Results 1 to 5 of 5

Thread: Sound Card Needed

  1. #1
    Registered+
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Posts
    27
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts

    Sound Card Needed

    Hey guys,

    I'm in need of a sound card for a PC I got a few weeks back, I'm looking to hook things up to a HDTV and want to use the optical sound input on the back of the TV, if anyone is able to recommend a Sounds Card (internal or external) that would meet my needs please post and link the item for me (from scan if possible),

    Best Regards
    7,

  2. #2
    Insomnia Robscure's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    London
    Posts
    703
    Thanks
    108
    Thanked
    32 times in 24 posts

    Re: Sound Card Needed

    Quote Originally Posted by Se7en View Post
    Hey guys,

    I'm in need of a sound card for a PC I got a few weeks back, I'm looking to hook things up to a HDTV and want to use the optical sound input on the back of the TV, if anyone is able to recommend a Sounds Card (internal or external) that would meet my needs please post and link the item for me (from scan if possible),

    Best Regards
    7,
    Is your purpose Gaming, Music, or Movies?

    The absolute best gaming soundcard is the Auzentech X-Fi Prelude... but it will cost you about £130...

    A cheaper gamer-soundcard is the Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer (£50) http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Creat...Sound-Card-OEM

    For Music... (£55) http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Creat...ista-Compliant

    For Movies... anything 7.1 really... (£64) http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Auzen...a-71-Soundcard

    You can't really go wrong with a sound card unless you're doing professional-quality sort of stuff. As long as you get a soundcard like these, then you will notice an improvement over onboard sound, but you may not want to spend double the price to see an improvement over these compared to their much more expensive counter-parts...

    As with anything, make sure that you read reviews before making any purchases... Goto google and type "[name of product] review"

    Good luck

  3. #3
    DDY
    DDY is offline
    Senior Member DDY's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Posts
    2,838
    Thanks
    184
    Thanked
    624 times in 432 posts
    • DDY's system
      • Motherboard:
      • ASRock Z390M Pro 4
      • CPU:
      • i5 9600k
      • Memory:
      • 32GB (2x16GB) 3600MHz
      • Storage:
      • Adata SX8200 NVME 1TB
      • Graphics card(s):
      • RX 5700
      • PSU:
      • Seasonic Focus Gold 550W
      • Operating System:
      • Win 7 Pro
      • Monitor(s):
      • Dell U2715H

    Re: Sound Card Needed

    Quote Originally Posted by Robscure View Post
    Is your purpose Gaming, Music, or Movies?

    The absolute best gaming soundcard is the Auzentech X-Fi Prelude... but it will cost you about £130...

    A cheaper gamer-soundcard is the Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer (£50) http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Creat...Sound-Card-OEM

    For Music... (£55) http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Creat...ista-Compliant

    For Movies... anything 7.1 really... (£64) http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Auzen...a-71-Soundcard
    I'd like to let you know if you didn't already the X-Fi Xtreme Gamer does not have optical digital out, it doesn't even support the digital I/O module. Secondly, the X-Fi Xtreme Music also does not have an optical digital out, you'll need the digital I/O module (£30) for SPDIF ports.

    To connect via digital (optical), spending over £70 for a soundcard is madness. The only two (or three) reasons why anyone would need a soundcard in this situation are for games or surround sound.

    The DAC circuit in a soundcard which determines analogue audio quality is not used when outputting via digital, it can be the difference between a £130 card to one costing as little as £10. A good example of this are the C-media based cards, some can be bought for £10 where others like the ASUS Xonar go for £100+, via optical (two channels) they both sound exactly the same but through headphones or a direct speaker connection (non digital) they're worlds apart.

    If gaming and surround sound isn't a key factor any cheap £20 soundcard which features optical SPDIF out will do, providing there isn't already an optical out on the motherboard, in which case you're already set.

    If environmental effects in games is something you're after you need a card which supports EAX5 for example, the X-Fi series do this very well (except the xtreme audio), the ASUS Xonar cards are also something to look out for in this field. I personally recommend the X-Fi Titanium for this.

    If surround sound is important you'll need a card which can encode multichannel audio, the X-Fi Titanium is a good choice as it encodes DTS and THX plus features optical in and out ports.

    To summarise, if you're a gamer and/or want surround sound go for the X-Fi Titanium. Note this is PCI-E x1, if you lack PCI-E slots I'll find you an alternative. If games and surround are not important and you just need a digital SPDIF port then any cheap card will do e.g. Terratec Aureon 5.1.

  4. #4
    Insomnia Robscure's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    London
    Posts
    703
    Thanks
    108
    Thanked
    32 times in 24 posts

    Re: Sound Card Needed

    Quote Originally Posted by DDY View Post
    I'd like to let you know if you didn't already the X-Fi Xtreme Gamer does not have optical digital out, it doesn't even support the digital I/O module. Secondly, the X-Fi Xtreme Music also does not have an optical digital out, you'll need the digital I/O module (£30) for SPDIF ports.

    To connect via digital (optical), spending over £70 for a soundcard is madness. The only two (or three) reasons why anyone would need a soundcard in this situation are for games or surround sound.

    The DAC circuit in a soundcard which determines analogue audio quality is not used when outputting via digital, it can be the difference between a £130 card to one costing as little as £10. A good example of this are the C-media based cards, some can be bought for £10 where others like the ASUS Xonar go for £100+, via optical (two channels) they both sound exactly the same but through headphones or a direct speaker connection (non digital) they're worlds apart.

    If gaming and surround sound isn't a key factor any cheap £20 soundcard which features optical SPDIF out will do, providing there isn't already an optical out on the motherboard, in which case you're already set.

    If environmental effects in games is something you're after you need a card which supports EAX5 for example, the X-Fi series do this very well (except the xtreme audio), the ASUS Xonar cards are also something to look out for in this field. I personally recommend the X-Fi Titanium for this.

    If surround sound is important you'll need a card which can encode multichannel audio, the X-Fi Titanium is a good choice as it encodes DTS and THX plus features optical in and out ports.

    To summarise, if you're a gamer and/or want surround sound go for the X-Fi Titanium. Note this is PCI-E x1, if you lack PCI-E slots I'll find you an alternative. If games and surround are not important and you just need a digital SPDIF port then any cheap card will do e.g. Terratec Aureon 5.1.
    I was under the impression that Xtreme Gamer would work for i/o... Xtreme Audio needs an aditional connector, but Gamer does not.

    "The other new X-Fi card, the Xtreme Audio card, features the Crystalizer and CMSS 3D headphone abilities of the Xtreme Gamer but, unlike the Xtreme Gamer, it requires an additional digital I/O module to provide an optical S/PDIF output. Plus, as it's a cheaper card, it isn't able to accelerate EAX effects in hardware."
    source: http://www.custompc.co.uk/reviews/11...eme-gamer.html

    Sorry (if I was mistaken) for giving bad advice

  5. #5
    DDY
    DDY is offline
    Senior Member DDY's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Posts
    2,838
    Thanks
    184
    Thanked
    624 times in 432 posts
    • DDY's system
      • Motherboard:
      • ASRock Z390M Pro 4
      • CPU:
      • i5 9600k
      • Memory:
      • 32GB (2x16GB) 3600MHz
      • Storage:
      • Adata SX8200 NVME 1TB
      • Graphics card(s):
      • RX 5700
      • PSU:
      • Seasonic Focus Gold 550W
      • Operating System:
      • Win 7 Pro
      • Monitor(s):
      • Dell U2715H

    Re: Sound Card Needed

    My bad, ignore that bit about the Xtreme gamer.

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. Sound card interferes with standby
    By THCi in forum PC Hardware and Components
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 18-03-2007, 11:43 AM
  2. m-Audio Audiophile 2496 sound card or Creative X-Fi ?
    By Defenestration in forum PC Hardware and Components
    Replies: 21
    Last Post: 16-03-2007, 07:21 PM
  3. Onboard Sound VS Sound Card
    By SirusVirus in forum PC Hardware and Components
    Replies: 12
    Last Post: 07-02-2007, 05:34 PM
  4. Should I buy a sound card???
    By mathewdbarlow in forum PC Hardware and Components
    Replies: 9
    Last Post: 18-01-2007, 05:23 PM
  5. Headphones and sound card ?
    By Ben_UK in forum PC Hardware and Components
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 15-06-2004, 08:56 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •