Which Sound Card?

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J

JaguaR [COG]

At the moment I use the onboard sound of my motherboard which is called C-Media CMI8738. Basically it does the trick, but it can also hog the CPU and slow down my games, especially RavenShield. Therefore I thought I would buy a sound card, but I'm not sure which one.

My choices are:

1) sound blaster live 5.1
2) sound blaster audigy 1
3) sound blaster audigy 2

The live 5.1 is old but cheap, the audigy 2 is expensive but the best, and the audigy 1 is mid-priced/specced but I might be pissed off I didn't get the audigy 2 after a years use.
I really only want it for games, I dont care about music or watching dvd's, I have home theatre for that. So, which one do you think?
 
Grendel

Grendel

Hehe, I am glad you asked this quesiton because I am almost finished with my new rig and I need a sound card too. I am looking at 2 of the same ones you have listed here and am also undecided so hopefully the coggers can help me decide.
 
J

J-Dog

I have the sound blaster audigy 1 with the connections that are on the front. Sure, it takes up 1 bay, but thats ok.
 
P

Pointman

I have the Audigy 1 as well (I think Scudd does too), and I have no bad things to say about it. Unlike J-Dog, all my connections are on the rear, so perhaps more comparing is in order. It seems there are multiple versions of Audigy 1 as well as Audigy 2. I'm not sure if it is limited to front/rear conection, or what not, but I do know that those along with a remote control are some variations. I would probably force myself to find a way to justify spending the extra money and getting the Audigy 2. (If at least to say "newer is better") In retrospect, I think I'd rather the front connections over the rear ones.

As far as games are concerned, I really don't "feel" a great advantage with my current card versus my previous on board card. That probably has a large part to do with the fact that I only have small $20 speakers lol. The EAX feature is very cool, but I have found that the EAX is flawwed in Raven Shield, so I keep it off in the game options. If you have a nice 3 piece or 5 piece speaker system (w/ mini sub), I'd expect a bit of improvement in the "feel" of your games.

Also, I didn't intend to listen to music or watch movies very much either. While our opinions may vary, I would not be suprised if you, like myself, found yourself utilizing the connections and versatility a card such as the Audigy line offers. I myself have a fairly nice audio/video system. After getting the Audigy 1, I have since looked at my PC as an important component. You'll find it quite nice being able to listen to downloaded MP3s on your home stereo. (Not to go off on a tangent, but viewing downloaded movies, Powerpoint presentations, and pictures from my digital camera on my TV via my video card is nice too)

Hope that was of some help to both of you!

Can you hear me now? [COG]
 
E

Error

Staff member
I have a live 5.1 and I HATE the damn thing,it's a POS anymore...I a new ASUS board that shoulf be here tomorror that supposedly has kick ass onboard audio so I'm gonna use that until I buy a new sound card...

Dont get the live 5.1 even if it costed 50 cents...
 
Mandarr

Mandarr

Staff member
I just recently upgraded from a sorry assed soundblaster live value, (which I'll hang onto for my nephews to use in my other comp hehe) to an audigy 2. I got myself a sweet deal on the retail version at NewEgg.com. They had a rebate offer going at the time so I ended up with it for about $70 after rebate. I see right now they're offering an OEM version for $78 and the retail for $112, which is the same thing, but just comes with a couple games. Or you could get the more expensive kind like what J-Dog would have for the audigy 1 and get all the bells and whistles for $167 on one version and $225 for the top of the top. You can check out the specs and stuff here http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=&submit=Go&description=audigy+2 . NewEgg has done me good for alot of stuff lately. I only changed to the audigy 2 because I was going static so often on teamspeak and that's such a pain in the ass lol. :) I think Error should upgrade to that as well eventually hehe. :rofl:

I just checked googlegear.com as well and they're offering the audigy 2 for $112 as well, but they offer free 2nd day air shipping. At least here in the States they do. I'm not sure if the same deal will apply for New Zealand though, but it doesn't hurt to check. :)
 
Grendel

Grendel

Ummmm, beerer! Well thanks a lot fella's, I can cross the 5.1 off of my list. I was actually looking at the audigy 2 but after all the nice things that I've heard about the A1 I might just be pickin one of those up for myself.
 
W

Wiwien

I have a Sound Blaster Audigy 1 as well, and so far I'm very happy with it. However, I still have a 4 point speaker system, so I can't really comment on the 5.1 surround system. But it's definitely better than Sound Blaster live 5.1 (I used to have it b4 I upgrade to audigy).
 
E

Error

Staff member
Hopefully this Nvidia Soundstorm onboard is better than the live 5.1 I was using,it seems to have alot more features than the SB card has...

Just dont get live 5.1
 
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