Worth buying a soundcard?

Post by **Dr. kitteny berk** » October 25th, 2005, 12:10

spoodie wrote:I dont think I want to spend twice as much on a X-Fi card but I can tell it's definately worth using a proper soundcard over the on-board, when it worked the SB card made the sound a lot richer. Unless there's a really good reason to go for the more expensive one?

Unless you're an audiophile, or using really high end kit, there's no real reason.

Post by **deject** » October 25th, 2005, 15:40

Dr. kitteny berk wrote:Unless you're an audiophile, or using really high end kit, there's no real reason.

\

this, and being a rich, smug bastard.

I've been using my SB Live! for years and it works well enough. The next soundcard I buy has to feature on-the-fly Dolby Digital or DTS 5.1 encoding, so I can plug it into my Stereo for maximum funnage.

spoodie · Post by **spoodie** » October 25th, 2005, 17:22

deject wrote: this, and being a rich, smug bastard.

you make a good argument but I ordered the audigy thing instead

cashy · Post by **cashy** » October 25th, 2005, 18:04

it all depends on the onboard, i *thought* i was deaf in one ear for a long long while *while using headphones*, and my one pc speaker was broke but it turns out my onboard sound card was only mono. its not till after i bought a 4.1 surround set up off a mate i realised how cack it was. so now i have an audigy 2 value live gizmo and since my games play and sound a hell of alot better

/edit: *drunken ramblings fixed

spoodie · Post by **spoodie** » November 2nd, 2005, 11:16

the new soundcard sounds sweet

and seems to take some pressure off other system resources as I'm getting better FPS in the games I tested, just waiting for my new headset now

pixie pie · Post by **pixie pie** » November 2nd, 2005, 18:52

mrbobbins wrote:A good soundcard improves performance and FPS in games because it takes load off the CPU. FACT

uhh.. Don't you mean ANY soundcard takes the load off the CPU? A better one doesn't take less off the CPU.. a bad one'll do that too. If you're comparing any soundcard with onboard, then yes this is a factor. When comparing soundcards I swear there is extremely small difference?

Post by **Joose** » November 2nd, 2005, 22:17

Ive still yet to get away from onboard sound, but frankly, Ive got better things to spend my extremely limited cash on.

If I did, though, I think the only thing I would be basing my decisions on (other than cost) is what you can plug into it. Ive not got the best hearing in the world, so sound quality really isnt an issue. What I would really like is a soundcard with one of those little panels that goes in a drive bay, so I dont have to keep doing contortionist acts to plug things in. That would be nice.

Post by **FatherJack** » November 2nd, 2005, 22:44

I'm torn between cards that can do EAX stuff well (the current SB live crashes games with it enabled, so even working is a performance gain) and the urge to not waste money on features my cloth ears will be unable to notice.

Things like surround sound do not appeal - I live in a terraced house, so it's headphones only late at night - and games are scary enough without weird noises coming from behind me: the noises from the street actually behind me are quite scary enough at times

The front panel things are rather convenient, though.

Post by **Joose** » February 18th, 2006, 20:42

Cue Grimmies Cast Resurrect Gif!

As some of you know, im thinking of spending paypal monies on ebay. I started off thinking of getting a PSP, but every one thats gone in the last week or so has been just out of my budget (by a matter of 5-10 pounds

). So, I then thought of getting more RAM (obscene amounts of the fastest i can), or possibly a new gfx card (something around the £150 mark).

But then I realised: there is part of my setup that is actually causeing me physical pain, in a couple of different ways. My cheap as shit headphones are rubbing away the corners of my ears, and to swap them for speakers involves acrobatics behind the desk that my stiff bones cant cope with. So im now thinking: New sound card, with one of those thingys that sit in the drive bays, so i can easily swap between headphones and speakers, and a new headset to save my poor ear-flaps.

I was thinking of this for the sound card, but have no clue about a decent headset. If people can suggest one, that would be grand!

The only limitations here is that it cant come to a total of more than £150 (including postage), and it has to be payable via paypal.

Go, my stuff finding bitches!

Post by **FatherJack** » February 18th, 2006, 21:10

I have one of these which work perfectly well normally, but has had some, er...problems in Teamspeak.

cashy · Post by **cashy** » February 18th, 2006, 21:28

i have a Creative Audigy 2 Value OEM and the sound is top notch, also im going to get one of these audio things (although i think i got it from OCUK, cant remember was drunk) in the post soon to cure the same problem you have. jobs a gooden

pixie pie · Post by **pixie pie** » February 19th, 2006, 16:35

hmm, I have one of those little ports on the front of my case, which needs connecting up to my soundcard, but I never got around to it as some cables were missing from this card I got from a pal. Just so you know I have a plain old audigy. Works a treat

. Do you have a headphone/mic port on your case (front)? or would you need to get a soundcard with a seperate connector for the front of your PC?

Post by **Joose** » February 19th, 2006, 19:43

I do have those ports, but they are in a stupidly inaccessable place.
Also, if i wire them in, the rear port would stop working, so rewiring would still be required.

I think i shall go for the audigy 2 with the little extra box thing for plugging stuff into™.

How about headsets? What do you fellas recommend?

Post by **Dr. kitteny berk** » February 19th, 2006, 19:47

that 50 quid headset jinxx has works ok.

spoodie · Post by **spoodie** » February 19th, 2006, 20:08

I use a Plantronics Audio 90 headset which does me fine and you can pick them up for about £20 now, although Jinxx and Berk don't agree. They are an improvement from what I was using before, they're cheap and comfortable, just make sure you turn down the bass as it's way too high.

mrbobbins · Post by **mrbobbins** » February 19th, 2006, 20:25

I'm slowly moving up in the world of headphones!!

£10 USB -> £25 Plantronics

The main reason I bought the Plantronics is they came with a free audio switch box to switch between speakers and the headset, which I find very handy

http://www.evocal.co.uk/index.cfm?event ... oryID=1038

spoodie · Post by **spoodie** » February 19th, 2006, 20:38

mrbobbins wrote:£10 USB > £25 Plantronics

Ah, they're not that bad

pixie pie · Post by **pixie pie** » February 19th, 2006, 21:17

spoodie wrote:
mrbobbins wrote:£10 USB > £25 Plantronics
Ah, they're not that bad

I think he meant an arrow, not a greater than sign

mrbobbins · Post by **mrbobbins** » February 19th, 2006, 21:56

*Cough*

edit

Wot joo talkin 'bout?!

Post by **deject** » February 19th, 2006, 22:13

As for headsets, the Logitech Precision PC Gaming headset is very good, and it's pretty comfortably for extended usage.