[Metalcastr]

Hello. My onboard sound is terrible, so I am looking for a sound card for both gaming and music. I use headphones, and have read many different recommendations by searching "sound card" in this forum.
Comp is running Win7 x64 and the card doesn't need advanced features. The budget is about $150. Thank you for your time.

 

[furyagain]

get the Forte 7.1 it has really good headphones amp ( really good when compare to other sound card, and some low end headphone amp..)

 

[RonaldDumsfeld]

Long term forum favourite the E-MU 0202 is within your budget and an excellent choice for a hybrid gaming and audio system.
 
If you use a headset it almost certainly contains an electret condenser microphone. These require 5v phantom power usually delivered from your PC soundcard or via a USB dongle. The 0202 is the only audio interface I know of that does this.

 

[Metalcastr]

Thanks guys. What about the HT | Omega series of cards? I just saw them online.

 

[anon55]

the Razer barracuda AC-1 is a solid sound card for music and games and you can pick it up off of ebay for under $50 while its a $200 card
 
just keep checking ebay and one will pop up within a week almost for sure

 

[Soymilk]

i've been somewhat looking for the same thing, but trying to decide between the x-fi elite pro (and hotrodding it) and the prelude. anyone have any opinions on these? from all my searching and such it seems like these two cards are at pretty much the same level right?

 

[Metalcastr]

Would an HT Omega card sound that much better against an Creative X-Fi price wise?