# Is a sound card really needed?



## pushkaraj (Jun 3, 2007)

I am wondering whether a sound card is really needed if one has an onboard sound solution like realtek 6.1 , etc. coz i also use a cmi8738 sound card but except for a slight improvement in the bass reproduction there isn't much difference i have noticed. Probably i might not b havin so-called "MUSIC EARS"   2 recognise small differences in sounds. But then is it dat there will b a hell lot of differencs between realtek onboard 6.1 and a sound card like 1 from the creative audigy series   ???


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## damnthenet (Jun 3, 2007)

Today's integrtated audio comes with good fidelity in terms of music reproduction. The real need for a good audio card comes when there's a need to produce (record) quality music.
The good sound cards come with a lot of features to minimise noise levels etc. For those who aspire to be musicians and composers, a sound card is almost inevitable.


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## pushkaraj (Jun 3, 2007)

THANX Got ur point dude. I had once used Fruity Loops Studio and noticed dat there was reduced latency in the processing of sound with my cmi8738 than my onboard sound  .

This is a sincere question to all u music lovers and audiophiles out there who swear by there expensive sound systems 

Wat i wanna know is dat is it worth buying a creative audigy series or even better sound card for simply listening to 128 kbps ,or for dat matter ,320 kbps, mp3  .

ALso i wud like to know whether will the sound qaulity b considerably better if i replace my creative sbs-370 2.1 speaker set with an Altec Lansing ATP3 2.1 set


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## janitha (Jun 3, 2007)

pushkaraj said:
			
		

> THANX Got ur point dude. I had once used Fruity Loops Studio and noticed dat there was reduced latency in the processing of sound with my cmi8738 than my onboard sound  .
> 
> This is a sincere question to all u music lovers and audiophiles out there who swear by there expensive sound systems
> 
> ...



Definitely.


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## zyberboy (Jun 3, 2007)

use this little player which will give better sound in the same hardware for mp3's.Adjust the eq to rock and turn off auto amp.This player is considered as the best by audophiles  around the world.
*un4seen.com/


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## Lucky_star (Jun 3, 2007)

Creative will come no-where near the ATP3 in perfomance. The bass and treble clarity is perfect for the Altec Lansing in its range.


And for listening to mp3s be it 128 or 320 kbps, onboard audio is more than enough. Make sure the onboard is realtek and not Sigmatel or soundmax.


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## pushkaraj (Jun 3, 2007)

Hey cyberboy_kerala, Tried and tested xmplay as suggested by u. Trust me dude, i did not find much diff between dat player and wmp11, atleast on my config: CMI8738 sound card + Creative sbs-370 2.1 speakers .

Anyway thanx for suggesting me dat player coz it comes in an amazingly small size- JUST 300 kb APPROX- and givin the same performance as dat of wmp11. Must say, great technology goes behind the making of such a light weight player. I am truly amazed. Probably by installing their bass addon, i will get a better bass reproduction .

And lucky_star, thanx for ur reply. By the way,hav u any idea whether is Altec Lansing MX5021 "REALLY" better than ATP3 ,given its high price(7900 approx) .

I hav kept my subwoofer on the lower side of my computer trolly beside the cabinet. So will the vibrations caused by it affect the cabinet in anyway?


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## zyberboy (Jun 3, 2007)

pushkaraj said:
			
		

> Hey cyberboy_kerala, Tried and tested xmplay as suggested by u. Trust me dude, i did not find much diff between dat player and wmp11, atleast on my config: CMI8738 sound card + Creative sbs-370 2.1 speakers .


yeah,but keep using this player for playing music for atleast two weeks,then change to wmp11 then u will feel the difference.you can also try foobar2000.
I was using wmp11+dfx even though wmp11 sounds good,xmplay feels better for wide variety of music.


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## Gigacore (Jun 4, 2007)

If u want High Definition Audio Quality u need a soundcard. 

Advantage:

The onboard audio will use system's RAM for processing the audio. But the Soundcard will have a builtin RAM for processing the sound. Thus will improve the system performance without giving much workload on RAM. It is just like a Graphic Card does.


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## Lucky_star (Jun 4, 2007)

you will notice little or no perfomance difference with a sound card installed. It doesn't need too much RAM. It does the same work which an MP3 player does. Nothing else.  Can't compare with the capability and workload of a graphics card.


@ Puskaraj. Dude, you want too spend 7900 bucks on a 2.1? If you can spend that much then go for a 5.1 model. MX5021 is superb. additionally it has got remote and THX certification and a very big bass driver. That's why its overtly priced. But if you are looking for a 2.1 from Altec, then I would say, go for ATP3. It won't dissappoint you.


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## pushkaraj (Jun 4, 2007)

Thanx  Lucky_star ang intel_gigacore. By the way, Lucky_star, probably u misunderstood intel_gigacore coz i think wat he means to say is dat there r certain commercial audio creating and editing softwares out there- Steinberg Nuendo and Fruity Loops Studio, just to name a few. These softwares r so demanding dat if u don't hav a sound card, they will definitely overload the cpu. Basically as i earlier said, there wil be a "noticeable"  latency  in the processing of sound.

As for lucky_star, i think he is right. Can't compare the graphics card's workload and capability with dat of a sound card. But then in certain situations, like the one mentioned above, the sound card plays a significant role  in reducing the workload on the cpu and the onboard sound.

So to conclude, probably for simply listening to good quality music, a combination of  ATP3 and the  onboard realtek sound should suffice

One of my questions has been left unanswered:
I hav kept my subwoofer on the lower side of my computer trolly beside the cabinet. So will the vibrations caused by it affect the cpu's working in anyway?


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## deathvirus_me (Jun 4, 2007)

> Wat i wanna know is dat is it worth buying a creative audigy series or even better sound card for simply listening to 128 kbps ,or for dat matter ,320 kbps, mp3



*YES* ..... but u'll know how to actually go about it .. for example , u should just use players like Winamp , but actually use some additional plugins for enhancing the player to make full use of ur sound card  ...



> Creative will come no-where near the ATP3 in perfomance. The bass and treble clarity is perfect for the Altec Lansing in its range.



For the price of an AL 2.1 speakers set , u should easily bag a Creative Inspire 5.1 speaker set ..



> you will notice little or no perfomance difference with a sound card installed. It doesn't need too much RAM. It does the same work which an MP3 player does. Nothing else. Can't compare with the capability and workload of a graphics card.



Yes the performance diff. is noticeable , particularly if u use ingame effects like EAX 4/5 ... now for windows , the performance diff. will only be noticeable with playing , say , 24 bit 192 KHz VBR audio ... the CPU usage will be quite low compared to an onboard solution .. ingame , a sound card ensures that u can get the maximum sound effects with minimal performance loss ..

And about comparing sound cards , u can do that too .. for example , u can;t expect the Creative SB Live 24 bit to be as good as a Creative XFi .. lol ..

Also , for any onboard user , u can benchmark ur onborad sound using this : *audio.rightmark.org/products/rm3ds.shtml

Post back some results in u deem so .. I'd really like to see and onboard solution keeping the CPU usage down below 0.5% usaing 64 channel at 96 KHz output ...


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## pushkaraj (Jun 4, 2007)

> YES ..... but u'll know how to actually go about it .. for example , u should just use players like Winamp , but actually use some additional plugins for enhancing the player to make full use of ur sound card  ...


I love using wmp11 as it has <<live search>>. Can u suggest some good dsp plugin for it?




> For the price of an AL 2.1 speakers set , u should easily bag a Creative Inspire 5.1 speaker set ..


Don't u think it will b better to listen our usual mp3 songs,WHICH R STEREO, on a 2.1 speaker set coz i think the 2-channel output will b routed to the 5 channels instead of being routed to only 2 channels and probably this might affect the original reproductin of sound.




> Post back some results in u deem so .. I'd really like to see and onboard solution keeping the CPU usage down below 0.5% usaing 64 channel at 96 KHz output ...


I am equally eager to know the results of my onboard realtek and cmi8738 sound card . But due to some reason, i m not able to download dat application, probably bcoz of my  snail-like  slow  airtel gprs connection. As soon as i get it, i will post the results.


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## zyberboy (Jun 4, 2007)

For wmp11 use DFX plugin
yes  2.1 speakers hav better working than 5.1 in stereo music.


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## deathvirus_me (Jun 4, 2007)

> Don't u think it will b better to listen our usual mp3 songs,WHICH R STEREO, on a 2.1 speaker set coz i think the 2-channel output will b routed to the 5 channels instead of being routed to only 2 channels and probably this might affect the original reproductin of sound.





> yes 2.1 speakers hav better working than 5.1 in stereo music.



I think ur not aware of CMSS 3D offered by Creative for their sound cards ?? In modes like CMSS 2 , the audio is actually upmixed with added room acoustics ... once u hear it , u'll never wanna go back  ..

Also , i'm not really in WMP .. For Winamp , use AudioburstFX ... put the settings to the max ur card supports , and u'll be surprised urself ... I use it along with "Acoustic" Audio effect , and the sound experience is awesome ..


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## thrash_metal (Jun 4, 2007)

Shifted from a Creative 5.1 live to a Audigy PLatinum Pro ..... theres a HUGEEE difference .....


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## pushkaraj (Jun 4, 2007)

OK deathvirus_me. i hav attached 2 screenshots of my onboard realtek and cmi8738 sound card 3d studio test results.

Will check out both DFX and AudioburstFX .

Hey thrash_metal, wat is the cost of Audigy Platinum Pro?


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## Lucky_star (Jun 4, 2007)

CMSS 3D is really a goood feature in creative cards. I have felt the difference.
If you wanna buy a card then buy the audigy series or the X-Fi series. and mix it with a 5.1 speaker system like the inspire 5.1 or anything from altec, and you will bring a whole theatre into your house. 



> Yes the performance diff. is noticeable , particularly if u use ingame effects like EAX 4/5 ... now for windows , the performance diff. will only be noticeable with playing , say , 24 bit 192 KHz VBR audio ... the CPU usage will be quite low compared to an onboard solution .. ingame , a sound card ensures that u can get the maximum sound effects with minimal performance loss ..


I thought he wanted it for listening to MP3s only. Ok, thanks for the info.


> I hav kept my subwoofer on the lower side of my computer trolly beside the cabinet. So will the vibrations caused by it affect the cpu's working in anyway?


 It will not be a problem if your your subwoofer isn't  jumping like a barking dog hitting the bottom of the table, and trying to knock  off the CPU.


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## hitman050 (Jun 4, 2007)

What card could I get for under 2k to improve sound quality for HD 720p movies. I have an X-530 speaker set, and crappy onboard Soundmax AD1988B.


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## Lucky_star (Jun 4, 2007)

hitman050 said:
			
		

> What card could I get for under 2k to improve sound quality for HD 720p movies. I have an X-530 speaker set, and crappy onboard Soundmax AD1988B.



You will get a simple soundblaster 5.1 card It will cost 1100 bucks. Don't know the present price. It has got features like CMSS which makes a theatre like effect and its much much better than the soundmax.


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## aneesh kalra (Jun 4, 2007)

I have an altec lansing mx 5021 and belive me it is actually very good but it is more of a home theatre replacement rather than a comp. speaker replacement but still a good speaker with well pronounced highs and lows(much beterr than the atp3) although it distorts at max volume.One query do I need a thx certified soundcard for this.At presen tI run it on 865 onboard soundmax.


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## deathvirus_me (Jun 4, 2007)

> OK deathvirus_me. i hav attached 2 screenshots of my onboard realtek and cmi8738 sound card 3d studio test results.



Hmmm , take a look at my review of an Audigy 4 here : *www.techtalkz.com/member-reviews/5125-review-creative-soundblaster-audigy-4-oem.html

If u notice carefully ... while using 16 samples at 44.1 KHz , with the Realtek HD Audio , the CPU usage was 8% using EAX ... and with the CMI card , it was over 1% .. though it makes hardly any noticeable performance difference for general OS usage ... think of this : a card that lets u use maxed effect , and keeps CPU usage below 0.5% ??

PS : Why didn't u post the graph ??


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## goobimama (Jun 5, 2007)

CMSS I have found reduces fidelity in the sound quality and on researching the net, it is true. Dolby ProLogic II is much better at upmixing. 

As for a good soundcard, the creative soundcards don't stand a chance when compared with an Auzentech X-Meridian or even its lower counterparts. 

A good soundcard:
- produces high signal to noise ratio
- improves low quality mp3 files (X-Fi crystalizer, Auzentech has something of their own)
- Reduces CPU usage
- Decodes DD and DTS signals much better than a software decoder
- provides for EAX sound effects in games..(5.1, 7.1)
- Has the power to output/input sound at high resolutions (192Khz/24bit)

You will NOT feel the difference in a blind test on an average speaker system as onboard soundcards have grown quite a bit. But plug in something good, and yes, I can tell the difference.


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## techno_funky (Jun 5, 2007)

deathvirus_me said:
			
		

> Hmmm , take a look at my review of an Audigy 4 here : *www.techtalkz.com/member-reviews/5125-review-creative-soundblaster-audigy-4-oem.html
> 
> If u notice carefully ... while using 16 samples at 44.1 KHz , with the Realtek HD Audio , the CPU usage was 8% using EAX ... and with the CMI card , it was over 1% .. though it makes hardly any noticeable performance difference for general OS usage ... think of this : a card that lets u use maxed effect , and keeps CPU usage below 0.5% ??
> 
> PS : Why didn't u post the graph ??



How much did you get that Audigy 4 OEM for and where do I stand with my ATP3 and onboard audio (Relatek ALC882 HD 8-Channel) I mean should I really go for a high end sound card.


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## deathvirus_me (Jun 5, 2007)

Well , it's definitely recommended to put in a good sound card .... And , i got my Auidy 4 for just under 4k's ... its an OEM one , so it misses out some features from the Pro , but overall , its a real bang for buck  ..



> CMSS I have found reduces fidelity in the sound quality and on researching the net, it is true. Dolby ProLogic II is much better at upmixing.



Hmmm , i quite like to use CMSS 2 along with "Acoustic" audio effect ... sounds really better than the original ..


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## goobimama (Jun 5, 2007)

^^ I've got the Audigy 2 ZS. Maybe something has improved in the Audigy 4... Acoustic effect is also my favourite...

But Creative has left us like dogs when it comes to Vista drivers.... the sound card just about works...


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## deathvirus_me (Jun 5, 2007)

Who cares about Vista anyway ?? Plus , they said they're gonna charge for the Alchemy driver for Audigy , lol .. how long would it take to get the drivers over the net  .. Plus , why move to Vista anyway ?? The uber crappy driver support .. lol ..


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## aneesh kalra (Jun 5, 2007)

Do I need a thx certified soundcard to run my thx certified 2.1 altec lansing mx5021.What I had heard that souncards should only be considered if one wants accurate poisitional sound from one's 5.1 speakers.


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## thrash_metal (Jun 5, 2007)

Got it for 14.5k ... !

@aneesh kalra : Dude THX is a very crazy certification , to have an optimum THX sound u not only need your Speakers + sound procssing + music/movies to be THX certified but also the room in which you are listning in !!! You can check the specifications (google THX)


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## blackleopard92 (Jun 5, 2007)

how much does mx5021 costs?


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## aneesh kalra (Jun 5, 2007)

I got the mx5021 for 8.1 k 
@thrashmetal
I knew that thx is more of a quality standard that assures the sound being played by the speakers is  same as what was recorded in the recording studio but I wanted  to know wheteher a soundcard would really improve the perfomance of the system;i.e; would I be able to experience greater detail in the sounds I hear from the system.


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## blackleopard92 (Jun 5, 2007)

from what i have read about MX5021 reviews, that all said that it should be paired atleast with a audigy ZS to utilize it to full potential.

i suppose this thread would help u out.

*forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=174494


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## vivekbabbudelhi (Jun 5, 2007)

me too having mx 5021 & audiligy 2
but i use mx 5021 with my old thompson hi fi with  an inbuilt amplifier.(hifi has no speakers they were damaged) 
hifi's amplifier sounds much better than audiligy .so was its price when i bought it long 7 yrs back


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## aneesh kalra (Jun 6, 2007)

so between the audigy 2zs and audigy 4 which one is better.


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## ashnik (Jun 6, 2007)

comimg back to the topic,
I think nowadays, onboard sound chip r enough if u r going use 2.1 speakers only ( or pseudo 4.1). If u need a proper 5.1 spk experience, little investment could generate wonderful and much more satisfying results.

BTW which mobo has got best onboard sound chip within 6 K price?


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## AcceleratorX (Jun 6, 2007)

There's no better onboard audio chip on the market than SoundMAX, PERIOD. You want a good onboard audio chip, go for any motherboard which has soundmax onboard audio (usually Asus motherboards have it but you'll need to check anyway).


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## gxsaurav (Jun 6, 2007)

AcceleratorX said:
			
		

> There's no better onboard audio chip on the market than SoundMAX, PERIOD. You want a good onboard audio chip, go for any motherboard which has soundmax onboard audio (usually Asus motherboards have it but you'll need to check anyway).



Realtek & Via Vinyal Audio anyone? Support full 24bit audio in onboard audio segment.


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## damnthenet (Jun 6, 2007)

suggest sound cards having good signal to noise ratio with reasonalble price


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## deathvirus_me (Jun 6, 2007)

AcceleratorX said:
			
		

> There's no better onboard audio chip on the market than SoundMAX, PERIOD. You want a good onboard audio chip, go for any motherboard which has soundmax onboard audio (usually Asus motherboards have it but you'll need to check anyway).



Eeer .. i think some mobo's feature Creative sound chips  ..


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## techno_funky (Jun 7, 2007)

gx_saurav said:
			
		

> Realtek & Via Vinyal Audio anyone? Support full 24bit audio in onboard audio segment.



I would really like to hear more on this.


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## gxsaurav (Jun 7, 2007)

You can check the official web page of VIA, too bad the chipset market is ruled out there by Intel which will not use VIA Vinyl audio, thats why they are mostly available as M-Audio consumer grade sound cards.

They lack EAX etc, due to...well Creative's licensing policy. However if it comes to Music quality, playback & reproduction they are quite good. I mean, can u expect a full fledged 24bit 7.1 channel sound card for just Rs 2500


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## deathvirus_me (Jun 7, 2007)

Comparatively .. for just around 3k's , u'd easily get an Audigy 2 ZS  ..


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## AcceleratorX (Jul 2, 2007)

gx_saurav said:
			
		

> Realtek & Via Vinyal Audio anyone? Support full 24bit audio in onboard audio segment.



Realtek sucks in terms of quality.......VIA Vinyl is good, but then again there are two types in the VIA Vinyl series:

1) Via Vinyl "default" - the VT16xx codecs, pretty decent quality IMO when used with the right drivers.

2) VIA Envy24 + VT16xx - Vinyl "Gold" - This is the real deal, Auidgy-type audio quality, but unfortunately few mobos integrate Vinyl Gold.....

As far as 24-bit is concerned, you have the SoundMAX AD1986A, AD1988A/B from Analog Devices. Realtek really doesn't come into the picture here, search any good sound review on the Net and you'll see that Realtek is the least good out of these three vendors.

My earlier thought still stands, great onboard audio quality = SoundMAX.


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## The Outsider (Jul 2, 2007)

cyberboy_kerala said:
			
		

> use this little player which will give better sound in the same hardware for mp3's.Adjust the eq to rock and turn off auto amp.This player is considered as the best by audophiles  around the world.
> *un4seen.com/



thanks mate, imo its the only thing that comes near to f2k


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## ssk_the_gr8 (Jul 2, 2007)

even i will agree & say that a sound card is needed only for an extreme audiophile or for recordin quality music
for mp3's onboard is good enough


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## goobimama (Jul 2, 2007)

A soundcard is known to improve the sound quality of an mp3...though creative is really crappy at that.


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## pushkaraj (Jul 3, 2007)

AcceleratorX said:
			
		

> Realtek sucks in terms of quality.......VIA Vinyl is good, but then again there are two types in the VIA Vinyl series:
> 
> 1) Via Vinyl "default" - the VT16xx codecs, pretty decent quality IMO when used with the right drivers.
> 
> ...



wats the diff in playing an audio track at 16-bit and 24-bit. i mean if a track was recorded at 16-bit and u try to play it at 24-bit then wat will b the effect on the output. i m really   or i hav got the whole concept wrong


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## Ch@0s (Jul 3, 2007)

pushkaraj said:
			
		

> wats the diff in playing an audio track at 16-bit and 24-bit. i mean if a track was recorded at 16-bit and u try to play it at 24-bit then wat will b the effect on the output. i m really   or i hav got the whole concept wrong



Upsampling to 24bit helps... especially if the DAC itself is an oversampling one (99% of DACs are oversampling). It will not be noticeable on consumer grade equipment, but with the right equipment, the difference between 16bit and 24bit upsampled version is definitely noticeable.


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## pushkaraj (Jul 3, 2007)

Ch@0s said:
			
		

> Upsampling to 24bit helps... especially if the DAC itself is an oversampling one (99% of DACs are oversampling). It will not be noticeable on consumer grade equipment, but with the right equipment, the difference between 16bit and 24bit upsampled version is definitely noticeable.


@chaos, really interesting info. Thanx bro


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## adithyagenius (Jul 3, 2007)

I would spend the money meant for SB XFi Fatal1ty on processor, speakers or on anything else and use onboard HD audio. Here are the reasons

1. I have cheap speakers , the difference is not noticable. I have bose wave music system (30k and stereo) and Creative T6060 speakers (4.4k and 5.1). I didnt find any difference on exitgy vs Realtek HD audio.

2. Most the of the games out there have only EAX 1 or EAX 2 options. I have come across only Doom3 which had EAX 4 with update. But I hate doom3 and its not worth spending on sound card for 1 single game.

3. I play on 5.1 speakers and not on headphones. So no use of virtual ear for me. Virtual Ear cannot beat a real 5.1

4. Vista doesnt support hardware acceleration. So no EAX in games in vista. Creative is charging for Alchemy project which converts Direct Sound to OpenAL. Its free for Xfi series though.

5. There is a significant framerate increase (8% in F.E.A.R) in games when I disable EAX on my computer but for my friend who is have X Fi the frame rate increase is nil. But I would have countered the framerate loss by spending the money on processor etc and get much higher increase in framerate and at the same time make my other applications work faster. Also the increase in FPS is so high on my system because its the slow PentiumD 820, the first dual core processor.

6. Onboard solutions provide echo cancellation , noise suppression , environment models and equalisers. They are enough for voice chatting on msn, google etc and for playing songs. Dedicated cards are for professional quality recording etc. But they also need an investment in very good mic and speakers .. something better than causal audiophile speakers like bose . I also found the sound blaster crysalyser to be useless.

Realtek AC97 isnt good but Realtek HD Audio onboard solution is very good. It support upto EAX2 and OpenAL.
One advice I can give is stay away from sigmatel!!
Sigma Tel sucks. I advised my friends not to take motherboards with sigmatel , but they didnt listen and are repenting now.


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## philcom (Jul 3, 2007)

Hi all, 
I'm just a new-comer here. I just want to know , is there any M-audio Delta 1010Lt sound-card User here ? And could you please share your experience regarding the performance and Price of that Sound-card ? I need to buy one soon as I'm planning to set up a budget Home-studio of my own (my dream , lol ). Hence I solicit your kind co-operation. 
Thanks and regards.


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## pushkaraj (Jul 3, 2007)

Hey guys, just wanna know the diff between realtek hd audio drivers and realtek ac'97 drivers


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## thrash_metal (Jul 5, 2007)

I've Got a Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro .... For home recording its a very nice card .... used for vox recording on some tracks using Shure SM-58 mic , instrument recording (both analog & digital) using Digitech GnX2 , GnX 3000 , POD XT , Jackson , Kramer , Ibanez , Fender with EMG's , Dimarzios & Duncans and Yamaha keys . Tonal preserving is very nice . If you want to setup a simple home studio and u also wanna experience nice playback (watching movies etc) .. i'll recomend a card of this type to you (dunno wether audigy is available or not)


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## deathvirus_me (Jul 5, 2007)

adithyagenius said:
			
		

> 2. Most the of the games out there have only EAX 1 or EAX 2 options. I have come across only Doom3 which had EAX 4 with update. But I hate doom3 and its not worth spending on sound card for 1 single game.



Hmm , u missed out games like FEAR , Call of Duty series , Medal of Honor series , etc. etc. .. infact almost every game supports EAX now-a-days , even if it doesn't support EAX , it supports surround sound anyway ..



			
				adithyagenius said:
			
		

> 4. Vista doesnt support hardware acceleration. So no EAX in games in vista. Creative is charging for Alchemy project which converts Direct Sound to OpenAL. Its free for Xfi series though.



Creative has released the Alchemy drivers for Audigy series for around 10 USD .. obviously no one will buy it , coz a guy at the creative forums already distributed the necessary files  ..



			
				adithyagenius said:
			
		

> 5. There is a significant framerate increase (8% in F.E.A.R) in games when I disable EAX on my computer but for my friend who is have X Fi the frame rate increase is nil. But I would have countered the framerate loss by spending the money on processor etc and get much higher increase in framerate and at the same time make my other applications work faster. Also the increase in FPS is so high on my system because its the slow PentiumD 820, the first dual core processor.



Huh didn't catch u on this one ... !!!



			
				adithyagenius said:
			
		

> Onboard solutions provide echo cancellation , noise suppression , environment models and equalisers. They are enough for voice chatting on msn, google etc and for playing songs. Dedicated cards are for professional quality recording etc. But they also need an investment in very good mic and speakers .. *something better than causal audiophile speakers like bose . I also found the sound blaster crysalyser to be useless*.



Maybe ur the first one to feel so  



			
				adithyagenius said:
			
		

> Realtek AC97 isnt good but Realtek HD Audio onboard solution is very good. It support upto EAX2 and OpenAL.
> One advice I can give is stay away from sigmatel!!
> Sigma Tel sucks. I advised my friends not to take motherboards with sigmatel , but they didnt listen and are repenting now.



Have u ever noticed the increase in CPU Utiization when using EAX2 with the Realtek adapter ??

Or maybe u should try running AudioburstFX with Winamp .

Also , try running Rightmark 3D Sound , and check the CPU usage ..


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## philcom (Jul 5, 2007)

thrash_metal said:
			
		

> I've Got a Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro .... For home recording its a very nice card .... used for vox recording on some tracks using Shure SM-58 mic , instrument recording (both analog & digital) using Digitech GnX2 , GnX 3000 , POD XT , Jackson , Kramer , Ibanez , Fender with EMG's , Dimarzios & Duncans and Yamaha keys . Tonal preserving is very nice . If you want to setup a simple home studio and u also wanna experience nice playback (watching movies etc) .. i'll recomend a card of this type to you (dunno wether audigy is available or not)



Thank you very much brother, I have just checked out the review of Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro as per your suggestion and I'm highly impressed with it  when I found the Resolution and S/N ratio , low latency Asio support and all that of the card. Really it must be a great performer !

And could you please clarify the following if it is possible? 

1. As I insist on Multichannel Live recording -( I have done a pretty good amount of room-treatment beforehand )  say for instance,my requirement is 2 voice channels, 2 Guitars, 1 Keyboard , 1 Midi Drumkit, 1 Octapad --will audigy platinum pro serve my purpose ? ( How many channels can you be able to record simultaneously ? Does it consist of Six Simultaneous Inputs ? )

2. I am glad to know that you are also an SM-58 user. Very nice ! Can I hook it up directly with the Break-out Box/ Hub/interface provided with this card ? If so how is the quality/SN ratio of the built-in dynamic mic pre-amplifier of the card ?

3.Do I need to insert a 1394 firewire card in the PCI slot prior to installation of the card ? 

4.Can you please post the rear /alternate view of the I/O interface or your audio setup rig over here so that I might have a fairly comprehensive idea?  

5. Does the Package contain Midi cables ? 

Last but not the least, thank you once again for your earliest and kind response.


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## keith_j_snyder2 (Jul 5, 2007)

pushkaraj said:
			
		

> Hey guys, just wanna know the diff between realtek hd audio drivers and realtek ac'97 drivers




The HD supports 7.1 Channel Audio 
and the AC '97 supports 5.1 Channel Audio


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## pushkaraj (Jul 6, 2007)

Is that the only difference  Well, then it's good that i have installed the realtek hd audio drivers  Thanx bro


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## Zeeshan Quireshi (Jul 6, 2007)

A soundacrd is needed mostly when u need to do heavy Duty sound crnching(my term ) like while using FL Studio(especially v7) or SOundforge , then a powerful sound card becomes a necessity , otherwise for normal listening Onboard audio on most modern boards if enuf .


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