Sound card for Z-5300e

Mantle · Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2005 9:12 am Post subject: Sound card for Z-5300e

Hey folks,

I decided to get myself a nice new set of speakers, but now I'm hung up on the sound card to choose. There's onboard 5.1 sound on my mobo, but I don't really want to touch that with a 10 foot pole because I love good music quality.

So, hook me up with some suggestions for a good sound card. I've been eyeing up the Audigy 2 Value because of cost, but I know there's some lesser known cards out there that perform equally well or better. Are there any known issues with the Audigy 2 Value that people have noticed to the point I should avoid getting the card?

Let me know what you guys think so I can get this system pouding!

Thanks,
Matt

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smith.p.sean · Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2005 10:24 am Post subject:

What kinda motherboard is it? You might try it and find out its not half bad. I love my asus onboard 5.1.

fussnfeathers · Lord of the Tweak Joined: 14 Dec 2004 Posts: 2763

For starters.......read here:
http://www.tweaknews.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4456

and here:
http://www.tweaknews.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4466

and here:
http://www.tweaknews.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4467

That'll give you the down and dirty long version.

In the short version: The only difference between the various Audigy 2 models is the software bundle. The Value comes with nothing, the Gamer comes with some games, the MP3 or whatever comes with some basic sound stuff, and the Platinum comes with the (amazingly useless) breakout box. It's a good card, but read up on those three posts to see some differences (and recommendations).
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[KoG]^weaZel · Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2005 11:11 am Post subject:

If you want better sound quality than the on-board and dont want to deal with Creative then i would suggest the Turtle Beach Montego. I much prefer this card to any of my soundblasters.
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fussnfeathers · Lord of the Tweak Joined: 14 Dec 2004 Posts: 2763

That one is good, or the M-Audio Revolution. They're both in about the same price range.
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Mantle · Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2005 1:51 pm Post subject:

Nice, thanks for the big breakdown there FnF. Those should definitely be stickied.

Right now I'm running an AOpen AX4SG Max II mobo, P4 2.8C, 1Gig Ram (2x512)

Purpose of the sound card will be music and DVD surround sound. I like my music loud and clear, hehe

Anyways, looks like the Audigy 2 is the cheapest choice, can anyone give me a reason not to go with that given my configuration and what I plan on using it for?

[KoG]^weaZel · Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2005 10:49 am Post subject:

a reason not to use Creative? hhhmmmm one might be the buggy drivers with XP SP2 when running applications that have lots of "voices". I have had that problem on more than one computer. Pulled out the soundblaster and started using on-board sound and havent had a problem yet. The sound qaulity isnt as good in all cases but at least the computer doesnt BSOD anymore.
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fussnfeathers · Lord of the Tweak Joined: 14 Dec 2004 Posts: 2763

I haven't used a SB card for quite some time, but aside from some driver issues (usually easily resolved) I've never heard any real complaints.
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sickofsoyo · Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2005 9:59 am Post subject:

I remember the good ol' days when I had a sound blaster AWE 64 in a P1 machine playing Doom on full settings. Those were the days. My onboard sound works pretty well, but I think I may go to the Audigy 4 Pro. and then get creative gigaworks 7.1 speakers to go with it. I have always loved my creative equipment, and infact my AWE 64 still works... too bad it isn't PCI

That leads me to the question "does my P1 still work?" bbl........

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Mantle · Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2005 9:36 am Post subject:

So I ended up going with the Audigy 2 Value edition. Installed, updated and works like a charm - no problems yet. Well, my neighbours have a problem on bar nights because of how ridiculously loud those 5300es are. Crazy good. Thanks for the suggestions/feedback!

fussnfeathers · Lord of the Tweak Joined: 14 Dec 2004 Posts: 2763

Good to hear.
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