EggXpert

Hey guys,

What kind of sound card/audio system would you guys recommend? I'm really into gaming and music so something that sounds amazing would be real nice. But also something not too expensive :/
 

Pretty much any of these would be good, Creative's x-fi series are known to be good cards.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Description=Creative+X-Fi

Hi,

One thing I have to ask... What operating system do you have? XP or Vista.. or something else? There are alot of cards out there that can be problematic under vista, and it can narrow your search down if you are useing vista. Creative is noted for haveing problems under vista, especially with some of thier older or cheaper models.

Creative isnt bad, but if you want to look at a different option, then look at the HT Omega Striker. It has just about every output/input connection you can think of,  and has one of the best price/performance ratios, in my opinion. For $80, I think its hard to find another card that compares in features and quality. Also, The HT Omega Strike does work under vista, so theres no issues to worry about.

HT OMEGA STRIKER 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail $79.99

Here is a link to any updated drivers for the HT Omega Striker, just in case you decide to go with that card, then you can bookmark this page just in case you need to update the drivers. http://www.htomega.com/downloads.html

Hope this helps,

Wasper

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Any of the xfi sound great. I would recommend those over any other sound card. I have a xfi elite, paird with a logitech z5500 5.1 And without the sound card the speakers still sound good but with it they just sound great. The crystalizer setting is sweet, and the game mode makes sounds proc faster and sound better than any other card. Pick one of the xfi series you'll love it.

All I know about Creative X-FI cards are... they are either hit or miss, either poeple swear by them or loath them.

 Im in the second camp of those two groups....Alot of people complain about crackling and poping noises, bad driver support, and alot of problems with motherboard compatibility. They are also over priced in my opinion.

Also, you have to watch Creative... thier cheaper  "X-Fi" cards are not true X-Fi's.. the X-Fi chip is not on the board, they just name the card with the "X-FI" to fool people into buying low tech products with a high-tech name. Heres and example...  All of these cards do NOT have the X-Fi chip on the product, but are clearly labled as X-Fi's  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010360057+50001137&StoreType=7&CompareItemList=N82E16829102016%2cN82E16829102007%2cN82E16829102017&bop=And

These cards are genuine "X-Fi" cards, but if you read the reviews, you can see all the various problems people have with the static noise,  motherboard and vista compatibility....  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010360057+50001137&StoreType=7&CompareItemList=N82E16829102006%2cN82E16829102005%2cN82E16829102019%2cN82E16829102014%2cN82E16829102015&bop=And

Looking at that second group, the cheapest card is $90 and is pretty much plain as they get..... compare the $90 Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtream Gamer to the $80 HT Omega Striker I linked to above, and you'll see why the HT Omega Striker is the better buy. Out of all the less exspensive 96KHz sample rate cards, the HT Omega Striker wins hands down.

Even when you get into the more exspensive price range with cards useing the 192KHz sample rate, the HT Omega Claro cards are the better buy in my opinion.

Like I said, people either love or hate Creative... I just happen to be part of the latter and these are just my opinions on the matter.

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Sweet thanks for the replies guys.

I'm running Windows XP at the moment.

The Striker looks nice, so you think it would be a good choice for general gaming, music, video editing, etc. use? 

lol, im not on drugs I happen to just either get lucky or buy a good sound card that cost more than others but give me more options than others. Ive always bought sound blaster and have never heard cracking or poping, or any of that c**p. Alot of times that will happen with the soundbridge chipset either gets too hot, or has no cooling. <-- had it happen to me. Either way I bought the elite bc it lets me hook my speakers up to a fiber optic cable, and hook my ps3 into the back of the console with the speakers. So i get one setup using fiber optic for the ps3 and my pc and it sounds great. But now you can do that with creatives new card they have out.

Either card would be a good buy, its all opinion. And anyone who says oh creative sucks it fact! We'll reach down a little further and im sure you'll see a load of bull***** in there hand. If creative is so bad they wouldn't be in business.  So go with either one I'm sure you'll be happy with your purchase. Also another word of advise if you have drivers for you on board sound, uninstall them first to avoid issues.