Need some advice on a good Sound Card

I am looking to get a good soundcard for an AMD Athon XP 1900 PC. Can anyone recommend a good one? I don't need anything fancy just a good quality card good for gaming and a good speaker system.

 

For the nothing fancy and it seems good quality sound I have two Sound Blaster 16 ( 1- ISA and 1- PCI ) cards and two sets of Creative Speakers.

App cost $49 and $25 respectively.

And the cards work well in all systems from DOS to Windows ME.

And the install software sets up both the DOS and Windows side very nicely.

The only problem I did have was when a PCI modem was involved. Trashed the Modem and went External with it an away went any problems.

BTW. The sound quality is more related to the speakers than it is the card.

BillyBob

 

Sound Blaster Live! Value. Good card. 32 bit, can find it for < $40. I think they may have changed the name recently to SBL 5.1 or something like that. I wouldn't mess with the SB 16. Its old technology.

Speakers Cambridge Soundworks Digital I bought mine for $60.

So drop $100 and you will be able to enjoy cranking up your MP3s and feel you entire room shake when playing Medal of Honor.

Thats the set up I run at work (machine below) and at home (900 Mhz Athlon).

 

the SB 16. Its old technology.

Yep. I agree. Quite old.

But there must be some reason for it still being around when a good many others ( including SB/Creatve ) have come and gone.

The SB16 is a bit like DOS and External Modems. Old ( some very old ) but they are still around to bail our butts out of trouble that modern technology may get us into. ( Or it does not work. )

Again. Speakers make more difference than the card itself.

And also what software is being used to play the audio. WMP is better in some places. Real Player is better for some things. And WinAmp ( I think that is it ) may be better than both. I don't know as I have never used Winamp.

And also the versions of the above items comes into play.

So the quality of sound is not strictly related to just the card. Other things such as drivers etc. also play a big part.

And hopefully no IRQ or DMA conflicts are invloved. They will kill the best of the best.

Believe me. Newer is not always better. Just sometimes.

and feel you entire room shake when playing Medal of Honor.

Heck man !!. I can turn the volumne up a bit. Adjust the base a bit and make the room and the speakers dance the Pennsylvania Polka or March to Stars and Stripes.

Oh BTW. In some cases make what ever is on the screen dance too

And get yelled at too. You won't lets us do that DAD. So how come you can do it ?? OOPS !! Dear old Dad messes up again.

The old Chop Buster from WAY back.
BillyBob

 

I have a Creative Audigy MP3 sound card $84.00 at newegg.com

If you add my Creative Inspire 5.1 Digital 5700 speakers it will rattle the windows in your house. My neighbor called the police on me because my computer was too loud

 

I highly recommend the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz. It's 9X/ME/2000/XP compatible and can be had new for $62. I'm a voice of one but you'll find that many, many tech-savvy people use this card.

 

Some varied opinions here huh? Forget the SB 16 - its a good standby and a great DOS card but is quite limited by todays standards (One could have said that 5 years ago too!) Same with AWE 32, 64 or SB 128PCI cards. Turtle Beach is good but will cause problems with some MB's unless you know what you are doing. Be careful with SB Live Value cards (some of the older ones are problematic).

The best bang for your buck - SB Live 5.1 OEM (white box) can't be beat. If you pay more than $35 you are not a good shopper.

The only tricky part of installing SB Live 5.1 (and most of the better cards that have DOS drivers) is the SB16 DOS emulation and potential IRQ conflicts.

 

Yeah I would say go for the SB Live 5.1 also....good card

and for the possibility of irq conflicts..just do some homework on your mobo and find out which pci slot has an unshared irq, or possibly how to free one up (depending on your mobo), by disabling "onboard sound" in bios

 

The only tricky part of installing SB Live 5.1 (and most of the better cards that have DOS drivers) is the SB16 DOS emulation and potential IRQ conflicts.

To this day I have yet to see an IRQ conflict that was not caused by a stubborn, refuse to change or share, may stop PCI IRQ Steering from working properly, Internal Modem.

Modem went away. So did conflicts and/or Audio problems.

Many times ( too many ) the Sound card takes the blame for something it is not to blame for.

BillyBob

 

BillyBob - I thought you had been around a few more machines than that. Hang in there son, you'll eventually get to see a few IRQ conflicts that are caused by something other than an internal modem.

 

OK Dad

I believe I covered that when I said " To this day "

Or does " as of yet " cover it.

But you are correct. Somewhere down the road things may change. As one NEVER knows what is going to happen.

BillyBob

 

BB - You're OK .....