I have been an excellent listener in CS, but I've only had onboard audio (Asus A7N8X Deluxe mobo) until now. Everything I read says that a good sound card makes an equivocal difference as upgrading from onboard video to a AGP card.
My computer is an $800 box from almost 2 years ago. It's budget minded. I can't spend much until maybe a year from now, so I'd like to go with a $28 card sold by NewEgg.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=29-102-177 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=29-102-177)
With current sub-$100 Sound Blaster cards, there is this (the Live! 24-bit), the Audigy2 Value, and the Audigy2 ZS. I don't want to fork the cash an Audigy2 ZS would cost, and I read somewhere reputable that the Live! is better value than the Audigy2 Value. That was only one source though, so I'm curious if anyone really thinks the Value or the ZS are worth it.
My needs:
CS:Source, plain and simple. I enjoy music and movies but I don't care so much about audio these days for that.
I just have budget Labtec speakers and Altec Lansing headphones ($35 model). I don't have any needs for high quality sound input or surround sound technologies.
Anyone with recommendations based on experience?
I have Live Platinum, and Audigy Platinum with Klipsch speakers and Plantronics headphones and I really didnt see a big difference in output sound during games. With the current set up you have the Live version would probably suffice.
That soundblaster card you are looking at used to be the standard (only in 5.1, this is a newer design) for sound until the audigy series was released, it is a good all around card, and you should see an improvement in your game sound going to that.
My first card was this same card only in the 5.1 version, i really liked it until my computer had a fit and decided to fry it......
I definately think that for the money you are going to be getting a very useful card that you won't need to be replacing in the near future. Just remember, throw away the driver disk that comes with it and get the latest drivers from the web!
Hey! Excellent find! I too have been looking for a decent budget card. It's on the way now.
Thanks for the feedback! I'll be ordering it myself then.
You're actually ordering it right after a $4 price drop (I signed up for a price change alert). $4 here and there adds up quick with computer gear.
Yay!
QuoteI have been an excellent listener in CS, but I've only had onboard audio (Asus A7N8X Deluxe mobo) until now. Everything I read says that a good sound card makes an equivocal difference as upgrading from onboard video to a AGP card.
My computer is an $800 box from almost 2 years ago. It's budget minded. I can't spend much until maybe a year from now, so I'd like to go with a $28 card sold by NewEgg.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=29-102-177 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=29-102-177)
With current sub-$100 Sound Blaster cards, there is this (the Live! 24-bit), the Audigy2 Value, and the Audigy2 ZS. I don't want to fork the cash an Audigy2 ZS would cost, and I read somewhere reputable that the Live! is better value than the Audigy2 Value. That was only one source though, so I'm curious if anyone really thinks the Value or the ZS are worth it.
My needs:
CS:Source, plain and simple. I enjoy music and movies but I don't care so much about audio these days for that.
I just have budget Labtec speakers and Altec Lansing headphones ($35 model). I don't have any needs for high quality sound input or surround sound technologies.
Anyone with recommendations based on experience?
Wait! The A7N8X uses Soundstorm audio. That isn't your typical onboard audio, and in most reviews beats the Live! series hands down. You would get an increase in quality going to an Audigy 2 derivative, but not a huge one - you would need good ears to detect it. Read some soundstorm reviews before you purchase a replacement card. I suspect you would be well into diminishing returns. Spend the money on a high-end set of headphones if you don't already have them. That would give you much more bang for your buck for gaming sound.
I've heard mixed reviews comparing the Soundstorm on-board audio (for my mobo) to this card. At least two sources said that their sound improved, while one website claimed that the onboard is better.
I already ordered it, so I'll be trying it out for myself. I can always sell it if I need to.
Thanks though.
QuoteI've heard mixed reviews comparing the Soundstorm on-board audio (for my mobo) to this card. At least two sources said that their sound improved, while one website claimed that the onboard is better.
I already ordered it, so I'll be trying it out for myself. I can always sell it if I need to.
Thanks though.
Well, good luck! I hope you like it better.
I have been running off of a sound blaster USB card. I have had alot of problems with it lagging my system while in vent/game. My mobo's onboard audio decided it didn't want to work anymore (yes, I reinstalled drivers several times) a while back and at the time I owned the USB card so I installed it. I just want to go to something PCI to increase data x-fer.
Gentlemen, your assistance please.
My problem: Nasty scratchy/distorted sound from my new soundblaster live! 24bit. I turn up the volume and can barely hear, what I can hear is distorted.
My specs: P4 2.8, Mobo-asus P4S8X, Windows XP PRO, 1.5GB ram.
What I've done: Checked headphones, reinstalled drivers(uninstalled first), reseated card, swapped PCI slots, checked for hardware conflicts(none), disabled mobo onboard sound, pulled out hair, kicked tower.
Anyone think of anything else I could try? It seems that this tends to happen with this card and win XP from what I've read online, couldn't find a solution though. Thanks!
QuoteGentlemen, your assistance please.
My problem: Nasty scratchy/distorted sound from my new soundblaster live! 24bit. I turn up the volume and can barely hear, what I can hear is distorted.
My specs: P4 2.8, Mobo-asus P4S8X, Windows XP PRO, 1.5GB ram.
What I've done: Checked headphones, reinstalled drivers(uninstalled first), reseated card, swapped PCI slots, checked for hardware conflicts(none), disabled mobo onboard sound, pulled out hair, kicked tower.
Anyone think of anything else I could try? It seems that this tends to happen with this card and win XP from what I've read online, couldn't find a solution though. Thanks!
Have you already checked your Windows master and source volume levels?
I have noticed that, even with my speaker/headphone volume control turned down, the sound can be distorted by the volume level set in the Windows volume control. It could be that the Master volume is all the way up, or the specific source volume is turned all the way up....or both...
Another thought.... it could also be that the source you're trying to listen to is set too low (or muted) in the Windows volume control and you have to turn the Master volume up all the way just to hear it, in which case the sound is getting distorted by the Max Master volume level. Try increasing the source you're trying to listen to and turning the master volume down. Remebering, of course, that the source you're listening to may be a hidden bar in the volume control window.
This is all super basic stuff that I'm sure you've already checked, but just thought I'd throw it out there cuz I know how the frustration thing goes....real easy to overlook or "forget" certain easy stuff when the frustration level starts to get a little high (i.e. pulling out hair, etc).
Good luck man.....
Blitz
yes, i've checked the volumes. If I have the volume levels set low, I am not able to hear anything. When I crank the volume up, I can barely hear sound and it's distorted. I have an identical mobo to the one installed that I am going to try and swap out. My onboard audio also is broke so I'm thinking it's all a mobo problem.
My onboard sound has a prob where I also cannot get any sound out. I can go to control panel>sounds>voice tab and hit test hardware and can watch the mike and output level reach excellant levels on the bar indicator, but no sound reaches the line out port. Hopefully this will take care of it.
Try and mute everything in the Surround Mixer except for Volume,MIDI and Wave. Then un-mute each other inputs as you need it. Also, uninstall your on board sound driver.
Quotecan watch the mike and output level reach excellant levels on the bar indicator, but no sound reaches the line out port.
Hmmm...now u got me wonderin about the audio header on your motherboard (if it has one. My old Abit NF7-S has one, as does my new DFI mobo. If the loopbacks (where you connect the front panel headphone/mic jacks) aren't connected right, the onboard jacks get disabled. If you have the header I'm talkin bout, check ur loopbacks.....though it doesn't necessarily explain why your onboard just decided not to work one day (unless of course you were doin some work in there or a cat/dog/kid bumped sumthin loose in there....).
Good luck (again).....
Blitz
Does this occur in all applications? Does it occur on both line-out and speaker-out? Does it happen in the Live! 3D setup test?
blitz more on this plz. I belive I first ran into the problem with my onboard sound when I connected my front pnl audio. I never got it to work so I disconnected it and since then, onboard fails to work.
On the boards I've seen this on, there was a 7x2 or 8x2 (don't recall exactly)header on the motherboard where the front panel audio wires connect to the motherboard. Prior to connecting anything to these headers, there are little 2-pin jumper shunts placed across certain pairs of pins in this header. To connect the front panel audio per the manual, I had to remove the jumpers from the header. From here, I've seen three different variations in the towers of various manufacturers....
a> The front panel wiring for the audio ports (comes built in to the tower) looked strange. Strange as in: The signal side (+) of the right and left channels had a short wire crimped into the connector along with the wire that goes to the jack on the front panel. This little wire is intended to replace the jumper that was removed from the header. If this little jumper is not connected to the other pin that used to be occupied by the jumper for this channel, the onboard ports won't work, and, depending on which pin ur signal wire is connected to, the front panel ports may not work either. (This disfunction is especially a problem when using a case as in situation c below...but I'll address it there.)
b> The front panel wiring was designed to "disable" the onboard audio ports when the front panel port is in use. The harness for this setup had a right and left channel return wire (RTN) in addition to the signal and GND wires. This setup was a bitch to make work (but I think that had to do with the mis-labeled connectors in the harness). This design replaces the jumper with a connection made by the headphone jack when nothing is plugged into it. If you plug headphones into the front jack, the connection is broken, thereby disabling the onboard ports until the headphones are disconnected. Incidentally, I have seen this jack-connection be bad/inconsistent....may want to try the resolution to situation c below, even if this is how ur tower is set up.
c> The front panel wiring for the audio ports does not incorporate any kind of replacement for the jumper removed from the header. In this case, there is no wiring to make the connection that existed with the jumper on there; it is necessary to fabricate your own "jumper" to make the connection. Me personally, I used the jumper I took off.... I soldered the front panel wire to the jumper and put the jumper back on the header (had to cut the factory connector off the tower's front audion harness to do this). This allowed both the front port and the onboard ports to be receiving audio signal simultaneously, regardless of which was in use. I've only run across this problem once, but just so you know its out there and a possibility....
I wish I could be more specific to your board/tower than this, but the manual for your board is 10Meg and I can't get better than 13KB/s from Asus here at work right now so I can't look at the book for your board as I type this.... If it gets a little later and the network load lightens up around here, I may be able to take a look, but this is the best I can do for now..... Hope it helps....
Blitz
Finally got the manual down through our pitiful network....
While its not the setup I was anticipating, it is similar. On your board, there appear to be two headers related to the output of onboard audio. One is for the physical connections to the front panel audio port(s); the other is for determining whether the board is allowed to "auto-switch" between the front ports and the rear onboard ports. According to the manual (page 25), the two jumpers must be removed to allow the front ports connected to the front panel header (page 39) to function. If the jumpers are in place, the board is essentially hard-wired to the rear port. This may explain why your front ports never worked (if you did not remove these jumpers). Though it does present a problem when considering that the rear ports also do not work. Unless, of course, these jumpers are not there or are placed incorrectly. You can check it out for yourself in your manual, or download the manual from asus and see it there (page numbers are from the downloaded version of course...).
Hope this also helps.
If ya need anything else or more info tonight, call me at home later on this evening...preferably before 10... I think you have my number, but, just in case, i'll pm it here momentarily....
Blitz
LOL!! Sure have been viewing this thread for awhile there B!! Am I long winded or what??!! LOL!!
Blitz
lol, no just comparing your post to my mobo at the time. Thank goodness for my laptop, keeps me connected while I perform surgery. Sad news, I need some mobo spacers/stand-offs and I found out today that our local compUSA closed down. So, hopefully someone has them so I can swap out the mobo's. (no , my current one doesn't have any. Yes that could be the reason my mobo is screwed up...lecture me after I get the problem fixed)
Just an update....
I installed my Sound Blaster Live! 24-bit card on my Asus A7N8X-Deluxe mobo, disabled my onboard audio in BIOS, and installed the kX Project driver (indie version).
I started up some MP3's, sounded crisp. Started up some CS:Source, and everything was a little different. With my new card the sounds have more clarity, and my MP3's don't sound so "cheap." I haven't found a situation yet where the clarity makes-or-breaks my auditory perception in-game, but I'm happy with the difference in sounds.
I could have possibly achieved the same clarity and performance with my onboard SoundStorm audio, by tweaking the equalizer, but I'm happy that my video card sounds so crisp with pretty much no configuration, just a hacked driver.
Good to hear. Happy gaming!
<~~ picked an invidia 6600 256 ect ect...
to bad i dont have any thing ready to plug it into...