Whats the best sound card?

[myth]

I hear alot of talk, most is negitve about creative. I have been a Audigy fan ever since I owned my ZS! However I hapen to have found a large sum of cash in a old walet! So I plan to upgrade! I am undecided what to get! I am looking for the best! I dont use digital (for now) I would like to hear your views on products other then Creative... I hear alot about Maudio... but is there any others? I'd like somthing future prof.. Since I plan to build a new system soon to retire my current rig... I'm not shure if it gets any better then my ZS, however I'd like to think it does! Also I find myself gaming alot at night so I plan to get a pair of Shure ear buds! I know they seem a bit pricy, however I had the opertunity to try these... All I can say is "Oh my god!" The base is AMAZING! They put my Logy 2200s to shame! I plan to buy parts for my new system one by one... Starting with the new card...

So, any ideas? I wouldn't mind geting a new Creative card... too bad they only seam to produce a new product evry 3 years! How about these?

http://www.audiotrak.net/prodigy71.htm

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_u...on71-main.html

[MurphmanL]

That's lucky - since i never put any money away i have very little chance of suddenly finding a large amount stashed in an old wallet Anyway as you're fortunate enough I would personally choose the Prodigy 7.1 as it seems to have a lot of nice features and should be superior to your Audigy II. Then again the other card looks good as well, but I say go for the Prodigy

[myth]

Well, atleast I wont miss that EAX crap! The prodigy is very cheap! $65 US! The ZS seams to cost a arm and leg for no reason! So far the prod... seems to be the best I can find, does any one here own one?

[KDH]

Stay away from creative soundcards, the software and drives are disgracefully bloated, the cards are overpriced and support is fairly poor.

[myth]

Stay away from creative soundcards, the software and drives are disgracefully bloated, the cards are overpriced and support is fairly poor.

I am slowly learming this!

[Zak33]

I HAVE A 7.1 REVOLUTION

It is the BEST CARD EVER

It does not have it's own "cpu" and drains the system a little but as you have a P4 3gig you'll survive.

The drivers are superb. The ability to switch between modes (2 ch, 2.1, 4 , 4.1, 5 5,1 etc...) and make short cuts to your favourite settings is superb.

The Sensaura game support is incredible.

And it does a superb job with Stereo music too....and converts to surround if that rocks your boat.

Best sound card...period

and the drivers are tiny

[Steve]

I HAVE A 7.1 REVOLUTION

It is the BEST CARD EVER

How much?

[Zak33]

£70..from a trade source

[myth]

Thx! Zak33

I HAVE A 7.1 REVOLUTION

It is the BEST CARD EVER

It does not have it's own "cpu" and drains the system a little but as you have a P4 3gig you'll survive.

I'm a sound newbie, So the creatives have a onboard CPU... Is that why that dam chip is so big! lol... So the 2 main sound card makers are Maudio and creative? I wish there were others

[turkster]

It depends on what you want it for. The Terratec DMX6fire 24/96 is very good if you do a lot of recording and listening to stereo music, sound editing etc but it isnt very good on the surround sound gaming side.

M-Audio stuff is usually pretty decent especcially the pro audio stuff for musicians.

The only thing Creative do well is games and surround

[unrealrocks]

MAudio are a good allround company, they do some good home recording products and some good cards designed more for gamers. I would personally suggest that or the Philips range of cards.

Those headphones are designed more for light stage use and times when you want them to be inconspicous, spend the same ammount of money on some Beyer or Senhiser proper sized headphones and you'll get much better quality

If you want pro audio - go with Emu Had a play with a 24/24 emu card the other day, its great to use with an analogue desk - had every channel hooked up seperately into the channel patches

[myth]

I prefer the smal ear buds simply because I use them with my iHP 120 MP3 player, How ever I already have these But I find them limited in bass... The shure seams to be the best cloesed type I can find... But I am open to ideas! Also I have yet to look at the Philips..