sound card

[king rrr]

hi friends,i want to buy a sound card and i really want ur help.
1)i have 2.1 speakers with subwoofer.my mother board is asus a8ne
2) i listen to songs and play games more frequently
3)where ever i enquired the dealers are showing me a creative blaster sound card worth 1,300.
so, friends please tell mw whether
1) i should continue with my onboard sound card because i have only 2.1 speakers and my mother board is quite powerful.
2) this creative on costing 1,300 is agood choice or not
3)any suggestions is appreciated

[uchiha.sasuke]

give full detail of ur motherboard.........AFAIK for 2.1 speakers onboard sound is quite enough for all latest mobo.....and there'll not be much diff. after using sound card......buy sound card only if u r going for 5.1 or above....

[ayush_chh]

goes as uchiha.sasuke says....
u sud only go 4 a sound card when u have a 5.1 spk system...if still u r dying to get one go for any cheap snd crd from brands like frontech etc.....:)

[king rrr]

ok. what about this creative sound blaster.i just want to know the quality of it.is it good?

[uchiha.sasuke]

i already said there 'll not be much diff. in sound as u r most probably thinking......rest is upon u if really wanna buy then go for it.....its sound quality is quite good.....one of my frnd has d same sound card......but he has 5.1 and sound is really rocking....

[sakumar79]

Creative SoundBlaster is a good sound card, but if you have a 2.1 speaker, you will not feel the difference... Unless you go for 4.1 or above speaker set, the card will add little to your experience compared to the built-in soundcard on your motherboard...

Arun

[shyamno]

How much a Creative Sound Blaster Cost....??I m having Altec Lansing 5.1..will this be a good sound card..???

[king rrr]

thank u uchiha.sasuke and all other friends who gave ur suggestions regarding this.i will follow ur suggestions and stick up to the onboard sound card.
thank u very much.

[uchiha.sasuke]

ur welcome my frnd.............:)

[dOm1naTOr]

@king rrr
yaarrr, me too have the same mobo. The obboard sound of it [Realtek 850 HD 7.1] is gr8. Its HD audio ready and have good features like Jack Sensing, Universal Audio Jack etc and its also EAX 2.0 ready. I think its some what close to Creative sound blaster [which is at 1.3k] in terms of perfomance.
Also ur onboard has much more features than the creative blaster, like optical, co-axial, SPDIF outputs.
Consider buying a sound card only if u have a top notch speaker[whether a 2.1 or 5.1 or 7.1] which can reproduce all sounds as its meant to be heard[probably a THX one]. Else u won't notice any difference.

Its not with no. of channels [2.1, 5.1, 7.1 etc] that the perfomance of a good sound card lies. Its perfomance is for its decoding of sound and produce uniform amplification at all levels of sound without distorsion. Also it has major role in frequency range. A good sound card has the widest frequency range. But u shud need a speaker that cud produce all that frequencies[Like the Logitech Z5500 THX].
Its gr8 if u have a high end 2.1 [from Bose, or Clipsch] and to get full perfomance from it, u will need a high end cound card like Creative XFi- Xtreme music, or Elite Pro.

Hope this helps buddy

[king rrr]

aravind u20.its nice u too have the same mobo.so i think u can clarify my doubt.
every time i connect my speakers or headphones the asus realtek sound manager is appearing on my monitor and asking to start connector sensing.and when i do that it is showing a new screen called realtek ez-connection and asking me to insert the green cable of my speakers into blue socket of the motherboard.
as every one knows that the green cable is line in and should be inserted into green socket only.

my question is what is the problem with this sound manager and will this really effect my sound output quality.help me please.

and ur description regarding this post about the sound card is very impressive and i really appreciate this.i came to know a new thing about the sound card
that even some 2.1 speakers really need a good sound card.but my speakers are not thx certified.so finally no sound card needed.
thank u once again to u and to all.

[shyamno]

Please friends..tell me..whether buying a sound card for my Altec lansing 251 5.1 speaker..can get the maximum out of it..??

Currently I am using onboard sound card..with 845 series mobo..
Can I feel the difference..with my speakers when used with a sound card..

Also suggest me a good sound card ...(<Rs 1500)..

[baccilus]

I have the exact same query as Shyamno^^^. Please reply some one. Presently i have a ASRock conroe 945G mobo.

[dOm1naTOr]

@shyamno
As ur current mobo is an 845 one, its onboard sound is outdates and no way it cud match with todays HD onboards and sound cards. As Altec 251i is a decent speaker, goin for a decent sound card will do make diiference from ur current one.
At 1.3k u can go for Creative SB 5.1 live 24 bit.
At 1.5k u can get Creative 7.1 24 bit.
If u have some 1.7~1.8k, then u can go Creative Audigy 2 Value 7.1 HD.

I recoment the Audigy 2 value as its a better perfomer and featires too.



@baccilus
Can u specify, which onboard sound chip u now have??It wud probably be any HD ready one. SO dun go for a sound card unless u are using a gud speakers[10k+].


@king rrr
Thnx man.u ve a 2.1 speaker na? So u just connect it to the green one[the middle bottom one]. All 2.1 speakers has only one 3.5mm connector.
And if u want best inclass 2.1 speakers at reasonable price get Altec MX5021 THX[90w rms] one. Its best in class for 6k. But with such speakers[it cud play any kind of sounds u throw at it: be it classica, hip hop or anythin], u will need a good sound card to get maximum out of it. An Xfi is recommented for it.

[shyamno]

@aravind_n20

thanks..for the suggestion..

[gurujee]

@shyamno

At 1.3k u can go for Creative SB 5.1 live 24 bit.
At 1.5k u can get Creative 7.1 24 bit.
If u have some 1.7~1.8k, then u can go Creative Audigy 2 Value 7.1 HD.

I recoment the Audigy 2 value as its a better perfomer and featires too.


whats the price of Creative Audigy Value 7.1 and whats the diffrence between audigy and audigy 2 ??

[dOm1naTOr]

U can either get Audigy 2 Value for 1.7k or Audigy 4 for 4.5k.
Audigy 2 value has EAX 3.0 but Audigy 4 has EAX 5.
And Audigy 4 performs better than Audigy 2 value.


Just google it for more details.[but u won't get indian price].

[gurujee]

U can either get Audigy 2 Value for 1.7k or Audigy 4 for 4.5k.
Audigy 2 value has EAX 3.0 but Audigy 4 has EAX 5.
And Audigy 4 performs better than Audigy 2 value.


Just google it for more details.[but u won't get indian price].
tHANKS VERY MUCH ARABIND bhai :)

[deathvirus_me]

Audigy 4 doesn't have EAX 5 ....

[dOm1naTOr]

sorry, i just wrote what i remembered from an old article on sound cards and there features.

[king rrr]

________
@king rrr
Thnx man.u ve a 2.1 speaker na? So u just connect it to the green one[the middle bottom one]. All 2.1 speakers has only one 3.5mm connector.
And if u want best inclass 2.1 speakers at reasonable price get Altec MX5021 THX[90w rms] one. Its best in class for 6k. But with such speakers[it cud play any kind of sounds u throw at it: be it classica, hip hop or anythin], u will need a good sound card to get maximum out of it. An Xfi is recommented for it.[/QUOTE]

i heared the same from many dealers also and i have personally experienced the demo but it is out of my budget.the sound quality is really excellent,but i think u can get a decent 5.1 speakers (may be not very good ones)for that price.
__________
this post is regarding good speakers and sound cards and i have seen many suggestions in response to this post.
so i want to ask u all two questions which i did not get a satisfacory reply from may people.i think u can give me a better answers

1)many of us are ready to spend more than 6 thousands for a 2.1 speakers and around 2 thousand for good sound card.we all like music and those great beats which we will definitely miss 1 or 2 of those beats in the 2.1 speakers.
at the same price i.e around 8 or 10 thousands we will get a very good music system which are far superior to these speaker sets.then why now a days the sales are decreasing for these music systems and i think no one are interested i discussing about these music systems even i the standard forums like these.i have see only a couple of these posts.whats ur comment

2) my second question one thing which suprises me is that many doesnt know the power of super woofers and they are declared as flap commercial wise .have u ever heared a terrific song in amusic system with a super woofer on.a lot of difference i have seen( i dont know how many of u having a super woofer connected music system).many of my friends dont ever know what is super woofer.why this has happened to super woofers.
u may think they are too pricy and are not affordable by many.no that is not true even for 12 thousand u get a music system with a super woofer( as far as i know)
please reply me .these are the questions i have asked in many forums and once i have asked in this forum also and many said they dont know what is super woofer.

[dOm1naTOr]

@king rrr
Are u mentioning bout Hi-Fi music systems??
Also agree that a music system is far better ifor music. But for a PC, music is not the only thing that we use it for. For a PC, we need a good surround system. Also the satellites shud be well magnetically shielded unlike music systems. And also a PC skeaker shud not be bulky too. Each satellites shud be compact and is better if wall mountable and have stands too.

Thats why PC users prefers 2.1 or 5.1 rather than a music system.
Also have you ever head the sounds from a pro speakers like Creative Gigaworks 770 or Logitech Z5500???on a PC with a very good sounf card like the Xfi-Xtreme music? They too are a gr8 experience like the SUPER WOOFERS.