recommend a consumer sound card?

[muze]

I already have a wamirack24 for my music/audio pc. I'm looking for a high end sound card for games, mp3s, and for listening to audio cds, in my other pc. I'll be connecting the sound card to my stereo system much of the time and when not connected there, my audio will go through my Boston Acoustics 4800 speakers. I've been leaning towards the Audigy Platinum. Money is no object. Mostly I want something that makes music sound great, and secondly makes games sound great, good positional audio and stuff. Any suggestions?

[cdrakejr]

You might want to consider the Terratec, high quality similiar to M-Audio, but also supports gaming.
http://www.terratec.com/ttus/default.htm

A review comparing the LT's big brother to the Creative is here:
http://www6.tomshardware.com/video/02q1/020115/index.html

Another new entry to consider would be the new Audigy2:
http://www.gamepc.com/labs/view_content.asp?id=audigy2&page=1&cookie%5Ftest=1&bhcp=1

http://www.audioforums.com/forums/smile.gif



[This message has been edited by cdrakejr (edited 10-29-2002).]

[muze]

thanks for your help! I'm going with the Audigy 2.

[rhing]

Big mistake muze. Your system will be overloaded with Creative's bloatware that's as almost as bad as Internet Explorer for uninstalling. The Terratec will be better listening and it can be used for kicking around easy audio projects.

[ManFromMars]

you can download the creative drivers off the net alone and you dont get all the poo that comes with the card. i say go forr it.

[cdrakejr]

muze,

If you haven't bought yet, there is a new consumer-oriented card coming from M-Audio, the Revolution. It has just been announced on their site. No date when it will be available or price listed.
And, unlike previous M-Audio cards, the Revolution will do gaming sound.
The first link is to the M-Audio announcement; the second link is a discussion at AVSForum. http://www.m-audio.com/products/consumer/index.php#
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=187531

http://www.audioforums.com/forums/smile.gif

Edit: M-Audio has apparently removed the detailed spec page I had previously linked to. They are supposed to announce the card at COMDEX next week. Street price of @$99.



[This message has been edited by cdrakejr (edited 11-15-2002).]

[muze]

Although Terratec and M-Audio certainly have some intriguing new consumer targeted cards, I have to say I'm quite happy with my Audigy 2 after several days having it installed. Music sounds excellent, and positional audio/EAX in games is great. The 'bloatware' isn't so bad, although admittedly I didn't have a choice to download only the drivers from the site as far as I could tell.... There were no XP drivers available online when I checked, they were only on the CD.

At any rate I will stress once more that this card is by no means needed for pro level audio projects. It's my entertainment sound card and it's serving it's purpose. The headphone jack in the front is incredibly convenient, and it doesn't hurt that Hitman 2 came bundled with it. I have DVD options should I get a DVD-Rom, and the ability to play DVD-Audio which kind of gets me excited. No complaints here.

[nutsadamus]

Hercules Game Theatre XP.

More I/O than you can shake a stick at. Easily competes with the Audigy Platinum and I've seen it for half the price.

Benefits include external break out box with spdif , optical, midi , and 6.1 channel in and outs.
Not to mention USB and joystick inputs.
Also, drivers have matured nicely and the unit has coexisted with my recording card for years (win2k SP2).

Good luck

[muze]

Seems like in a year or so, we'll all be buying pro audio level cards that also provide high quality gaming, 7.1 sound, DVD-A, etc etc in addition to 192 khz recording capabilities. All in one solutions don't seem very far off.