What new sound card should I get?

[quasar923]

Im looking to get a new sound card for about $100 of less. Ive been looking at the Asus Xonar and HT Omega Striker. I do not know much about sound cards so Im looking for a little help. My current card which is a auzentech brand I believe because it uses the C-Media software does not work well on my computer. I am running windows 7 and the software for that sound card crashes whenever i try to open it, and recently it raises the pitch of any sound on my computer so I hear little girls and mice singing, it fixes it self when i restart the computer, but still a pain in the a**. It did only cost me $20, so i got what i paid for i guess. I mainly watch movies and listen to music on my computer, running one speaker wire to my sony sterio input, which powers 4 speakers and one sub. I play games occastionally if it makes any difference in which card I should get.

Thanks for any help!

 

[RejZoR]

Well, Xonar cards are also using C-Media audio chips (even though they advertise them under different name, i think it's AV100 and AV200). So, you could try X-Fi Titanium...

 

[Mussels]

Im looking to get a new sound card for about $100 of less. Ive been looking at the Asus Xonar and HT Omega Striker. I do not know much about sound cards so Im looking for a little help. My current card which is a auzentech brand I believe because it uses the C-Media software does not work well on my computer. I am running windows 7 and the software for that sound card crashes whenever i try to open it, and recently it raises the pitch of any sound on my computer so I hear little girls and mice singing, it fixes it self when i restart the computer, but still a pain in the a**. It did only cost me $20, so i got what i paid for i guess. I mainly watch movies and listen to music on my computer, running one speaker wire to my sony sterio input, which powers 4 speakers and one sub. I play games occastionally if it makes any difference in which card I should get.

Thanks for any help!

i had the same issues with the Cmedia software, when using the wrong driver. Uninstall the software completely and reboot - i'll help find the one you need. What chipset does it use?


You say you BELEIVE its an auzen, but you only paid $20 for it? Doesnt sound right to me.

 

[department76]

if you are running one wire to your stereo then i'm assuming you're using a digital coax or fober-optic cable. in that case, to get the best use out of your surround for games and movies (avoiding using prologic, etc) then you'll want a card that does surround encoding on the fly.

look for something with dolby digital live and/or DTS connect/interactive

 

[DrunkenMafia]

I have an auzentech cinema 7.1. And it is great with win 7. I had a few dramas with it using vista though.

Can you find out what model it is exactly? Like mussels said he can sort you out with the right drivers.

I actually have a spare auzentech 7.1 just sitting here...

 

[Irish_PXzyan]

I have an Auzentech prelude x-fi 7.1 and I like it
nothing wrong with it at all

try using SRS sandbox. search it on google
I find it great when listening to music and watching movies.
I only use my sound card for games.

But I am currently building a surround sound set up so be sure to get a card that supports DTS and Dolby

 

[quasar923]

I have an auzentech cinema 7.1. And it is great with win 7. I had a few dramas with it using vista though.

Can you find out what model it is exactly? Like mussels said he can sort you out with the right drivers.

I actually have a spare auzentech 7.1 just sitting here...

I couldnt find the exact model but i dont think it is an auzentech now that i think of it, if other brands also use C- media. The chip on the bottom of the card says "CMI8738/PCI-ch-MX" and below that "HRTF 3D Audio" then the serial number below that. Its a cheep $25 card that i bought at a store when i asked for their cheepest sound card because i had blown my on board sound by plugging an amplifier into the input on the on board. If i got the auzentech or another $100ish card would it make much difference in sound quality? thanks for the help

 

[quasar923]

anyone?

 

[Reefer86]

yeah for sure. the more expensive sound card are more expensive for a reason. They clear up audio and you can and effects etc. When i use my xfi with features on i notice a huge difference in clarity of treble and bass.

 

[Mussels]

8738 is an ooooooooold card. from the early XP days.

They still have win 7 support which is magical considering their age.

http://www.cmedia.com.tw/download.html

drivers should be on that link... but it seems the website is down

 

[quasar923]

8738 is an ooooooooold card. from the early XP days.

They still have win 7 support which is magical considering their age.

http://www.cmedia.com.tw/download.html

drivers should be on that link... but it seems the website is down

yea man, the website wont open. says it cant be found. I think ill just get a new card for about $100. What do you recomend? I mostly listen to music on my computer, with one speaker wire to my sterio input. not a digital coax or fober-optic cable or anything special like that since i dont have an input for that on my sterio.

One of these: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000V6R2OK/?tag=tec06d-20

 

[MKmods]

I have had all the Asus cards and they were very good. My newest card is the Auzen X-Raider.
Its an excellent card and works flawlessly with my comp and Win 7 64bit.
(and its almost half of ur budget)

Personally I wish I had got the X-Studio card but it wasent in stock so I went with the X-Raider. Quality of sound wise they are impossible to beat at that price point. Now add to that swappable OPAMPS so you can tailor the sound and they RULE!

 

[quasar923]

I have had all the Asus cards and they were very good. My newest card is the Auzen X-Raider.
Its an excellent card and works flawlessly with my comp and Win 7 64bit.
(and its almost half of ur budget)

Personally I wish I had got the X-Studio card but it wasent in stock so I went with the X-Raider. Quality of sound wise they are impossible to beat at that price point. Now add to that swappable OPAMPS so you can tailor the sound and they RULE!

yea its still out of stock, are the more expensive cards like the asus xonar and HT omega better overall than the x-studio and the x-raider?

 

[MKmods]

Honestly unless your speakers/amp are designed for them I will say no way.

I use Logitech Z-2300s (Excellent 2.1 shake the walls sound)

and M Audio 30 studio monitors (for more detailed stuff, Jazz and Anime)

For speakers like that the X-studio would be perfect (X-Raider too)

I REALLY loved the Asus cards (DX and D1 especially) as they sounded very good and had probably one of the best (coolest looking) user interfaces. I bought my Asus cards when they had rebates and they were around $60AR, Thats hard to beat.

The one complaint I had with the Asus DX was it needs an extra floppy power plug (the D1 dosent)

But I sent my Asus card to the UK with my Bloodrage mobo and needed a new card (turned out my Asus Crosshair III that was open box was missing its sound card)
The Asus DX was gonna be my first choice but the rebate was gone and it was about $90 so I saw the Auzen X Raider and thought I would take a chance (it also is REALLY REALLY cool because its a short sound card and dosent block the intake of my 5770 GPU)
I plugged it in and got the new driver fron Auzen and it was a Beautiful sounding card. Worked perf.

I ordered a new OPAMP off ebay (supposed to make the card sound even better, but I havent swapped it yet as the card sounds really good how it is and im lazy)

 

[quasar923]

I got the HT Omega Striker 7.1 because it had the better reviews on the site, i dont notice all tooo much difference over my other card, but now it doesnt mess up when i open skype and raise the pitch to sound liek mice