worth it? (soundcards)

[harry1]

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=140731

i see its got the card the front panel and remote, just wondering is it any good as i like the idea of the front panel, would i still connect my headphones to the card or the panel? surely the card is the thing that offers the sound quality? how would the ports on the front panel connect? just a power cable or they go onto the mobo?

if its not much kop i would buy a x-fi i mainly listen to music and play games, i use 5.1 headphones. what would u buy? i see on froogle that audigy pack is like £120-150 on lots of sites then scan and novatech at about 60...

whats the differnce between that above and this then?
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...roductID=55731

also what is that yellow port that goes into pci slot on the box??

thanks

[Elessar_VPR]

The audigy 2's are still pretty decent, but the X-fi is noticeably better according to people who have used both. Out of the two I would go with the ZS as (I think) it is a refresh of the plain audigy 2 and a bit better and considering the price difference between them you may as well.

The yellow thing in the PCI bracket I assume connects intenally to the soundcard then the external breakout box connects via its cable to the yellow socket.

[harry1]

so you think the platinum pack thing in the top link is worth it?

i like the thought of having all my conections at the front, if this is the case whats the point of having connections on the card itsself? or is the font panel for another purpose could u explain it to me, i just thought looks like you get alot for 60 quid, plus if i never use the x-fi i wont know the diference anyway and tbh the audigy is gunna be so much better than onboard.



edit i really want to know if its worth getting the audigy zs pack for the same price as a x-fi considering you get the front panel and things or is that gimiky?

just tell me your views ignore the bottom link now i know that its worse, so new contest is x-fi vs audigy zs pack

i know the x-fi is better but you dont get a the front panel and things...

[Madafwo]

To be perfectly honest, for £60 this is a bargain, the X-Fi is good and it does make a difference, but if you mainly listen through headphones I don't think it's worth it. I run the X-fi through my amp and as such quality is paramount for me. It is worth it to get the front panel, but if you could push the extra £40 for the X-Fi platinum you get the front panel and remote, just not the on board ram, which so far has not proved to give any benefit. As I said, if you can stretch to the extra £40 go for the X-fi platinum. If not the card you linked to wil be brilliant.

[harry1]

thanks so much, anyone confirm what kinda use the front panel has or what its best for?

i thought it looked cheap , tbh what i dont know wont hurt me as far as spending another 40 quid that will be ordered nxt week then

[Elessar_VPR]

Here's a little bit on the breakout box feartures. Basically it has easier access to plug in things like headphones/mic, volume controls, plus a couple of other things

[harry1]

looks cool i can just have it there as an optional extra or plug my speakers into it cheers guys you made my ind up about this

[Madafwo]

one thing to take into account with the X-Fi cards is that if you get the basic card you don't get any digital outs on it, you have to have the breakout box to get digital outs.

[FInalD]

As <Madafwo> said, the 'breakout box' contains extras. Basicaly the box can be mounted in place of a CD drive and all the wires run from the sound car internally to the box, and if you want it fully externally then you connect the yellow braket which then enables the connections to be made out of the case. The box allows you to have extra headphone ports, and line in ports and digital in etc. which can't be found on the back of the card. It is effectivly the same as the X-Fi apart from the fact that the X-Fi contain some extra RAM for sound and have the newer more of a gimick name.
My brother has the X-Fi Fatal1ty card (with remote control, cd drive box etc.) and it isn't that brilliant, the remotr control is large and akward in the hand and the amount of extra gimicky software that comes with it is just stupid and ties up your system, slowing it down.

I am building a new computer and will deffinatly be getting the ZS Plat from Scan, it's a really good price and a really good piec of kit. The remote seems to be small and well layed out with no extra gimicks and so does the front drivebay box.

According to the 'Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum' *.pdf manual the front drive bay box has a lot more connections than the one in the Scan picture, if this is true it basicaly has the same as the X-Fi boxes which is a lot of decent connections. (eitherway I'll be getting this card).


You should be able to plug your headphones in the front and the speakers in the rear of the system which can make life a lot easier.

FinalD

[harry1]

im buying it this week thought it wa sa good find

[BlindMelon7]

Personally I dont like the front boxes. They're only useful if you have one wire that you repeatedly unpug like headphone or something. If you have more than a few wires you need to plug in like me you end up with wires trailing all over the front of your desk . Best to keep them at the back.