New soundcard!

R

RAZOR[x]

New member
Hi I read a lot of stuff about sblive sucks, and it's from hell and so on. well i got one, to bad for me:-(

So i'm planning on getting a new one now to the tuff question WICH ONE?

i'v looked at Hercules Game Theater XP
wich is the only one card i'v seen is pretty good.
I need a card for games&dvd so music card's is not an option.

So wich card's do u guys recommend?

THANX
Regards
RAZOR[x]
 
The SBLive! doesn't suck, Creative sucks for not supporting it better. It's still the best soundcard you can get in the consumer lineup. Are you having problems with your card? If not why on earth would you buy a new one just because you "heard" that it sucks?

I recommend ignoring the idiots and keeping what you have; you won't find a better one for gaming anywhere.
 
I don't think the SB Live sucks either.

I have never had the slightest problem with mine in either W2K or Win98SE.
 
SBLive

SBLive

Ok, Listen, Ive had MANY sound cards, so far, my SBLive Value is the best one. Its not a computer hog, especially if you have alot of USB stuff. I havnt had one problem with anything pertaining to my sound card. Yes, they could update drivers a little more, and have a little nicer tech support, but its still the best card.
 
Is not a BAD card how ever it's not a Great card either :). However if you want to switch I suggest the one you mentioned(Iam getting one as soon as I have the money)or a TurtleBeach:SantaCruz I beleave it's the same chipSet as the Hercules sound card but with out the front panel :)

Any sound card that sounds good for music will sound good for DVD's. Games is another thing and frankly I can't say that Creative wins here I would say the new TurtleBeach and Hercules cards are the best for games providing much wider support for 3D audio and they sound just GREAT :)


Any way if you really want to change pick the hercules or TurtleBeach there's not much of a dif it's pretty much a price dif and a front panel. They both have the same chipset so they sound pretty much the same. If you don't want or care for a front panel go for TurtleBeach they are well know for great audio :)
 
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Seriously

Seriously

I feel so bad for SB LIve here. They are great cards... I mean the fact that I SB Live value card can do 4 independant channels, giving me the most amazing CS experince ever is like the coolest thing, and all the sound filters and built in synth options... it is such a solid card as long as you are not an idiot and put it in the right PCI slot, and turn off SB16 emulation, and make sure it isn't sharing an IRQ.

Anyway.. I just had to support my SB LIVE, and I am not going to rush out a buy a new card
 
SBLive is an excellent card

SBLive is an excellent card

It does NOT sound like crap. I've had mine for two years and I've never had a problem with it. It has always sounded great. I have the original retail card by the way as I don't give a rat's behind about 5.1, and I only use Intel chipsets; I've heard it can have problems on the crap that VIA puts out. Go ahead and try one of the other pieces of garbage and see how long before you come running back.
 
The SB Live! doesn't sound bad, but...

The SB Live! doesn't sound bad, but...

....there're better cards on the market that support more 3D audio API's. Hercules, Phillips, Santa Cruz and Terratec are better IMHO. All these cards are powered by the Sensaura Engine that supports Aureal A3D emulation as well as MacroFX that makes sounds within 1 metres even more distinct and clear. I've recently replaced my SB Live! Value with a Terratec DMX X-Fire 1024 and it sounds a lot better in games like Thief 2, B17 (uses A3D) and Rogue Spear.
 
Thanx!

Thanx!

Thanx guy's for all post's,
I personally think that sblive has done it's share on the market. Just cuz Sound Blaster got the most of the Market(home) when it comes to sound card, is does not mean they can get lazey wich they did.

So next mont i will buy Hercules Game Theater XP
this card really does sound better if u compare sb live and this u will hear a diffrence, and second major and big brands is behind this card.
such as
Yamaha
cubase
logic
and so on

THANX
Regards
RAZOR[x]
 
AND?

AND?

Should that be a bad thing or what?

I'm only saying that, it's supported
And as u probebly know it's supports more 3d protocol then any other soundcard

regards
RAZOR[x]
 
Acoustic Edge 5.1

Acoustic Edge 5.1

I have the Hercules XP, a SB, and a Philips Acousic Edge. The Acoustic Edge is the best deal. It plays all games with the highest quality sound. The Hercules XP has about the same quality, just better midi support and more ports but not worth the extra $$$ unless you really need it. The SB sounds worse, but it records sound better than the XP. The Acousic Edge is pretty cheap too, around $80.
 
Hmmm......something just isn't right here...

Personally, I have the SB, and it sounds just fine to me, although there ARE issues with VIA mobos it looks like.

Also, I wouldn't mind giving the Santa Cruize a go. It looks like a SWEET card, but again, I have been dumping cash into my PC...its time to sit this one out. Why fix something that aint broke.

We could go on and on and on about sound quality, but when the Live works, they work well (we use them here in our radio stations), but I will be the first to admit, if you don't have an Intel chipset on board, pack a lunch, you might be trying to install the thing awhile.

If you really want the absolute best in sound, try Antex.com hehh hehehehehehahhahhahahhah (hope you got about $2000 to drop on a sound card!)

Seriously, and this is the biggest reason for this post. I see a trend that really makes me nervous. SB Live! used to be the greatest thing since sliced bread (or so the majority of users claimed). Except for the die hard Aureal fans, the SB! was pretty much accepted with open arms by most people. Now a link gets posted that mentions that SB! makes a VIA bug worse, and all of a sudden the SB! is junk...What is up with that????

-Alan
 
First day I bought my live! to replace my MX300 (Vortex 2), (Aureal was a month away from officially closing it's doors), I noticed two things: One, the highs were muted, and Two, the drivers were crap. None of the effects could be used, they were too exagerated, you had a basic reverb that sounded halfway decent, the rest was just noise for kids to play with. (I can't believe any musician would take that seriously.) Now the Aureal drivers were crap too, but they were smaller and less offensively crappy. :) The rest of the misc crapware was just too unbelievably bad to even keep on my system [I want to] [Delete this crap][and get rid of this stupid sound card]. I bought the thing for 4.1 sound compatibility with my Hollywood Plus DVD decoder, which I have since sold, my latest problems with the drivers not even installing since I bought the Radeon was just too much, so I sold it. Looking for a Philips card, worse case, the drivers may not be better, but then again, they can't get any worse. :)

Creative drivers in general are crap, from video cards to web cams to sound cards, I've just about tried them all, they are facinated with Window regions and making round brown guis, they just don't care about basic functionality.

Hardware incompatibilities are not the sole reason people are saying the Live! is crap, it's just the last straw. IMO, going with the defacto standard in sound cards can only compensate for so much grief before you want to be a part of changing that standard. Competition is good. :)
 
Oh, I agree 100% that competion is good! But the thing I just find so amusing is the majority (not everyone) of people have thought creative sounds cards were the best in the consumer world (how else would they have got to the #1 consumber sound card maker). Only recently have I seen (again, the majority) of people jump on the bandwagon of saying "creative is crap".

Not trying to step on anyones toes...I know there were people that have had problems from the start with creative. I am just talking about majority.

Personally, I have a live and won't change it cause it works fine. But if I was in the market for a decent sound card, I think I would be checking out that Santa Cruize!

-Alan
 
Hmm...

Hmm...

Hi Guys

Many good points has been made here.

I can agree that sblive does not suck in sound, but it sucks to have a card in you'r system, it does not sound bad, not at all, but there's card that's sounds better.

And the biggest issue, the one that's make me throw my card away is, sblive EATING you'r cpu power!!!!!!!!

Check this benchmark
http://firingsquad.gamers.com/hardware/gtxpreview/page9.asp

This is the main reason that i will change to:
Hercules Game Theater XP

and offcourse this card sound's better, and has some good features.

And another reason is creative got lazey and does not care about their costumer's once they sold their product.

No new driver's and no profile update what so ever for ages!

So people that say creative sucks, is a little bit hard, but those who say's there's better sound card's out there! has good point.

And offcourse this is my personal opinion

Regards
RAZOR[x]
 
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THE SB-LIVE series of cards suck "BIG TIME"(ah that feels better). I have recently purchased a Hercules Game Theater XP (WOW) well worth the £130. I have noticed BIG improvements in frame-rates over my now snapped in half SB-Live 1024, also I have also noticed a HUGE improvement in sound quality (No surprise there). If you are in the market for a new sound card this is the baby to get.

---------------------------
AMD T-Bird 1.2Gb
ASUS A7V133
640Mb PC133 Cass2
40Gb Maxtor ATA100 7200Rpm
Hercules Game Theater XP (Creative cards are CRAP)
ATI Radeon 64Mb VIVO (Retail)
D-Link 10/100 Network Card
Pioneer DVD (16x,52x)
Phillips CD-RW (4x,4x,16x)
--------------------------

Microsoft Optical Mouse
Microsoft Freestyle Pro Gamepad
17" Belinea Monitor (Upto 1600*1200)
 
Cmon people. The CREATIVE cards DO NOT SUCK. THEY ARE JUST OLD AGE technology, that has done its share of its time. NOW is the future, and newer and better cards are out.

But you wouldnt be saying the same hting about creative a few years ago because it was like the only choice you have.

Like cars, recycled technology cannot keepup with the current trend changes.
 
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