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What's the good sound card these days for gamingand music ?

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wolf2009

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I have a creative xtreme audio , should i stay with it or get X-fi xtreme gamer fatality or some other card . Suggest some card for about 130 $ .

I was also looking at auzentech x-fi and ht omega .

EDIT : Should i get the xtreme gamer fatality for 85$ after MIR , is creative good about the whole rebate process or do they just rip you .

is the x-fi xtreme gamer better for music than xtreme music ? and does it do anything special in games which xtreme music doesn't do ? is xtreme music hardware based ?

EDIT : If i buy xtreme music, will i notice any difference between my current x-fi xtreme audio and it . Also will there be any difference from the onboard audio if i buy GIGABYTE p35-D3SL mobo .

EDIT : is there any difference for movies b/w fatality gamer and prelude if i connect them to the bose 5.1's i have .

EDIT : wat about azuntech hda xplosion , how good a card is that ?

UPDATE : getting a deal on xtreme music for 50$ , is that a good deal ?

Thx to u guys , i am expecting that card to sound as good as xtreme gamer fatality . am i right ?

also it does not have x-ram , anything else it lacks ?
 
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All the reviews say auzentech prelude
 
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if you want the fastest audio card on the market: The X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty Pro. Second fastest is the Razer Barracuda AC-1

If you're looking for the best audio quality on the market: The Auzentech X-Fi Prelude 7.1, followed by the ASUS Xonar D2X.
 

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I have a creative xtreme audio , should i stay with it or get X-fi xtreme gamer fatality or some other card . Suggest some card for about 130 $ .

I was also looking at auzentech x-fi and ht omega .
which exact one do you haver (half height or the one with the gold I/O?)

what speakers are you using?
and do you use the card for mainly games or music
 
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wolf2009

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if you want the fastest audio card on the market: The X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty Pro. Second fastest is the Razer Barracuda AC-1

If you're looking for the best audio quality on the market: The Auzentech X-Fi Prelude 7.1, followed by the ASUS Xonar D2X.

i got a lot of info from ur topic about creative cards , thx for making the topic .

Do u have any kind of driver issues with x-fi gamer fatality .

Does auzentech x-fi have such things as crystallizer ?
 
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wolf2009

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which exact one do you haver (half height or the one with the gold I/O?)

what speakers are you using?
and do you use the card for mainly games or music
i think the half height one , coz it has no gold i/o .
 

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@Wolf, I've got the SB X-Fi Fatal1ty Champion (the one with the front panel) and I love it. The drivers are great, and the "modes" through the console launcher are really nice. Before I boot a game, I go into game mode so I have direct sound and no crystallizer. Otherwise, I'm in...not audio creation but the other one...friggin brainfart...anyways, that other one, I've got CMSS-3D so I can listen to my music in 5.1, EQ, and crystallizer :D I'm using it on both XP and Vista and there are no driver issues.
 
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wolf2009

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is the x-fi xtreme gamer better for music than xtreme music ? and does it do anything special in games which xtreme music doesn't do ? is xtreme music hardware based ?
 

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from what the music guys told me this is the best one (for the money<$100) for music but it still has the good stuff for the games
Sound Blaster Xtreme music. Its the one I use its a big PCB with the gold I/O(I think more for looks, lol)

I think the Fatality version is the same but has the extra memory

BUT again what speakers are you using?
 
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I have a creative xtreme audio , should i stay with it or get X-fi xtreme gamer fatality or some other card . Suggest some card for about 130 $ .

I was also looking at auzentech x-fi and ht omega .

EDIT : Should i get the xtreme gamer fatality for 85$ after MIR , is creative good about the whole rebate process or do they just rip you .

is the x-fi xtreme gamer better for music than xtreme music ? and does it do anything special in games which xtreme music doesn't do ? is xtreme music hardware based ?

The extreme audio card uses a older cheaper audigy 2 chip.

The x-fi range all use the same audio chip same noise to ratio 109db and all sound exactly the same. apart from the elite which uses a 116db noise ratio but still uses the same audio chip.



things to consider

If you have a budget pc with a single cpu and less than 2gb of ram then id say go fior the models that have onboard 64mb ram although ive found that it actually uses less cpu power than onboard sound so the cpu doesnt seem to be a huge factor.

If you have dual or quad even better and 2gb ram with xp or 4gb with vista then save some money dont buy into "naming" buy the extreme music it has movie mode audio creation mode {music} and gaming mode with eax 5.0.2 it will sound the same as any of the other cards guarenteed But costs less you are paying extra for the memory thats all not sound quality ive extensivly researched this thats what made me buy mine and i have no complaints.
 
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wolf2009

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from what the music guys told me this is the best one (for the money<$100) for music but it still has the good stuff for the games
Sound Blaster Xtreme music. Its the one I use its a big PCB with the gold I/O(I think more for looks, lol)

I think the Fatality version is the same but has the extra memory

BUT again what speakers are you using?

ya i use altec lansing 2.1 with subwoofer speakers . i can notice considerable difference between onboard and my creative soundcard .

If i buy xtreme music, will i notice any difference between my current x-fi xtreme audio and it . Also will there be any difference from the onboard audio if i buy GIGABYTE p35-D3SL mobo .
 

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very little, with those speakers especially.

Nitro-Max thanks for the chart, Very nice.
 

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i got a lot of info from ur topic about creative cards , thx for making the topic .

Do u have any kind of driver issues with x-fi gamer fatality .

Does auzentech x-fi have such things as crystallizer ?

TBH, I'm not quite sure if the Prelude supports either the Crystallizer feature, or CMSS-3D. I do know that aside from Creative's cards, the Auzen Prelude is the only other card to support EAX 5.0HD. The Razer, ASUS, and everyone else's negligible offerings on the market can only support EAX 2.0, as the EAX DSPs are Creative's property and they don't license.

as to your speakers, the Lansing 2.1s are decent - not the best in the world, but still stand out from their competitors in their price braket. If you're looking for the best quality out there, you probably wouldn't notice too much of a difference between either a Fatal1ty card, or a Prelude. Also, you probably wouldn't notice the subtle differences between the Fatal1ty card, and an Xtreme Music or Xtreme Gamer - but, you'll defi hear a difference over the Xtreme Audio. The Xtreme Audio isn't even truly an X-Fi, it's an Audigy that's been re-branded with some new features. Instead of using the X-Fi audio processor unit (APU) that is found on the other X-Fi cards, it makes use of a Creative chipset . . . similar to what one would find with an onboard solution.

The Fatal1ty card, though, is designed for raw audio performance, and still packs great enough quality for even an audiophile to be happy *enough* with it. Although on paper, the specs look similar between a lot of the cards, the Fatal1ty has better connectivity, is less prone to latency clipping (due to the higher amount of onboard MEM), and is designed to be much faster than any other X-Fi card.

I've never had any driver issues with the Fatal1ty within XP Home Edition, nor Professional. I did have an issue with the drivers for XP Media Center Edition - the update drivers weren't compatible with that version of WIN (I think it has something to do with the Media Center software), and Creative have since stopped listing that driver version for MCE. I have yet to run Vista, where there are still a lot of problems for all the X-Fi cards, as well as every other soundcard on the market (Creative isn't the only company having a ton of issues with drivers and hardware compatibility with Vista . . . thanks a lot, M$ :shadedshu).



<edit>

as to the Auzen Prelude . . . a quick glance at their website states that the X-Fi Prelude does feature both the Crystallizer feature, as well as CMSS-3D and packs 64MB of DRAM.
 

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I would say, since it's music and gaming....and not movies (Dolby/DTS) the best pick would be X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty Pro. It has the lowest latency due to its design and hence best gaming performance. I sounds as good as any other card in the series though after MIR, it's almost half the price of the Auzen X-Fi Prelude on Newegg. So the Prelude loses out on that.
 
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wolf2009

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I would say, since it's music and gaming....and not movies (Dolby/DTS) the best pick would be X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty Pro. It has the lowest latency due to its design and hence best gaming performance. I sounds as good as any other card in the series though after MIR, it's almost half the price of the Auzen X-Fi Prelude on Newegg. So the Prelude loses out on that.

is there any difference for movies b/w fatality gamer and prelude if i connect them to the bose 5.1's i have .
 

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is there any difference for movies b/w fatality gamer and prelude if i connect them to the bose 5.1's i have .

If you connect digitally, yes. The Prelude 7.1 can decode DTS Interactive / Dolby digital content. Connecting a co-axial / optic line is easier than on a XG FP where you have to get a digital IO module.
 
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wolf2009

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If you connect digitally, yes. The Prelude 7.1 can decode DTS Interactive / Dolby digital content. Connecting a co-axial / optic line is easier than on a XG FP where you have to get a digital IO module.

wat about azuntech hda xplosion , how good a card is that ?
 

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wat about azuntech hda xplosion , how good a card is that ?

Good for music and movies, not good for gaming. Not good as in, no advantage over onboard audio when gaming, no EAX acceleration, software voices, etc.
 
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what about a Razer Barracuda AC-1 Gaming Audio Card i have one they use a C-Media chipset and the sound i get out of is mint. This card is 117dBA
 
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wolf2009

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what about a Razer Barracuda AC-1 Gaming Audio Card i have one they use a C-Media chipset and the sound i get out of is mint. This card is 117dBA

dont know , i am looking for music as well as gaming ( not a big factor ) , and xtreme gamer fatality with rebate is cheaper .
 

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what about a Razer Barracuda AC-1 Gaming Audio Card i have one they use a C-Media chipset and the sound i get out of is mint. This card is 117dBA

If you're willing to spend $199 then it's a good card. You need either the SPDIF or a pair of headphones with that proprietary connectors. It doesn't come with those analog 3.5mm jacks.
 
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