New sounds advice?

[AcurA]

Ok my old sblive-value is doing weird things on me (don't ask) - perfect xcuse for an upgrade :D

Ok is their any noticeable diff bet the live 5.1 digital and the Audigi DE? I'm just after 4 speaker output and was wondering if tis work 2× $$+ for the Audigi...

Any advice on other solutions welcome of course.

[SilverPriest]

4 Speaker output...
Phylips Rhythmic Edge.
Don't touch creative with a 9 foot pole.
I'll leave the "why" to someone else ;)
Philips Acoustic Edge or Gametheatre XP would be my personal pick.....

[AcurA]

same price range 2 SP.... interesting.

[DiscoStu]

The Philips RE is pretty damn solid. Just a scaled down AE really.

Other good options are the Hercules Fortissimo 2 (quite hard to find now) and the Leadtek 6x (which is pretty impressive for the price).

RE ~140
Fort 2 ~130
Leadtek ~80

I should have it all written up by next week ;)

[Gh0s7 L3mUr]

Dragon (http://www.dragonpc.co.nz) has the Fortissimo 2.

I personally have a GameTheatre XP and am happy :D

Just incase you didn't get it....

Stay away from Creative. :mad: :)

*sits back and waits for the famous Whetu anti-Creative rant* :D

[whetu]

creative BAD
beer GOOD

[Binky Stunt Cat]

so the best INTERNAL sound card would be? (i dont want anything outside the case...just coz it's extra junk to carry around/lose/unplug)

[DiscoStu]

Originally posted by Binky Stunt Cat
so the best INTERNAL sound card would be? (i dont want anything outside the case...just coz it's extra junk to carry around/lose/unplug)
well of all the cards commented on so far, only the Gamettheatre has external "extras".

Best card is pretty subjective, and would vary on what the primary use & sort of setup you have.

RE = excellent 4ch card <$150.
Also great for those poor saps with 2 speakers - it gives good postitional sound (well for 2 speakers) and good DVD performance.

Fortissimo II = solid performance all round and also below $150. A good choice as it uses a analogue splitter cable allowing you to plud everything in (including headphones) and select through software, saving you from having to plug/unplug speakers/headphones.

Leadtek 6X = one of the best <$100 cards I have EVER used. Great use of the cmedia chipset. Reproduces mp3's thru all channels (which can't be said for many sub $100 cards under WinXP). Also allows for 5.1 (which I didn't test) and has an additional SPDIF daugther board.

I'll stop now before I write my review up in this thread :p

[Binky Stunt Cat]

*waits for the reveiw*

[farns]

Can u put a SB live! 5.1 in ur review ?
They are only $90 so it would be interesting for some to hear their shortcomings compared to better cards :D

[whetu]

sh*tty support
sh*tty card
and can you say "via problems" :rolleyes:

[farns]

erm k theres ya SB live review boys :p

[Antallica]

Why's SB Live! bad? I have the DE 5.1.... no probs here.

I have heard they don't like high fsb but that's the only thing bad I've ever heard. Enlighten me :)

[farns]

lol Whetu I remember ages ago u said "try using ur ESS1869 audiodrive with headphones" and I do and theres no Hiss!
I get positional sound on Q3!
ESS all the way !!

[whetu]

i hope youre being sarcastic.. cos the hiss from an audiodrive could scare my cat :eek:

[Antallica]

You want hiss!!?? Try my mates ESS (half-duplex) sack of poos. Now there's a good card... NOT!!!

[utopian201]

i tot 4 channel surround sound is bad, since its a compromise between 2.1 and 5.1??

i tot if u go further than 2.1, u may as well skip 4.1, and go the whole way and get 5.1......??

[DiscoStu]

Originally posted by utopian201
i tot if u go further than 2.1, u may as well skip 4.1, and go the whole way and get 5.1......??
Well sure, if money wasn't an issue.

But then we'd all have klipsch 5.1's wouldn't we. :p

[SilverPriest]

You just wait disco, you just wait ;)

[Binky Stunt Cat]

i think this would apply to Stu about now....
"I'm gonna sing the Doom song! Doom Doom Doom Doom Doom Doomy Doom Doom......."

[Grrr!!]

For some reason 5.1 just seems insanely more expensive than 4.1!

[farns]

nah I swear my audiodrive only gets a little hiss if i turn the phones up full bore with nothing playing, its hard to hear when something is playing. Now im no audiophile but I dont think Im deaf and it seems acceptable so I can only dream of what a quality card would do. When I "upgrade" to ac97 onboard I will be in auditory bliss haha

[whetu]

is there a volume knob on the back of the card? if so, crank it up if it isnt already ;)

as for 4.0/4.1 it all depends on the implementation used and the expansion format

[Grrr!!]

Sound quality and the need for 4.1 / 5.1 is really dependant on the room too. I had a friend bragging about his 5.1 audigy, only to find that he had all his speakers in a row to the left of his monitor!!! :rolleyes: Some people are just stupid. If you have nowhere to put the extra speakers, then WTF is the point in paying for them!

[DiscoStu]

Originally posted by Grrr!!
I had a friend bragging about his 5.1 audigy, only to find that he had all his speakers in a row to the left of his monitor!!! :rolleyes:
HAHAHAHAA - ROTF.

Oh I needed that :D

[Grrr!!]

Don't forget that if you do something that stupid, it'll sound worse than a mono system! Everything echoes together to make a horrid noise.

[AcurA]

Philips Acoustic Edge on tis way - thanks for advice ppls...

[Ragnor]

Hey Whetu another addition to the army of Philips Acoustic Edge wh0r3's... :cool:

Here's sum links you'll want:

3DSS seems to work pretty closely with philips in providing the latest beta drivers, they have a pretty good forum too.

http://www.3dss.com/drivers/AcousticEdge/

http://www.3dss.com/drivers/AcousticEdge/WDMbeta.html

The last official WDM drivers (98SE, ME, 2k, XP) are version 1.57 but the latest beta driver is v1.89. Word is that the v1.89's are getting WHQL certified at the moment and will shortly replace the 1.57's as the official drivers @ www.pcsound.philips.com.

I'm using the 1.87's at the mo and downloading the v1.89's.

[AcurA]

any better than phlips drivers?

[Ragnor]

They are philips drivers, just pre official or pre WHQL certified.

There's a load of fixes in between 1.57 >>> 1.89

Code optimization, noise reduction, Yeah stuff like better sounding mp3 and wave playback, better compatibility with new games etc

Goto the 2nd link I posted above and scroll down.. tells you what's new in each version.

[Wibber]

i hope youre being sarcastic.. cos the hiss from an audiodrive could scare my cat
rolflmao
I laughed so hard I spat on the monitor and woke my partner up...... it was all downhill after the monitor :)

[farns]

Well even considering the $50ish price difference against the SB Live! Id def get the Philips if I was buying a soundcard judging on your reviews, I didnt realise they were so cheap now, I thought the Live! was at least half as dear as any decent card.

[whetu]

hey ragnor, afaik the 1.89's do have whql certification.. but for xp only.. they are working on whql for 2k at the mo

go to the pcsound.philips site and you'll see they are up ;)

[Ragnor]

Ya.. I know ;)

I'm running 2k anyway. The beta's from 3dss and the WQHL's from philips are identical apart from the one .cat file. Which only tell's WinXP that these be certified drivers.

Cool that they are getting the cert though... wonder why 2k's cert is taking longer?

and hehe there's not even such a thing Win98 cert anymore...

[AcurA]

kewl got it today... :D
BTW anyone use the creative patch (3.6) for UT? would that be compatible?