Is this a good soundcard?

[CarolinaKSU]

I have been looking around at getting a real sound card since my onboard Realtek that comes with the 680i Mobo is simply not cutting it for me. The sound is tinny and sounds like its come from a tin can. I have been looking around at the X-Fi's and their poor driver support and gaming issues plus the higher price is a turn off..

This one on newegg seems to get some good reviews and the price is about right, anyone have any experience with the HT Omega Striker?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829271001

 

[timta2]

It looks like it has decent reviews. Do you have a decent amp and speakers? The Realtek audio on my system sounds great.

 

[CarolinaKSU]

I have the Logitech G51 5.1 surround speaker system, not the best in the world but pretty good. It sounds great when my Zune is plugged in, like crap when the PC is hooked up tho..

 

[CrAsHnBuRnXp]

I love my X-Fi. No issues with drivers or games with it.

 

[MilkyWay]

first off creative cards arnt as good as they once where hardware and drivers so im glad you didnt pick a creative card, second it looks okay from the newegg page

any reviews of it?

ther are a few other cards you could pick im sure somone could mention a few alternatives in that price range

the high end cards like the razer are too dear for that price range

the onboard realtek does most but if you have a good speaker setup or headphones or a surround sound set up a card can work wonder, plus sound will be crisper and games will get a few frames from the card doing sound via hardware instead of onbaord

 

[CarolinaKSU]

first off creative cards arnt as good as they once where hardware and drivers so im glad you didnt pick a creative card, second it looks okay from the newegg page

any reviews of it?

ther are a few other cards you could pick im sure somone could mention a few alternatives in that price range

the high end cards like the razer are too dear for that price range

the onboard realtek does most but if you have a good speaker setup or headphones or a surround sound set up a card can work wonder, plus sound will be crisper and games will get a few frames from the card doing sound via hardware instead of onbaord

I couldnt really find any reviews of it anywhere, just other forums of people who owned them. I was wondering what the TPU Nation's thoughts were

 

[MilkyWay]

see im not the best for sound cards since i dont own one

i know for sure an experienced member can help

 

[ktr]

Which O/S do you have? Do you play pc games?

 

[CarolinaKSU]

I have XP Pro, probably going to Vista Ultimate 64 before too long. And yes I am into gaming and music in a big way..

 

[ktr]

You want and X-FI then, mostly for EAX 5.0. There driver support is just fine from XP, a little iffy for Vista, but they will improve over time.

But the only issue is that there are some known issues with the evga680i and x-fi cards.

 

[GSG-9]

You just have to treat the xfi like a 'special' baby... it needs even more attention, and if it does not get it, its not happy, and if it does not want to do something you want it to do you might just make it more angry.

But if your on the same page its great

 

[WarEagleAU]

+1 KTR. There are known issues. You may want to give the new XFI PCI-e Fatal1ty card out. While that card you are looking at has decent reviews, it seems the first couple of people have had problems with it. THe only other cards out that offer anything above EAX 5.0 is the Auzentech X fi. Asus' card fakes the EAX.

 

[CarolinaKSU]

You want and X-FI then, mostly for EAX 5.0. There driver support is just fine from XP, a little iffy for Vista, but they will improve over time.

But the only issue is that there are some known issues with the evga680i and x-fi cards.

Yeah, thats what I figured and having a 680i board from evga ,I dont really want to buy a card that is going to have issues with it so I want to steer clear of the X-Fi. Nothing against them personally, just dont need the added stress of one more thing to go wrong in my rig

 

[ktr]

I would then look at the audigy 2 zs, its a great card. It drivers are great, and it has EAX 4.0, which is as good as 5.0.

http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=205&product=4915

^^^ its out of stock there, but if you look at this screen...

http://us.creative.com/shop/shopcategory.asp?category=1&mi=0&ma=50#top

^^^ it is in stock. Perhaps a bug on their site. Try clicking buy on this screen and see if you can processes the order.

 

[wtf8269]

I have the HT Omega Striker and am very happy with it. It was upsetting at first, but once I plugged in all the settings everything sounds great. It replaced my Creative Audigy LS that I had used for almost five years.

 

[devguy]

I've heard a lot of good things about this Asus card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132006

It's pcie and low profile, yet cheap. My friend has one hooked up to his home theater and says there is a nice and noticeable difference between it and the Realtek audio. However, I'm happy with my ALC889A simply because of DTS: Connect (I use digital surround, not analog). Therefore, Creative solutions (without the use of the daniel_k driver) leave DTS: Connect and Dolby Digital: Live out of the question.