best sound card for listening to music under 100 quid (150$)

iom_dave · Post by **iom_dave** » Fri Jul 04, 2003 8:28 am

Just wondering, cos my soundblaster 1024 ive finally pulled - too much hiss and crashes too much. I currently using the onboard - much less hiss but less well defined sound. I tend to listen to mp3s so super sound quality isnt really an option, but would like nice sound, i currently output to a panasonic hi fi - which sounds pretty good - not separates quality - ill wait till more money. What do u think about audigy 2 cards - ive become tired of creative's bugs, so am not certain. I do play games but not that much.
One other question is r separates better than the 4.1, 5.1 sound things with speakers u can buy from sony and the like, or would it be better to buy the stuff separately like a Yamaha HTR5550 and then buy a load of speakers and a sub (also seems cheaper to do it this way if u use richersounds.com. If u know a good site to explain the stuff let me know.
Thanks
Dave

somebody · Post by **somebody** » Fri Jul 04, 2003 8:38 am

Many home theater PC enthusiasts are using the M-Auido Revolution. It costs about $100.

Captain Spaulding · Post by **Captain Spaulding** » Fri Jul 04, 2003 2:20 pm

I second the recommendation of the M-Audio Revolution. Just be sure to download the latest drivers from the website and mute your speakers during bootup and shutdown - otherwise you get some nasty and unquiet sounds. If you are a gamer looking for the ultimate FPS, this is not the card for you. It offloads some processing to the CPU. If sound quality is your priority, nothing touches it in the price range.

bondiablo · Post by **bondiablo** » Fri Jul 04, 2003 2:39 pm

For a less expensive option either the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz or one of the Guillemot Hercules sound cards would be a better option than the Creative cards.

http://www.turtlebeach.com/

http://www.hercules.com/

al bundy · Post by **al bundy** » Fri Jul 04, 2003 10:18 pm

I own the Audigy2 card, the M-Audio Revolution 7.1 card, and the Terratec DMX 6fire 24/96 card. I've carefully auditioned them with the Monsoon Planar Media 14 speakers as well as the Creative MegaWorks THX 5.1 550 speakers.

For games, nothing yet touches the Audigy2. It provides flawless sound reproduction in games, produces no frames-per-second (fps) loss, and gives very nice music quality. Also unique to this card is its support for Creative's newest EAX Advanced HD gaming sound engine. For a heavy gamer's rig, this one is your baby for sure.

The M-Audio Revolution 7.1 produces noticeably better music quality than the Audigy2 card. It also provides very clean and nice sound reproduction in games. However, it has absolutely no hardware channels for either Directsound or DirectSound3D - thus leaving the processor to hande these gaming tasks. Accordingly, gaming with this card involves a heavier hit to overall gaming fps performance. The Revolution card also has no digital input and has no internal connectors either (which might matter to you if you have a TV tuner card). Using instead the external line-in port has reportedly been problematic for users (driver issue).

For music, the Terratec DMX 6fire 24/96 card simply gives the most incredible sound quality I've ever heard - very significantly better than either the Audigy2 or the M-Audio Revolution 7.1. It is, after all, a professional musician's card. Internal components and layout are outstanding. Its sound quality is truly extraordinary. Sound reproduction in games is also of extremely high quality. It does have external digital input/output ports. It also has internal digital/CD/AUX connectors, has 32 DirectSound hardware channels, and has 16 DirectSound3D hardware channels - thus generating a much smaller fps hit than the Revolution card in overall gaming performance (remember though, no other card to date can yet match the Audigy2 card in gaming performance).

You can get all three of these cards now for under $100. Amazingly, this now even includes the Terratec DMX 6fire card (which is usually over $250 even after discount). If you are interested in getting the Terratec card at this lower price, you must simply look for the "Terratec DMX 6fire LT" card (notice in particular the LT part at the end). The LT version of this card is exactly the same card as its more expensive sibling, but just doesn't come with the extra 5.25" drive bay insert. For example, here is an online vendor offering the LT version for $99.

By the way, one very good review that includes all three of these cards can be found at this link.

Hope this helps ya!

Edit: Here's another vendor offering the LT card for $99...

Captain Spaulding · Post by **Captain Spaulding** » Sat Jul 05, 2003 8:03 am

On the M-Audio, the line-in problem has been solved with the latest driver release. This is also CPU intensive for some reason, so be sure to disable "direct monitoring" if the line-in is not in use. Al, that's an incredible price on the Terratec, but this vendor is suspect (http://www.resellerratings.com/seller3485.html).

iom_dave · Post by **iom_dave** » Sat Jul 05, 2003 8:53 am

thanks for the info, ive now just got to find them in the uk

cliche · Post by **cliche** » Sat Jul 05, 2003 9:01 am

al bundy wrote:I own the Audigy2 card, the M-Audio Revolution 7.1 card, and the Terratec DMX 6fire 24/96 card. I've carefully auditioned them with the Monsoon Planar Media 14 speakers as well as the Creative MegaWorks THX 5.1 550 speakers.

For games, nothing yet touches the Audigy2. It provides flawless sound reproduction in games, produces no frames-per-second (fps) loss, and gives very nice music quality. Also unique to this card is its support for Creative's newest EAX Advanced HD gaming sound engine. For a heavy gamer's rig, this one is your baby for sure.

The M-Audio Revolution 7.1 produces noticeably better music quality than the Audigy2 card. It also provides very clean and nice sound reproduction in games. However, it has absolutely no hardware channels for either Directsound or DirectSound3D - thus leaving the processor to hande these gaming tasks. Accordingly, gaming with this card involves a heavier hit to overall gaming fps performance. The Revolution card also has no digital input and has no internal connectors either (which might matter to you if you have a TV tuner card). Using instead the external line-in port has reportedly been problematic for users (driver issue).

For music, the Terratec DMX 6fire 24/96 card simply gives the most incredible sound quality I've ever heard - very significantly better than either the Audigy2 or the M-Audio Revolution 7.1. It is, after all, a professional musician's card. Internal components and layout are outstanding. Its sound quality is truly extraordinary. Sound reproduction in games is also of extremely high quality. It does have external digital input/output ports. It also has internal digital/CD/AUX connectors, has 32 DirectSound hardware channels, and has 16 DirectSound3D hardware channels - thus generating a much smaller fps hit than the Revolution card in overall gaming performance (remember though, no other card to date can yet match the Audigy2 card in gaming performance).

You can get all three of these cards now for under $100. Amazingly, this now even includes the Terratec DMX 6fire card (which is usually over $250 even after discount). If you are interested in getting the Terratec card at this lower price, you must simply look for the "Terratec DMX 6fire LT" card (notice in particular the LT part at the end). The LT version of this card is exactly the same card as its more expensive sibling, but just doesn't come with the extra 5.25" drive bay insert. For example, here is an online vendor offering the LT version for $99.

By the way, one very good review that includes all three of these cards can be found at this link.

Hope this helps ya!

Nice info al -thx

goose_wh · Post by **goose_wh** » Sat Jul 05, 2003 11:05 am

www.dabs.co.uk
www.komplett.co.uk

for all the sound cards listed above.

iom_dave · Post by **iom_dave** » Sat Jul 05, 2003 12:31 pm

thanks goose, i forgot about komplett.co.uk, £94 for the LT card sounds pretty good, im tempted by the ebay auction http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... egory=3701, its currently £35, but the bloke wont answer my questions (reason for selling, where did u get it from) and he has no rating, so im becoming less tempted. Its hard for me to justify buying one right now (money wise - not performance wise), but i start work in september so should them have some money then.
Thanks to everyone for their help and info
Dave

somebody · Post by **somebody** » Sat Jul 05, 2003 12:59 pm

I feel like selling my Revolution and getting a 6fire. I could make use of those internal connections available on the 6fire. Can the digital input be decoded in real-time so that I can output the decoded sound via analog outputs?

iom_dave · Post by **iom_dave** » Sat Jul 05, 2003 1:50 pm

how do people feel about the TerraTec Aureon 7.1 Space, is it 6fire super lite (sound sthe same missing more features) or is it the same as the Revolution

somebody · Post by **somebody** » Sat Jul 05, 2003 3:19 pm

Does anyone know of how the motherboards that have the VIA Envy24 sound integrated into them compare with the cards mentioned here? I would think they would be similar seeing that they all use the Envy24.

Wedge · Post by **Wedge** » Sat Jul 05, 2003 4:25 pm

What about a vendor of the Terratec DMX 6fire LT in the US?
(not Musician's Friend because I agree with Captain Spaulding, their reseller's rating reveals several unhappy customers)

iom_dave · Post by **iom_dave** » Sat Jul 05, 2003 4:35 pm

ive found that www.komplett.co.uk do the LT, so should be ok

al bundy · Post by **al bundy** » Sat Jul 05, 2003 11:41 pm

Wedge wrote:What about a vendor of the Terratec DMX 6fire LT in the US?
(not Musician's Friend because I agree with Captain Spaulding, their reseller's rating reveals several unhappy customers)

I have many friends and colleagues who build computers professionally as I do, and they too are buying the Terratec DMX 6fire LT card from Musician's Friend like crazy at that $99 price. In every single instance, this vendor has sent the card in perfect spot-on factory sealed condition and with no hassles or issues whatsoever. Packages arrive quickly and are nicely packed. I've never had any problem, nor have I ever heard of a problem from anyone else to date, when ordering these cards from Musician's Friend. From these experiences I can recommend this vendor if you choose to order an LT card from them.

However, many online vendors will also be pleased-as-punch to match another vendor's lower online price for the same item . You're thus not limited to only this one vendor if you want to order the LT card at the $99 price. You can call the vendors and ask them directly if they will match the lower price. You can also very often find their price-matching statements right on their websites if you look for them. They will of course want to take a moment to confirm the validity of the other vendor's price on the same item (sometimes they will even do this on the phone while you wait), and after doing so, will make the sale with you at the lower price. I like to do this "price-matching" thing whenever its convenient for me.

By the way, the 6fire card comes with a surprisingly helpful manual. Here's a link to the most recent English version of the manual, which is in .pdf format.

All of the Terratec manuals, including those for the 'DMX 6fire 24/96' card line, can be found at this link.

ai · Post by ai » Sun Jul 06, 2003 5:32 am

If anyone is interested, a review of motherboard based audio:
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,3 ... 150,00.asp

14Nemo · Post by **14Nemo** » Tue Jul 08, 2003 3:15 pm

Ordered my TerraTec card over weekend from Zzounds.com. Arrived today. Same price as TMF, but from top-rated (BizRates) source. Good service and good return policy.

somebody · Post by **somebody** » Tue Jul 08, 2003 8:48 pm

In this thread, the forum members seem to prefer the Revolution. Are there any articles on the web comparing these two cards?

wsc · Post by **wsc** » Wed Jul 09, 2003 11:00 pm

Must ... buy ... TerraTec ... 6fire ...