Good audio card for surround sound?

[kc999]

I'm going to spending around $2000 on my new gaming desktop and am thinking about buying an audio card, that will work in win 7 64bit, to go with it to hook up surround sound too. And I dont know if my onboard audio is good enough or not. I'm getting the ASUS P6TD motherboard and I have no idea about the onboard audio in it.

 

[MARSOC_Operator]

I'm going to spending around $2000 on my new gaminig laptop and am thinking about buying an audio card, that will work in win 7 64bit, to go with it to hook up surround sound too. And I dont know if my onboard audio is good enough or not. I'm getting the ASUS P6TD motherboard and I have no idea about the onboard audio in it.

Any Creative Labs Soundblaster audio card with the X-FI and EAX technology will be all you need for excellent surround sound up to 7.1.

This one is made for laptops, check it out: http/us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=209&subcategory=669&product=17988&listby=

 

[gamerk316]

Disagree with any Creative product; If you need a soundcard, go with either Auzentech, ASUS, or one of HT Omega line of cards.

That being said, I don't know of any off hand that will even fit in a laptop (I never tried, in all honesty).

 

[kc999]

actually its a desktop, dont know why I said laptop

 

[MARSOC_Operator]

Disagree with any Creative product; If you need a soundcard, go with either Auzentech, ASUS, or one of HT Omega line of cards.

That being said, I don't know of any off hand that will even fit in a laptop (I never tried, in all honesty).

He wants a card for gaming and those cards don't even support EAX...

 

[kc999]

Hows this one anyone know?

http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102024

been readin the reviews for it and it looks like it workes good with windows 7.

 

[gamerk316]

1: EAX is a dead tech; even Creative admits as much.
2: Sound quality is higher on most non-Creative cards (even the Titanium is sub-par, which keeps costs down at the expense of quality)
3: Auzentech cards fully support EAX, as they use the X-fi chipset (but are still hurt by Creatives (lack of) drivers).
4: ASUS supports EAX 1/2 through hardware, and emulates EAX5 (the most important) through its drivers, with basically the same compatability as Creatives method of wrapping EAX calls to OpenAL via Alchemy (the same games tend break with both implementations).

I take overall quality of the sound ahead of any extra effects personally, and aside from legacy titles, you won't see many (if any) EAX games produced at this point.

Basically, if EAX really matters, go with Auzentech, if only so-so, go ASUS, and if not at all, go HT Omega. Creatives cards are below the others in the quality of the output, and with their horrid driver support, I simply can not recommend any of their cards.

My recommendations:
Auzentech: Forte, Prelude
ASUS: Xonar DX, Xonar D2/D2X, Essence ST/STX
HT Omega: Striker, Claro

In the sub $100 range, both the Striker and DX are great buys, and moving up to the $150 range, very few cards can beat the D2/D2X or Prelude in terms of quality.

 

[Debdas]

Sound dont only depends on sound card, you must have quality sound system or speaker to support it.
Intex cmi 8738 with 6 chanel connection will give you a quality sound.
Naat
Naats

 

[gamerk316]

^^ True, but you'd be shocked at how much a soundcard can improve even low quality speakers.

 

[SiycoBat626]

Gamerk316,

Specs: Windows XP 64-bit desktop, Intel Pentium 4 3GHZ CPU

What audio card brands are more compatible with my specs?
I'm also buying an Radeon HD 2900 XT graphics card to add to it and I need to know if there'll be any problems on compatibility and efficiency.

 

[gamerk316]

None whatsoever, provided you have a free slot (PCI-E or PCI, depending on the card) to plug the card into. A few cards do require an extra power connecter though...

 

[MEgamer]

Sound dont only depends on sound card, you must have quality sound system or speaker to support it.
Intex cmi 8738 with 6 chanel connection will give you a quality sound.
Naat
Naats

believe me therre is tonnes of difference in sound quality,

its what sound card is for.... sound quality WILL IMPROVE.

think it like this can u find a difference in integrated graphics and dedicated graphcis??

thats jsut about how much difference u will found, wether or not u are a critical listerner


so KC999 buy a good sound card, like the one gamernark suggested they are all very good, and Ull WILL find A Difference oh by teh way dont go with creative they are good we all know, but they had serious driver issues over the years.

 

[audioAl]

I agree with 316, and the speakers also make a difference, se my sig for my upgrade. Next post.

 

[audioAl]

Upgrade your Amp and speakers, use line-in to Amp and really hear the difference. On my latest build I use no sound card! Clarity and sonics are top shelf! Alan