Suggestions for soundcard recording and gaming

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by BluesMan, Feb 13, 2005.

  1. BluesMan

    BluesMan Sgt. Snot Bubble

    I am way behind in the soundcard arena. Currently I only have onboard sound, mother board is ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe. Keep having problems where I can hear every little thing spinning up. It picks up fans, HD noise, etc and its driving me NUTS. I need suggestions for a good all around soundcard for gaming and occasional recording(guitar + cabinet). Nothing way over the top. You guys just get the latest creative card and roll with it?
     
  2. goldfish

    goldfish Lt. Sushi.DC

    Well..... my school uses Creative Audigy 4 Pro with the breakout box for recording and the like, the inputs are 24bit 96kHz, as are the outputs. The DAC/ADC's arn't the best, but they are fine for casual recording. They're not bad for gaming either, with 5.1 to 7.1 surround if you want it.

    24-bit/96kHz is great for recording and editing. It means you have less dithering loss during processing, so your final 16-bit output is much cleaner with less rounding errors.

    The Audigy also supports soundfonts, which are GREAT for sampling and stuff like that, particularly if you have a midi capapble keyboard.

    A very good choice for a not-too-serious setup, I'd say, good quality and flexibility makes it ideal for a home setup.

    Personally, I'd get 2 sound cards for recording and gaming, a M-Audio Delta 44 (or 66 even) for recording with breakout box (4 balanced inputs) and an Audigy 4 non pro for gaming, but if you're not into doing big recording thats probably ott. The only reason I'd want 4 bal ins is because thats what I get off the subgroups on my mixer. If you're recording one or two tracks at a time (mono, stereo) the Audigy Pro 4 would be fine.
     
  3. bailmeout

    bailmeout Specialist

    I just recently purchased Sound Blaster® Audigy® 2 ZS for 165.00
    and its the best card for the money you can probably get.
    I did some gaming, dvd, music etc and it performed very exceptionally
    NOTE I'm not an audophile of the extreme exceptions. It also really depends alot on your speaker set-up and the programs you use with it, quality of the material you're recording/listening to.
    Here are some specs of the card. I also use Creative Inspire 7700 7.1 which makes it a perfect companion for the type of card.

    Hardware Specs
    Interface Type PCI
    Response Bandwidth 10 - 46000 Hz
    Power Device Type Sound card
    Sound Output Mode 7.1 channel surround
    Features WMA compatible, karaoke, Bass Boost, Audio Clean-Up, Smart Volume Management (SVM), EAX ADVANCED HD, Creative Multi Speaker Surround (CMSS), THX certified, Advanced Resolution DVD-Audio, 8 band EQ
    Max Speakers Qty 8
    Form Factor Plug-in card
    Max Sample Rate 192kHz
    DAC Data Width 24-bit
    Sample Rate 8 kHz (min) - 192 kHz (max)
    Signal Processor Creative Audigy 2 ZS
    MIDI Channels Qty 32
    Sound Synthesis Method Wavetable
    Voice Polyphony Qty 64
    Expansion and Connectivity
    I/O Connectors IEEE 1394 (FireWire) - 6 pin FireWire
    audio - TAD - 4 pin MPC
    2 x audio - line-in - 4 pin MPC
    IEEE 1394 (FireWire)
    audio - SPDIF input - 2 pin digital audio
    gameport / MIDI - generic
    audio - SPDIF output - mini-phone 3.
    System Requirements
    Compatibility PC
    System Requirements Microsoft Windows 2000 SP2, Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition / Windows ME
    Software Bundle Drivers & Utilities
     

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