[InfiniteZr0]

Hey guys, I was wondering if anyone knew which sound card(or other device) I should go with to listening to music on my PC.
Right now I'm using onboard audio which has the standard outlets and a digiout.
I'm trying not to spend more than $50-$75 but I'll go higher if need be.
I listen to all kinds of music and game(but I'm not really worried about gaming audio quality)
I'm listening almost exclusively through headphones, so I don't need anything more than 2channel source(I'm not saying that I don't want a 5.1 or 7.1 sound card or whatever, I'm just saying that it isn't required)
I'm seeing all these other sound cards on the market, but I don't know anything about them. I guess with my limited budget I'd be stuck with like an X-Fi sound card, but I was wondering if anyone know if there's anything else out there that I don't know about.
p.s. I have an old(like 10 year old) Creative Labs SB Live sound card in my old computer. Should I stick that in this for now and use that until I find a more permanent solution?

 

[Menisk]

You could try a bantam DAC.

 

[InfiniteZr0]

Thanks for the reply
But I was looking something a little more plug and play(drivers and stuff is ok) and that I could directly connect my headphones to.

 

[Omega17TheTrue]

Quote:

Originally Posted by InfiniteZr0 /img/forum/go_quote.gif p.s. I have an old(like 10 year old) Creative Labs SB Live sound card in my old computer. Should I stick that in this for now and use that until I find a more permanent solution?

How do the sound card sound in your old computer ? You must give it a try, i bet it does sound better.

 

[InfiniteZr0]

It's been a long time since I've listened to anything on that computer, so I don't really remember how it sounded. I'd have to move a lot of boxes to get to it, so I was wondering if anyone knew on top of their head if it could possibly be better than onboard.

 

[joe_cool]

Sound Blaster Live is pathetic, worse than Audigy.

 

[Zaubertuba]

I found a used E-mu 1212m on ebay for $75. By far the best purchase I've made in my rig--it will scale for quite some time.

The catch is, listening to headphones directly out of this card is not recommended--you'd need an amp. I have to say though,that I had really decent results running the 1212m into an old NAD Preamp and using the headphone out on the preamp. Still a pretty good budget solution.

 

[Seaside]

I never liked my onboard sound. It's ok for everything else but music listening. The same goes to creative products even if they are bit better than onboard.

There's better soundcards and external DACs out there, but I won't talk about them since they can be expensive, clearly out of your budget range. Some soundcards worth mention at price range of X-fi would be auzentech x-plosion and HT omega striker. The sound is pretty sweet and they all do well in games and multimedia stuffs.

 

[ear8dmg]

Xonar DS springs to mind if you aren't interested in Dolby Headphone. Xonar D1 or DX if you do want Dolby Headphone (which I would recommend).

 

[InfiniteZr0]

Yeah, I've done some digging, and it looks like the Xonar sound card is one of the more popular choices so I'll check it out.
I'll check out the Auzentech and HT Omega, too
Thanks for the replies.