Upgrade treadmill continues.

[Cander]

Ok, so my Quadro4 750XGL 128 meg video card should be in today. This weekend I will look into prices for an Athlon XP 2600.

I guess next will be sound card as I am still using my on board sound. What is a good sound card to get these days. Last time I bought a sound card it was an SB 16. So its been awhile.

[siyan]

Justin will tell you to get a Audigy/Audigy 2, but I digress. Hercules makes good stuff (and for cheap no less!), or go slightly old school and get a Santa Cruz/Acoustic Edge.

[Sastraxi]

Creative is absolute pants, bullocks, or whatever you want to call it. Get a VIA mainboard and get ready for fun sound quality distortion and sample looping!

I have a Hercules Digifire 7.1 here. The sound quality is amazing. The package is amazing. 2 firewire ports. PowerDVD Pro EX, Acid Xpress, and a media editor are all full versions and free inside. At the moment I don't see the point in getting a 24-bit, 96kHz sound card, as there are no 96kHz headphones or speakers . If you just get a 48kHz sound card, if you have a DVD or anything the sound range will be compressed and you'll get the same quality.

There's my rant

[Pirate]

Best Sound Cards in the WORLD are Creative Labs (esp Audigy2). It set all standards other companies should follow . I have AUDIGY2 Platinum , all I can say is OMG .It's masterpiece .

[siyan]

Originally posted by Pirate
Best Sound Cards in the WORLD are Creative Labs (esp Audigy2). It set all standards other companies should follow . I have AUDIGY2 Platinum , all I can say is OMG .It's masterpiece .

There are much better sound cards in the WORLD.

The Audigy 2 Platinum, price notwithstanding, is *arguably* the best consumer sound card on the market.

Personally I would take the Digifire 7.1 over Audigy 2.

[Sastraxi]

This is awesome, I picked up Creative Inpsire 5.1, connected them up (analog, hey I got it for $80 CAD), and with the last jack put on my headphones, so I can switch between the two without changing anything

[siyan]

Originally posted by Sastraxi
This is awesome, I picked up Creative Inpsire 5.1, connected them up (analog, hey I got it for $80 CAD), and with the last jack put on my headphones, so I can switch between the two without changing anything

Nice

I should get my parents to give me the DD/DTS 5.1 600W Pioneer system we have downstairs...takes optical and coaxial S/PDIF. Now that would rock.

[Sastraxi]

How does optical exactly work? It's quite a neat look to it, being raised out from the card instead of inset.

[siyan]

fiber optic wire carrying a red laser light that fluctuates in amplitude (for the "bits")

wavelength 650nm or thereabouts i believe...

of course i could just be really tired and hallucinating

[Zaei]

Originally posted by Sastraxi
Creative is absolute pants, bullocks, or whatever you want to call it. Get a VIA mainboard and get ready for fun sound quality distortion and sample looping!

I have a Hercules Digifire 7.1 here. The sound quality is amazing. The package is amazing. 2 firewire ports. PowerDVD Pro EX, Acid Xpress, and a media editor are all full versions and free inside.

Acid ****ing rocks! Thats all ive got to say about that

My audio setup is only onboard stuff, but its still fun. Ive got a two port splitter plugged into my Lineout on my main PC, with my speakers and headphones hookd up to that. Ive got a male-male cable running from the Lineout on my secondary box to the Linein on my main box. I just max the volume on the secondary box, and control the actual output volume on one PC Fun =).

Z.