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

[LiveOrDie]

i use mine for gaming movies music
SPEC'S
Razer Enhanced Sonic Perception™ (ESP) enhances positional audio in gaming to allow competitive gamers to take advantage of the expanded dynamic soundstage in-game

Dolby® Pro-Logic IIx surround processor splits stereo audio into 7.1 channel surround sound

Dolby® Headphone technology conveys 5.1 surround or 3D gaming sounds over stereo headphones

Independent Dolby® Digital Live (AC-3) 5.1 real-time encoding bit-stream to facilitate connection with CE AV receiver

Dolby® Virtual Speaker solution brings amazing virtual surround sound fields via general two speakers

DTS® Interactive Real-time 5.1 encoder that takes any 2 or more channels and encodes it into DTS bit stream

DTS® NeoPC An upmixing matrix that turns any 2 channel audio into 7.1 surround sound

Supports 7.1 CH digital audio playback for WinXP 64, WinXP ,Win2000 (Microsoft® DirectX V.9.0 above is required) and most industrial standards of PC 3D sound for gaming, including EAX™ 1.0&2.0, A3D™ 1.0, and DirectSound™

PCI 2.2 interface (Burst Modes and Bus Mastering)

4 synchronous I2S input/output pairs

Integrated 192k/24-bit S/PDIF receiver/transmitter Multi-channel AC-link (supports up to 2 AC97 codecs)

S/PDIF IN supports digital loop back path for transforming between optical and RCA connection

Serial bus to communicate with micro control unit (MCU)lMPU-401 MIDI UART port support

All I2S I/O pairs support 32-bit high-definition PCM data transfer and adjustable sample rate up to 192KHz

 

[LiveOrDie]

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.

 

[btarunr]

Like I said, it's more pricey than a X-Fi prelude, at least in the US, good card though.

 

[TechnicalFreak]

Ok.. I don't know if you are into "making music" or just gaming. If it's gaming listen to the rest. Otherwise take a look here:
http://www.apogeedigital.com/products/symphony.php

You might want to buy a 2:nd hand card, since the price tag is rather big.

A friend of mine sold a bundle with the Apogee X-Symphony expansioncard included for about
200US$ (not exactly, more like 180) since she got a better card from the company she is currently working for. I know they show a mac on the link, but that's just because it's most common in music industry..

 

[LiveOrDie]

Like I said, it's more pricey than a X-Fi prelude, at least in the US, good card though.

Sould be cheaper in the US i paid $200 for mine here in AUS

 

[btarunr]

Sould be cheaper in the US i paid $200 for mine here in AUS

It is US $199.99 from the Razer store in the US. http://www.razerzone.com/store.php

 

[das müffin mann]

im running the x-fi extreme music, i love it, makes the sounds in games a bit better, along with music, you can find them for about $50 used, but if you have the budget go for the prelude

 

[wolf2009]

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.

no i'm not looking to spend that much . maybe x-fi xtreme gamer fatality with rebate coz it has dolby,dts decoder , which xtreme gamer doesn't have. am i right ?

 

[btarunr]

no i'm not looking to spend that much . maybe x-fi xtreme gamer fatality with rebate coz it has dolby,dts decoder , which xtreme gamer doesn't have. am i right ?

That's not so. The Xtreme Gamer FP doesn't decode DTS Interactive. You need to buy an optional Digital IO module from Creative for the SPDIF connections or the IO drive or the external IO module, or this.

But for gaming, considering it's $89.99 +sh (after MIR), nothing beats this card for its value.

 

[wolf2009]

That's not so. The Xtreme Gamer FP doesn't decode DTS Interactive. You need to buy an optional Digital IO module from Creative for the SPDIF connections or the IO drive or the external IO module, or this.

But for gaming, considering it's $89.99 +sh (after MIR), nothing beats this card for its value.

are u talking about x-fi xtreme gamer fatality ?
also does creative rip u in rebates ? or do they actually honor it ?

 

[Darren]

no i'm not looking to spend that much . maybe x-fi xtreme gamer fatality with rebate coz it has dolby,dts decoder , which xtreme gamer doesn't have. am i right ?

Creative are actually misleading as you require additional software such as Power DVD or Win DVD to decode and any cheap £10 sound card can decode Dolby and DTS. However encoding is a different story, only specialist cards such as Auzentech's Prelude, X-Meridian, X-Plosion etc can encode both DTS and Dolby into bit streams to your AV receiver on the fly via fibre or coaxial. Pointless feature unless you have an AV receiver.

 

[btarunr]

are u talking about x-fi xtreme gamer fatality ?
also does creative rip u in rebates ? or do they actually honor it ?

Yes, X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty Professional. I don't know what 'rip' you're talking of but the rebate is that Newegg.com is offering the card (Retail version) for $89.99 +shipping after the Mail-in-rebate. It's not an offer from Creative.

 

[wolf2009]

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 ?

 

[btarunr]

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 ?

Yes, $50 for Xtreme Music is a nice deal. Barring X-RAM you have everything from the XG-FP which isn't a big deal considering it's almost $40 lesser.

 

[MKmods]

Thats what I got mine for, very good deal. Get some better speakers now and have fun..

 

[das müffin mann]

yup same price i got mein at IT IS A GREAT CARD for the price

 

[wolf2009]

y was xtreme music discontinued ?

 

[MKmods]

Its junk, lol.....

I think it would be to make room for the newer models.

 

[das müffin mann]

how is the extreme music junk?

 

[MKmods]

how is the extreme music junk?

Hence the "LOL" after.
(thats my attempt at humor as I have that card as well)

 

[das müffin mann]

 

[imperialreign]

y was xtreme music discontinued ?

Not sure why the Xtreme Music was discontinued, TBH - it was a good card. It was more tailored towards entertainment playback and audio creation, whereas the Fatal1ty is more tailored towards entertainment and gaming (but is still capable of audio creation). I think, it had more to do with a lot of people viewed the XM as a cheaper alternative to the Elite Pro - which is Creative's best card on the market for entertainment and creation purposes. The Fatal1ty still holds the performance crown.

Creative are actually misleading as you require additional software such as Power DVD or Win DVD to decode and any cheap £10 sound card can decode Dolby and DTS. However encoding is a different story, only specialist cards such as Auzentech's Prelude, X-Meridian, X-Plosion etc can encode both DTS and Dolby into bit streams to your AV receiver on the fly via fibre or coaxial. Pointless feature unless you have an AV receiver.

True that the Fatal1ty cannot encode - this is the biggest thing the Prelude has over any of the Creative cards (including the Elite Pro), on the other hand, though, the Fatal1ty is capable of decoding without the need for external hardware. The options to change decoder settings can be accessed from within the audio mode panel. IIRC, only the Fatal1ty and Elite Pro have the ability to change decoder settings "on-board".

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

The Razer AC-1 is a great card for the money, with slightly higher audio quality over the Fatal1ty . . . but from what I've heard, one needs to also make use of Razer's Barracuda HP-1 headset to experience that quailty. I won't state that as gospel, though, as I'm not 100% sure on that.

But, I can say, though, that the Razer falls short of the Fatal1ty in both EAX capability - the Razer is only capable of EAX 2.0, whereas the Fatal1ty is capable of every EAX installment - and it also falls short in performance . . . although the AC-1 is fast, it still utilizes a C-Media chipset, which will always be inherently slower than a dedicated processing unit. Even Creative's chipsets are slower than the X-Fi APU.

Even still, though, they're good cards - a bit pricy, IMO, but are defi comparable to the Fatal1ty. I'd really like to see Razer come up with some offerings that make their card stand out over the Fatal1ty, as I think it would be great for the competition.

 

[btarunr]

y was xtreme music discontinued ?

Xtreme Gamer = half height Xtreme Music. There is no component difference between the two cards except the AD link and the internal connections to the IO drive. Hence Creative could cut manufacturing costs many fold. keep those two connectors aside and there is no component difference between the XG and XM. Just that XG is low-profile that is an added advantage if you happen to have two video-cards in Crossfire/SLI and a PCI slot between them or a low-profile / HTPC chasis.

 

[department76]

answering posts from previous page;

the Auzen X-Fi prelude does support everything the creative x-fi's do, as in CMSS3D, crystallizer, up to EAX 5.0, etc. however, the prelude does it with far higher quality than any creative card save the elite pro and fatal1ty champion(debateable).
also, the prelude supports all technoloiges the C-Media and VIA based cards (asus xonar, razer, auzen xplosion, omega claro, etc) do that creatives don't, as in dolby digital live, upcoming DTS-connect, and DTS-NeoC, ASIO support, etc. the prelude also has an I/O extension board you can buy, as well as front panel audio connectors, solid capacitors, and a replaceable opamp. overall, no card on the market can touch the prelude for its exquisite blend of features and quality.

i have a prelude and absolutely love it. the only card that satisfies the audiofile and gamer, i would recommend no other to someone looking for the best all-around card.

 

[btarunr]

answering posts from previous page;

the Auzen X-Fi prelude does support everything the creative x-fi's do, as in CMSS3D, crystallizer, up to EAX 5.0, etc.

It does

The card isn't more of one feature than another. A lot of things were fixed with driver releases. Ironically Creative is the driver provider.