Best value sound card for gaming and music

Boozebeard

Boozebeard

Boozebeard

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I couldn't be described as an audiophile in any way but I do appreciate good sound quality. I've got the logitech z5500's sound system. I used to have an xfi fatal1ty xtreme gamer card but it's broke D:

I might get some decent headphones and switch to using them for games though. Creatives cmss-3d for headphones is ment to be better than the asus offering I think as it has elevation emulation too but open to suggestion.
 
I second C64's opinion. Currently using an X-Fi xtremegamer, but I think the Xonar D1 or DX would be the ones I would go for in your situation, depending on your mobo layout.
 
Why is it that sound card manufacturers other than Asus or Creative very rarely get mentioned? Considering many of them offer great products for half the price.
 
Please, go ahead. I've heard good things about M-Audio, but I think it depends on what the OP is using it for as to whether it would be suitable.

Also, OcUK only stock Asus and Creative cards.
 
I don't think CMSS 3D is better than Dolby Headphone found on the majority of Xonar's. Yes CMSS 3D has elevation, but across the horizontal plane, DH is more accurate I feel. However, the headphones that I use are said to be better suited to DH, than CMSS 3D, so that would go some way to explain that. Headphones that use angled drivers are said to be better suited to CMSS 3D than headphones with non angled drivers.
 
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Aren't the X-Fi series soundcards having major problems with Windows 7?

The 5.1 surround sound capability is completely lost IIR and there has been no solution to the issue.
 
Cant say I had problems with the surround when mine was working. Only problem I had was a memory leak in ventrillo which was really annoying but my clan has switched to team speak now anyway.

I'm kind of wary of buying second hand as my last one I bought from ebay and I'm pretty sure it was a second hand possibly broken one that had been fixed and as I said it's gone kaput now and I've only had it 18 months.
 
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trentlad said:
Aren't the X-Fi series soundcards having major problems with Windows 7?

The 5.1 surround sound capability is completely lost IIR and there has been no solution to the issue.
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They do and they don't depends on setup some people get snap crackle pop and other issues some don't it's a risk.
I'd get a dx or d1 tbh why take the risk with an x-fi.

The xtreme music can be bagged for as little as £20 second hand though and is still a good buy for that money.

As for headphones bag yourself a set of goldring ns1000 for £50 delivered and order a headphone extension cable whilst you are at it too (ns 1000 comes with a 1m lead) and also a FiiO e5 portable amp £10-£15 if you don't want the hassle of changing the ns1000 battery.

xonar d1/dx + Goldring ns1000 is superb and I prefer the sound signature of them through the e5 amp it adds more bass and punch/sound stage.
 
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trentlad said:
Aren't the X-Fi series soundcards having major problems with Windows 7?

The 5.1 surround sound capability is completely lost IIR and there has been no solution to the issue.
Click to expand...

Some do yes, but it's not specific to a certain model. It's a specific set of components that can cause issues in some cases. Modified drivers by Daniel K and others, solve problems for some.

Quite a while since I used analogue 5.1 speakers, but the last time I did, I had no issues with getting surround sound. I have also used the I/O module needed to use SPDIF connection with the Xtreme Music, again no problems with surround sound.
 
whats the Xonar D2X like?

ive had on board sound for years, and thinking of getting one of these and good over the the D1X ?

i assume going from onboard to one of these the quality is a lot better? i use Senheaiser HD 485
 
I would be interested to hear peoples thoughts on this also. I have the Creative T20's and would like a decent Soundcard for listening to music with. Is the Asus Xonar DS of any use to me or should I look at the DX? What's the driver support like for these cards on Win7 x64? Thanks :)
 
Why hasn't anyone mentioned Realtek yet? the cards are few and far between but they are so good for value/quality that there sound cards rarely need updating. I have had no problems with Realtek. You should also look to get good quality seakers though as this is more often why computer audio doesn't sound that good.
 
I'm selling a Xonar DX in members market for £35 inc special delivery. Might be of interest to someone here.
 
I paid £15 for a Creative X-FI Extreme Music a good 3 years ago and had no problems with it on XP, Vista 64 and W7 64. The sound it puts out through my Megaworks 5.1 is awesome in games and music, sometimes I think about upgrading it but searching on the internets reveals theres very little gain to be had by doing so
 
Akempster said:
Why hasn't anyone mentioned Realtek yet? the cards are few and far between but they are so good for value/quality that there sound cards rarely need updating. I have had no problems with Realtek. You should also look to get good quality seakers though as this is more often why computer audio doesn't sound that good.
Click to expand...

Realtek make onboard chips though?
 
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