time, not always or everyday I use it.

Turtle Beach is no longer updating the vxd drivers, but I believe there are new beta WDM drivers for Win98SE at their web page.

a good soundcard for the people

Reply #18
Hoontech´s SoundTrack Audio DSP24 Value (24/96 card) still seems the cheapest "prosumer" 24/96 card available. It uses the very same chipset used in some Terratec and Midiman 24/96 boards (Envy24). Yes, its supported in Linux with the Advanced Linux Sound Architecture drivers. Without digital in/outs, it costs less than 128$. Carries cinch (RCA) connectors for input / output, plus a 1/8" stereo output plug for "monitor"

The optional bracket for digital input/output (both coax and fiber) adds 50$ more to the package. This will also allow midi connection.

Features:
- 2 channel ADC (dynamic range 100dB[A]) via RCA input connectors
- 2 channel DAC (dynamic range 110dB[A]) via RCA output connectors
- optional bracket with digital I/O (coaxial and optical S/PDIF) and MIDI I/O
- systemsound-/monitor-output (1/8" mini-jack)
- internal analog input for CD or aux signals
- direct monitoring for input signals (zero latency, by hardware)
- internal mixing, routing and monitoring software provided
- Logic SoundTrack 24 (24-bit/96kHz powerful recording software from Emagic) included
- drivers for Windows 9x/Me/NT/2000/XP, ASIO 2.0 (typical latency can be lowered to 2ms or lower), multiclient-GSIF (GigaSampler/-Studio)

Controller Chip & Converters:
- DSP24 Value card uses the IC Ensemble Envy24 I/O controller chip (ICE1712)
- AKM 24bit/96kHz Codec for analog in- and outputs
- DSP24 internal I/O for standard windows system sounds (mini-jack on card) uses SigmaTel STAC97xx 18bit AC-97 Codec (ADC & DAC) 95dB output S/N ratio (a-weighted)

http://www.hoontech.com/english/products/dsp24ve/info.html


This is currently the best value ever after the defunct Ensoniq 1370. Creative´s 1371 was a stripped 2 channel only version of the early 4 channel competitor, which was an SBLive! killer that costed only a quarter of its price (now you know why Creative bought Ensoniq...)

Terratec now has another 24/96 card with 6 channel for those game/movie freakies out there, Terratec DMX 6Fire 24/96, with a max price of 250$.
She is waiting in the air