Low budget advice wanted.

Angilion · 25 Jul 2017 at 01:08

I currently have a pair of headphones that were very good in the ~£50 price range when I bought them (Panasonic RP-HTX7).

I have onboard sound on my new motherboard that picks up interference from far too many things, most notably any movement of the mouse. This is rather less than ideal to put it mildly.

I have an old Creative Labs X-Fi Extreme Music card I could take out of my old PC and put in my new one so I'd be back to how I was before my new build, which is what I was planning to do.

But it got me thinking about buying something new instead. I know next to nothing about the sound hardware market today. I don't expect the same degree of improvement that the same amount of time has brought to other hardware. It's not going to be like changing a Geforce 7800GT to a Geforce 1080

So I don't even know if it's worth buying a new soundcard or headphones.

I use audio on my PC mainly for gaming. Some music, some video, but mostly gaming.

I'm not looking to spend more than £100. That's about the importance I attach to the sound in my gaming. If a £30 soundcard today is better than the X-Fi, all the better.

rids57 · 25 Jul 2017 at 03:26

Just use the X-Fi, sound card tech has barely moved in 10 years

Rroff · 25 Jul 2017 at 05:12

As long as it is the Xtreme Music and not the Xtreme Audio then that is what I'm using still today and without going top tier (and associated prices) you won't beat it for sound quality or features. Though the sound signature is a touch harsh IMO its for the most part decently neutral, detailed and clear.

Angilion · 25 Jul 2017 at 05:43

OK, thanks for the information. It is the Xtreme Music. Now that my memory is jogged, I remembering finding it a bit odd at the time that a card best suited for gaming was labelled "Music". I don't remember an "Audio" model existing at the time. The "Music" model was the cheapest model when I bought it, with the others having extra I/O panels for things I didn't want at a much higher price.

So I'll just transfer it over.

Rroff · 25 Jul 2017 at 05:47

The difference with the more expensive gaming models (in terms of gaming features) was mostly features that never got used like additional "X-RAM" that like 2 games ever used.

Marsman · 25 Jul 2017 at 09:47

Hardware is still good. But drivers are the key. Thank goodness for people who modify drivers though, because I wouldn't be particularly hopeful Creative bothered to release W10 driver for their old X-Fi cards.

As for the Xtreme Audio, that came sometime later. There was a full height blue one and a half height black one. Though it was labelled an X-Fi, it was really a repackaged older Audigy card. They weren't as good and was a bit naughty of Creative to pass them off as X-Fi cards.