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Topic: Which cheap soundcard to choose? (Read 13967 times) previous topic - next topic
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Which cheap soundcard to choose?

Ok. I'd like to replace my FM-801 based card to something better (this should't be too difficult ) . But cheap, please!! Let's say not more expensive than Aureon 5.1 FUN (AFAIK it's about 50 euros).  Some suggestions? SB5.1?



P.S. Really cannot afford something more
P.P.S. And I don't need sourround's dvd palyers, other crap. I just want to listen to some music, play games, mainly on headphones)
--
pozdr.
yq

Which cheap soundcard to choose?

Reply #1 –
That's an easy choice.
Hercules Fortissimo III

Which cheap soundcard to choose?

Reply #2 –
SB128 PCI for < 15-20 Euros

Which cheap soundcard to choose?

Reply #3 –
Or you can buy some cheapo Live! and use kX driver with it.

Which cheap soundcard to choose?

Reply #4 –
does kx driver support spdif on lives yet?  last time i tried it only audigy spdif was supported, making the kx drivers useless to me.

Which cheap soundcard to choose?

Reply #5 –
I'm with Garf, SB 128 PCI does a very adequate job for what you want for very little money.

Which cheap soundcard to choose?

Reply #6 –
If it's not already discontinued, I like Turtle Beach Santa Cruz/Videologic Sonic Fury (same card). However has driver issues with DirectX8 in Win9x systems iirc.

Which cheap soundcard to choose?

Reply #7 –
It could be a good idea to look for specific soundchips instead of soundcards because different souncards often have the exact same chips on it...

For example souncards with cs4624 or cs4630 chips (dsp?) from cirrus logic usually have good and enjoyable soundquality (at least for me  )

hope it helps a little,
David

Which cheap soundcard to choose?

Reply #8 –
I just bought the terratec aureon fun and I´m really content with it. (~40€)

Which cheap soundcard to choose?

Reply #10 –
Quote
For example souncards with cs4624 or cs4630 chips (dsp?) from cirrus logic usually have good and enjoyable soundquality (at least for me  )

The CS46xx DSP chip is just one component of the card. Other parts of the card (ADCs, DACs, analog electronics) can be different and make the card to have different final performance.

Which cheap soundcard to choose?

Reply #11 –
I think too that SB128PCI is a good choice...
It's really cheap but still has a very good sound quality (no resample pb)
I had one for 3 years and I still have it (I won't change...) 
A Dwarf has its own way to fight !

Which cheap soundcard to choose?

Reply #12 –
Quote
Ok. I'd like to replace my FM-801 based card to something better (this should't be too difficult ) . But cheap, please!! Let's say not more expensive than Aureon 5.1 FUN (AFAIK it's about 50 euros).  Some suggestions? SB5.1?



P.S. Really cannot afford something more
P.P.S. And I don't need sourround's dvd palyers, other crap. I just want to listen to some music, play games, mainly on headphones)

Realtek ALC650 on board 


Really GOOD AND CHEAP sound card  (actually it is audio codec chip)
still LAME 3.96.1 --preset extreme -q 0 -V 0 -m s at least until 2005.

Which cheap soundcard to choose?

Reply #13 –
Quote
Realtek ALC650 on board

My fault: I should mention: PCI soundcard  B)

It looks like SB128 should be my choice than.  This Hercules is little too expensive. And if quality of SB128 is ok and it doesn't resample that's nice piece of equipment for me
Thanks everybody.
--
pozdr.
yq

Which cheap soundcard to choose?

Reply #14 –
Quote
Quote
For example souncards with cs4624 or cs4630 chips (dsp?) from cirrus logic usually have good and enjoyable soundquality (at least for me  )

The CS46xx DSP chip is just one component of the card. Other parts of the card (ADCs, DACs, analog electronics) can be different and make the card to have different final performance.

Okay. I thought these DSPs were kind of all-in-one stuff... 

Which cheap soundcard to choose?

Reply #15 –
When will America get the new Terratec line of cards?! I want a Terratec Aureon Space 7.1.

Which cheap soundcard to choose?

Reply #16 –
Quote
This Hercules is little too expensive.

It costs more than the Aureon Fun for you?!

Which cheap soundcard to choose?

Reply #17 –
Quote
Quote
Realtek ALC650 on board

My fault: I should mention: PCI soundcard  B)

It looks like SB128 should be my choice than.  This Hercules is little too expensive. And if quality of SB128 is ok and it doesn't resample that's nice piece of equipment for me
Thanks everybody.

I've heard it said that the newer SB128's do resample, however I have one of the newer ones and don't notice any real difference in SQ between 44.1 and 48KHz.  It really is a good card with simple and stable drivers (because of the simplicity, few possibilities of IRQ conflicts, etc).  It has very few features though, but IMHO is perfect for basic tasks like DVD viewing, casual music listening, etc.  Even the MIDI implementation sounds decent and doesn't use any appreciable CPU time.

Edit -- if anyone's curious about the MIDI (whoever still uses it or listens?), I could post a short MP3 demo somewhere.

Which cheap soundcard to choose?

Reply #18 –
Is the SB 128 that much better than SB Live?  I have a 4-yr old Live.  From the discussion above, I take it that these lower-bit cards resample all the sound they put thru . . . can you really tell the difference when listening?

Better spoken, how much better is a 128 than a Live?  (If it's that much better, then maybe it's time for me to upgrade, but if the difference is very small, then maybe I'll keep what I have.) 

I'm sure that there are tons of theoretical reasons why it should perform better, but I'm more interested in real-world experiences . . . Does it really perform better?

Keep in mind that I use it for listening to mp3's, not for remastering anything or any crazy use that real audio guys might want a card for.

Thanks,
Rob

Which cheap soundcard to choose?

Reply #19 –
In actuality going from the SB Live to the SB 128 is downgrading, but quality wise is upgrading.  The SB Live has a horrible freaquency responce, does a bad job of resampling of all audio to 48khz and it's software is horribly bug ridden and unstable.

Which cheap soundcard to choose?

Reply #20 –
I think the turtle beach santa cruz is the best card you can get under $100

Which cheap soundcard to choose?

Reply #21 –
Quote
Is the SB 128 that much better than SB Live?

I think that using a SSRC plugin and rear outputs in a Live will give better quality than a SB128. Even using front outputs the quality can be better I guess. About real *audible* improvement, well... I don't know if there will be much difference.

Another important thing is that under the name of SB128 PCI different quality cards have been sold, and the quality of the actual one you buy would be unknown.

Which cheap soundcard to choose?

Reply #22 –
The NEWS SB pci 128 are  bad, I have one and the sound is less good than chipset AC 97 of my motherboard.
dont buy!
or buy older sb pci 128...


regards
Domenico Guerra
Music is my first love.

Which cheap soundcard to choose?

Reply #23 –
Quote
The NEWS SB pci 128 are  bad, I have one and the sound is less good than chipset AC 97 of my motherboard.
dont buy!
or buy older sb pci 128...


regards
Domenico Guerra

Do you know any way to tell a "new" one from an "old" one?  Different drivers maybe?

Probably it's not an issue to me... when the I/O jacks on my PCI128 start getting flaky (they do eventually, if you plug things in/out) then I'm getting an M-Audio Audiophile 24/96 or equivalent.

Which cheap soundcard to choose?

Reply #24 –
i have buy "new"  my sb 128 pci 6 month later.
i have installed the last driver from creative (SBPCI_WebDrvsV5_12_01)
model card is CT 4810
chipset is creative CT 5880
DA converter ( i think) is sigmatel ST AC 9721T
i have 3 other IC , operational amplifier and voltage regulator.
in the top left of card not have 3 IC ( amplifier power).

I think that it is not the same card which some are satisfied!!!

i have buy terratec dmx 6fire, now i am happy!
Music is my first love.