Best Sound Quality with decent gaming sound card..

[niko084]

I have my M-Audio and it sounds really nice, works in games too boot,
has EAX support so its pretty nice all around....

But I have been curious if there is something else I can get that would be better for all around use but sound quality being pretty much top key, EAX support would be nice, 5.1 or 7.1 doesn't matter too much.

Also looking between the $100-$200 range... But not being really picky but $300 2 channel pre-amp cards with digital outputs are not going to be an option here.

atm, the x-meridian has the best sound quality. period. but if your a gamer, look at the x-fi cards. if you have problems with the x-fi (research this before-hand) then go for the razer barracuda. the barracuda will run full eax in open al games, if you install the open al driver that they hide deep down in the folder that you download with the drivers.

[cdawall]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829132001

1st sound card to have a HS

looks nice DTS beats dolby in my boo top of your price range though

[niko084]

Originally Posted by cdawall

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829132001

1st sound card to have a HS

looks nice DTS beats dolby in my boo top of your price range though

I looked at that card about a month ago or so... One of my suppliers has them... Wonder if its too late to get a dealer demo..

[cdawall]

send me one to

looks like a good card though and as far as quality goes what was the last asus piece you had break due to worksmanship?

sound quality i bet its onpar or better than the XFI crap

[niko084]

Originally Posted by bassmasta

atm, the x-meridian has the best sound quality. period. but if your a gamer, look at the x-fi cards. if you have problems with the x-fi (research this before-hand) then go for the razer barracuda. the barracuda will run full eax in open al games, if you install the open al driver that they hide deep down in the folder that you download with the drivers.

Well I wont go back down the road of creative cards... I had a Audigy 2zs which is considered to be one of their best sounding cards they have made and my current M-Audio blows it out of the water...

I might take a look at the Razer Barracuda's though.

I like very natural and smooth sound, put it this way I buy speakers like CDT Audio Eurosports for my car.

[Beertintedgoggles]

If you're really that into your music why don't you get a half ass decent sound card for games and do the right thing and get a good stand alone receiver like a Harman Kardon or Marantz then just use the digital outputs on your MB.


Edit: Just remembered you already saying you liked your gaming card... slipped my mind.

[cdawall]

Originally Posted by niko084

Well I wont go back down the road of creative cards... I had a Audigy 2zs which is considered to be one of their best sounding cards they have made and my current M-Audio blows it out of the water...

I might take a look at the Razer Barracuda's though.

I like very natural and smooth sound, put it this way I buy speakers like CDT Audio Eurosports for my car.

i just use blaupunkt so nothing special like that for me lol CDT for your car a full system is worth more than my car


the razer should be good

[niko084]

Originally Posted by Beertintedgoggles

If you're really that into your music why don't you get a half ass decent sound card for games and do the right thing and get a good stand alone receiver like a Harman Kardon or Marantz then just use the digital outputs on your MB.


Edit: Just remembered you already saying you liked your gaming card... slipped my mind.

I have a few Sunfire amps and a Yamaha preamp, Denon reference dvd/sa cd player, and home built speakers with a mix of Focal and Morel speakers in them.


So yes I do output to the preamp but the sound cards just don't have that nice of an output, put it this way I can REALLY REALLY tell the difference between playing a cd in my computer even with big buffers and playing it in my player... I know it wont compare when it comes down to it, but I don't want it to be so extreme.

[AsRock]

Still Creative but EMU cards are the original and what made Creative so good in the past. Creative brought them out some years ago.
http://www.emu.com/

Been thinking of getting this one my self mainly due to having the optical outlets that would plug right in to my ONKYO Amp. BUT $200 SHEESH.

[niko084]

Originally Posted by AsRock

Still Creative but EMU cards are the original and what made Creative so good in the past. Creative brought them out some years ago.
http://www.emu.com/

Been thinking of getting this one my self mainly due to having the optical outlets that would plug right in to my ONKYO Amp. BUT $200 SHEESH.

I just took a peak at the E-MU 1212M... Looks like a very nice card... I also came across a few reviews for them online, sounds pretty dang good.. I'll keep looking around but that card looks nice, lack of gaming support......

Maybe I will be stuck running 2 sound cards lol!

I will look more into that new Asus card though also, looks very nice and has full support.

[Beertintedgoggles]

Originally Posted by niko084

I have a few Sunfire amps and a Yamaha preamp, Denon reference dvd/sa cd player, and home built speakers with a mix of Focal and Morel speakers in them.


So yes I do output to the preamp but the sound cards just don't have that nice of an output, put it this way I can REALLY REALLY tell the difference between playing a cd in my computer even with big buffers and playing it in my player... I know it wont compare when it comes down to it, but I don't want it to be so extreme.

To each their own... very well put.

[WarEagleAU]

X-Meridian is about to have a card out with Xfi DSP chipset on it. so you get the oxygen sensor as well as X-Fi's gaming goodness. Those together will make the best sound card ever. Gaming wont suffer, and your audio will be top notch. Look at the boards on here, its been mentioned a month or so ago....

[niko084]

Thanks for all the help guys...

After looking and reading....

I decided its going to be the X-Meridian or the Asus Xonar D2...

That asus card is stomping Creatives X-fi line right into the curb quality wise, loses cpu use wise but w/e... Only Eax 2.0 but I could care less. X-Meridian sounds good also, but it uses a C-media chipset compared to the Xonar's Burr Brown chipset.

I don't know I'll take a look again in a few weeks when I get closer to making a move.

*****************************************
May just build a studio machine with that E-MU card though for recording.

[HellasVagabond]

Complete Card speaking Creative's X-Fis are the best available now. Asus sonar isnt something exciting from all the reviews i have read and the X-meridian is an X-Fi with better capacitors which make little or none difference at all and with double the price of the X-Fi.
I would tell you to wait till Creative releases its latest line of sound cards in Christmas which will be in Pciex.

[niko084]

Originally Posted by HellasVagabond

Complete Card speaking Creative's X-Fis are the best available now. Asus sonar isnt something exciting from all the reviews i have read and the X-meridian is an X-Fi with better capacitors which make little or none difference at all and with double the price of the X-Fi.
I would tell you to wait till Creative releases its latest line of sound cards in Christmas which will be in Pciex.

Just went through some audiophile forums I am a member off and they did reviews and tests with a full studio and test cd's with a mic. The Asus destroys the X-fi sound quality wise with proper equipment, less crosstalk, better signal/noise ratio, better stereo separation, less distortion, flatter output, the numbers are small but you can tell if you are an extremist for high end

As for the new cards to be released, I'll see what they have to offer, like i said it will be at least a few weeks yet.

[HellasVagabond]

Well unless you are a studio guy and make your own music the Asus sonar is not on par when it comes to gaming. It has less support in games and its decoder uses ( more ) CPU power than the X-Fi. You can see that in every gaming related review. I dont care about professional sound just gaming sound. Creative SHOULD release the new cards until Christmas if all goes well.

[niko084]

Originally Posted by HellasVagabond

Well unless you are a studio guy and make your own music the Asus sonar is not on par when it comes to gaming. It has less support in games and its decoder uses ( more ) CPU power than the X-Fi. You can see that in every gaming related review. I dont care about professional sound just gaming sound. Creative SHOULD release the new cards until Christmas if all goes well.

Yes I know its not as good for gaming. But I'm not looking for great gaming, I'm more looking for the sound quality, so in that case the EAX 2.0 will be more the sufficient for me and with my system I'm far from worried about a little extra processor usage.

But I will give Creative some time here to see what they come out with next, and if at that point I decide it's worth the extra $$ then I'll pick one up.

I am highly considering buying the E-MU 1212M for recording though.

And ya to the best of my knowledge Creative still owns the elite gaming card market.

At least 4-6 weeks out *at least* so I'll see whats out or whats looking to be released.

[HAL7000]

[QUOTE=niko084;439466]Thanks for all the help guys...

After looking and reading....

I decided its going to be the X-Meridian or the Asus Xonar D2...

That asus card is stomping Creatives X-fi line right into the curb quality wise, loses cpu use wise but w/e... Only Eax 2.0 but I could care less. X-Meridian sounds good also, but it uses a C-media chipset compared to the Xonar's Burr Brown chipset.

I don't know I'll take a look again in a few weeks when I get closer to making a move.

*****************************************

have you read this review? Good luck choosing

http://www.vr-zone.com/articles/Asus...ults/5135.html

[niko084]

Yes I did read that one... Issue with most is the tests were done with software and cheap computer speakers...

This is not the case in my situation, I needed to find tests that were much more high end audiophile setup type, where the differences become much more apparent. I use computer speakers and headphones for games most the time and don't play that many audio intensive games either, nor do I care about the best sound in my games.

And to be honest I trust that review about non... In that review its shown to be very distorted with fairly
bad scores in various sound quality levels, when tested by audio experts it shows the exact opposite in every
other single review I have seen, which now accounts to about 15.

[niko084]

Originally Posted by cdawall

i just use blaupunkt so nothing special like that for me lol CDT for your car a full system is worth more than my car


the razer should be good

hmmm You know if I think about it... I think the system in my Camaro is worth more than the car too....

CDT's Door/Kick panel/Rear
MB Quart subs

And then the masters of it all-
McIntosh amps
*And no before you call me rich or spoiled.....*

I did not pay much for them at all, I got them all not working, and I have a friend who works at a store that sells them, they can also order the replacement parts, so it took some work and a good amount of money yet....

I want McIntosh speakers but they are just too bloody expensive for me right now.

[Chewy]

dont forget about the x-fi prelude as someone has mentioned before... its a good deal I think at its price.

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showth...hlight=prelude
http://forums.techpowerup.com/showth...hlight=prelude

I wish I waited, but Im still happy with my sound for its better than onboard.

[Wile E]

Originally Posted by HellasVagabond

an X-Fi with better capacitors which make little or none difference at all and with double the price of the X-Fi.

That simple change can make all the difference in the world. I'm willing to bet Auzentech's X-Fi will put the Creative branded cards to shame. They aren't just better caps, either. All the hardware is improved, including the OpAmps. Not to mention, Auzentech's driver team is involved with the driver development.

All these changes add up to the ears of an audiophile. I know I'm sensitive to these types of changes, as I'm sure Niko is. To the average listener, no, the top end cards may not be worth it, but it is to an audiophile.

@Niko - I haven't used one in a while, but the last E-Mu card I used was absolutely excellent. It was a joy to record on, too. It had a small break out box, and almost no latency.

i dont know if azeuntech will have much of a say over drivers. if they want eax 5, they will just use creative's drivers.

[niko084]

Originally Posted by Wile E

That simple change can make all the difference in the world. I'm willing to bet Auzentech's X-Fi will put the Creative branded cards to shame. They aren't just better caps, either. All the hardware is improved, including the OpAmps. Not to mention, Auzentech's driver team is involved with the driver development.

All these changes add up to the ears of an audiophile. I know I'm sensitive to these types of changes, as I'm sure Niko is. To the average listener, no, the top end cards may not be worth it, but it is to an audiophile.

@Niko - I haven't used one in a while, but the last E-Mu card I used was absolutely excellent. It was a joy to record on, too. It had a small break out box, and almost no latency.

I am not certain on the Auzentech's but if they use solid capacitors and probably a higher quality they charge and discharge faster, and help greatly in the output quality. Standard capacitors just don't cut it if you want the best...

When you want the best of the best you are paying for very small changes, and the closer you get to the best the more you pay for smaller increases...

I mean most of you can compare a standard quad core to a extreme quad core... It costs more than 2x as much... Now honestly is it 2x as fast, not even near close.

*************
Sounds good on the E-Mu card though, good to know someones opinion that has used one before... I haven't had an E-mu card in..... well.... since my old old 486 dx4 100...