The Cream Of The Crop - PC Sound Cards

[Nomisf]

Having been big on good sound quality and dynamics for quite some time now i look around and see everyone going mental for the Creative X-Fi series of sound cards. However i also hear my fair share of criticism for them .. people saying that there is much better out there if you are willing to look.

So i pose the question to the good people here, what is the best sound card you can buy for your PC ? Having been out of the loop for a while, and the last really good card i had being a Creative Soundblaster AWE64 Gold .. i was wondering... and im sure a thread on this would be of interest to people looking to purchase ..

So Guys , What is the best sound card ? ( Within reason please )

Rgds,
Nomisf

Please note im NOT looking to buy , im just asking the question for the sake of it , and to help build up a solid opnion for the benefit of other users)

 

[Alexrose1uk]

Depends on your usage. If you like good all round gaming cards, the X-Fi win hands down, if you're after pure music use, something like the M-Audio might be more up your street.

 

[Greenlizard0]

I was going to get something other than a Creative X-Fi model, but it's quite hard finding something with a breakout box/console which I need for headphones etc.

The X-Fi models are quite good all rounders in my opinion though if you're doing something that will require it, then yes there are others which are better specialist cards (if that makes any sense).

 

[Dr.EM]

Yes, completely depends on what your using it for and your budget. I'm after an M-Audio Delta 1010 card but I doubt many people would need such a thing.

Generally Creative can be reccomended to people with the typical 5.1 PC speaker setups and those who frequently use games. They are generally very compatable which is convenient.

Those with quality stereo or 2.1 setups may be better off with something like the M-Audio 2496 card; especially if they use the PC for music a lot. For higher end Hi-Fi people often wish to use seperate DAC's.

People with quality 5.1/6.1 etc HT setups who wish to use thier PC's for DVD's and video could look at something like the M-Audio Revolution 7.1, or for higher end gear a multi channel studio orientated card (like the delta 1010 I want, though i'm after it for multiple inputs myself).

Plenty of choice other than creative out there

 

[Ste]

I have a fairly nice setup connected to my PC (Audiolab 8000A amp and Mission 771e bookshelf speakers) and I just upgraded from an old SBlive to a M-Audio 24/96. Using ASIO drivers (they bypass windows mixer and thus avoid any resampling of your music) the sound quality is fantastic, even some mp3s sound great, although others sound absolutely awful

I've since been collecting lossless CDs and playing those, the setup sounds great. The only big downer is the card has no hardware directx support, so games are lacking a bit, but I think the 2 channel performance is worth the sacrifice =)