Err... Audigy 4?!

[T2k]

Eax4 hd is acceptable I think. It provides basic operations like, uhm, blending of effects between "rooms". Of course knowing that Creative has prevented wavetracing of sounds by buying Aureal sucks.

FYI I've had some ugly fight here regarding Aureal long time ago but apparently pointless: rabid Creative-crap fans never gonna admit anything.

Creative makes cheap, mediocre sh*t and sells 'en masse' because of its marketing blurb. That's all.

 

[pcchen]

I meant that local loopback isn't really tell you anything, it's kinda 'lame' to use it as a reference.

What do you mean it isn't really tell you anything? It is at least the combination of its ADC and DAC, so ADC or DAC alone should be better than this test result.

? I said and use its output - what part you don't get?

You mean to test the recording quality of a sound card?
I don't think it's really worth that trouble for sub $300 cards.

 

[Bolloxoid]

I meant that local loopback isn't really tell you anything, it's kinda 'lame' to use it as a reference.

If anything is lame here, it is your braindead posting style.

 

[T2k]

I meant that local loopback isn't really tell you anything, it's kinda 'lame' to use it as a reference.

If anything is lame here, it is your braindead posting style.

*shrug*

Fella: if you don't get it, no need for posting - ask first, OK?

 

[T2k]

I meant that local loopback isn't really tell you anything, it's kinda 'lame' to use it as a reference.

What do you mean it isn't really tell you anything? It is at least the combination of its ADC and DAC, so ADC or DAC alone should be better than this test result.

It's simply doesn't give you any real number. Look, as long as we don't have a good reference in, I can't trust, sorry.

? I said and use its output - what part you don't get?

You mean to test the recording quality of a sound card?
I don't think it's really worth that trouble for sub $300 cards.

Sure it is. I wouldn't buy anything without proper reviews or personal testing. 8)

 

[EasyRaider]

I would just like to mention that the <$100 EMU 0404 is very popular over at head-fi.org. With a little modding it competes with audiophile CD players, apparently.

 

[pcchen]

It's simply doesn't give you any real number. Look, as long as we don't have a good reference in, I can't trust, sorry.

Then why do you think Audio Precision's gears are good references? Apogee? Do they really give you any "real" number? They have their limits, too, and you have to trust the vendors' numbers.
"It sounds good" does not have anything to do with precision, by the way.

I think you missed the point of the loopback test. You may argue that the composite frequency response is not very useful. However, the dynamic range and THD/IMD tests are indeed useful, since even a specially designed ADC can not offset the bad effect of a DAC, and vice versa. So you can still know that a card with good dynamic range in a loopback test will have good dynamic range in both output and input.

 

[drspangle]

SOoooo..... Whats a good soundcard? My old SB Live! Value is crapping out and its sounding very flat of late. I`m not too concerned with features, i just want something that sounds really good and won`t tie up my CPU too much when playing games.

 

[_xxx_]

For gaming you have to go Audigy, I'd say Aud. 2 ZS. Everything else is slower, regardless of the quality discussion.

 

[T2k]

It's simply doesn't give you any real number. Look, as long as we don't have a good reference in, I can't trust, sorry.

Then why do you think Audio Precision's gears are good references? Apogee? Do they really give you any "real" number? They have their limits, too, and you have to trust the vendors' numbers.
"It sounds good" does not have anything to do with precision, by the way.

I think you missed the point of the loopback test. You may argue that the composite frequency response is not very useful. However, the dynamic range and THD/IMD tests are indeed useful, since even a specially designed ADC can not offset the bad effect of a DAC, and vice versa. So you can still know that a card with good dynamic range in a loopback test will have good dynamic range in both output and input.

You missed my point.

 

[T2k]

For gaming you have to go Audigy, I'd say Aud. 2 ZS. Everything else is slower, regardless of the quality discussion.

Sure. And then you can start dealing with various bugs, in a most annoying way.

Creative has the worst audio drivers on this planet.

 

[RussSchultz]

So, creative suxors. We got that.

What else is there that you would suggest?

 

[T2k]

So, creative suxors. We got that.

What else is there that you would suggest?

There are plenty of choices out there, Russ.

It'd nice to get rid of this CPU-usage hysteria - who cares if it takes up 5% instead of 3% if sounds better, quality is better etc?

 

[drspangle]

arn`t plenty here, its pretty much Creative or Genius (A few carry the Gainward 7.1 cards). Very limited range.

 

[RussSchultz]

There's turtle beach also.

 

[RussSchultz]

There are plenty of choices out there, Russ.

It'd nice to get rid of this CPU-usage hysteria - who cares if it takes up 5% instead of 3% if sounds better, quality is better etc?

Well, name a few.

I'm interested in buying a new card, myself. And I'd like to have some suggestions.

I looked at the Turtle Beach Catalina, but it uses a VIA DAC, which is pretty much the suck. So I returned it.

Other things available at Fry's were the Philiips sound edge, a few no-name cards, creative labs cards, and turtle beach.

 

[epicstruggle]

a while back my friend said he was impressed by aureon made by terratac(sp?).

epic

 

[Vadi]

Some of the Philips cards can do 96 hardware 3D audio sources (those based on the ThunderBird Avenger chip).

 

[DSC]

Chaintech AV-710, budget favourite everywhere. Has Wolfson WM8728 24bit 192KHz stereo DAC, $25 or so. Great for stereo only, due to the DAC. In multi channel mode not so great, because it uses VIA DAC inside the VT1616 AC97 codec for channels 1-6, Wolfson for 7/8.

Mini Review
http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=75454

Configuration Guide for AV-710
http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=75655

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=29-120-103&depa=0

Audiotrak Prodigy 7.1LT, replacement card of Prodigy 7.1. Uses WM8770 24bit 192KHz codec which supplies 8 channel DAC and 2 channel ADC. Card that you want if you need multichannel support.

http://www.audiotrak.net/prodigy7.1LT.htm

Review of the original Prodigy 7.1
http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/audiotrak-prodigy71/index.html

ESI Juli@, high-end stereo card from ESI/Audiotrak. Uses AKM AK4358 24bit 192khz DAC.

Juli@ Review
http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/esi-julia/index.html

Lynx Studio LynxTWO/L22 if you're rich enough. Reference card used at Digit-Life. L22 is the stereo version of the LynxTWO.

http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/lynxtwo/index.html

 

[pcchen]

You missed my point.

OK, I give up. It's your own choice to ignore any loopback tests (which, of course, many high end cards perform much better than most low end cards, including Envy 24 based cards). I believe loopback tests have their value, and I already explained why.