[perdomot]

Trying to decide which Creative card would work best for music without costing me to much $$$. I am using the TBSC right now and have tried the Chaintech card(buggy drivers). The EMU 404 looks too complicated for someone who just wants to play mp3s and have good audio to channel digitally to a home stereo. What does that leave? Thanks for any input.

 

[IstariAsuka]

E-Mus are really not that complex to setup or use. Take you all of 5 minutes. And there are even guides around here to be had to make it a no-brainer!

 

[Erukian]

If you can install a PCI card w/o being scared, you can pretty much handle the E-MU. It's not that hard at all, the interface is a bit intimidating at first, but just read some guides in these forums if you wnat help to figure it out, one it's set up the right way i think the quality is mind-blowing for a PC. I'm now used to the quality my PC can do now w/ the EMU but before i only thought it was capable on dedicated CD players.

In my book, its THAT good.

If you buy it from Compusa, you won't regret it, they have a full money back policy. Other than the E-MU cards, the best next in line and much more consumer friendly would be the Audigy 4.

 

[kalzone]

i think the audigy 4 would probably be overkill for him and also more money that he wants to spend on a soundcard.
perhaps he should try the M-Audio Revolution 7.1 which has pretty good sound quality.

 

[sgrossklass]

When going the M-Audio route I'd rather choose the Revo 5.1. Wouldn't bother with Creative consumer cards in that class.

 

[perdomot]

What worries me is the software and setting it up. Seen screenshots with all those controls and all I want to do is hook up the sound card to A)my 2.1 PC speakers and B)digitally to my home stereo receiver. Can someone point me to the guides mentioned so I can see how this is done? The search function here hasn't shown me any results yet. Thanks.

 

[Asmo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by perdomot What worries me is the software and setting it up. Seen screenshots with all those controls and all I want to do is hook up the sound card to A)my 2.1 PC speakers and B)digitally to my home stereo receiver. Can someone point me to the guides mentioned so I can see how this is done? The search function here hasn't shown me any results yet. Thanks.

I'd go with m-audio 5.1 or 7.1, it will be the best for you, easy hook up to your pc speakers, and great digital output.

Getting the E-MU would be a hassle, you'd have to get a bunch of adapters to hook up your pc speakers, and digital output defeats the purpose of using a E-MU because of their great dacs, so you wouldn't even be using the DAC on the E-MU for your home stereo.

 

[JWFokker]

The Revolution 5.1 is cheaper and supposed to have better sound quality than the 7.1. It's also a bit more consumer friendly than an EMU card. I'd get an EMU but I don't want to deal with the hassle of having two sound cards, one for music and one for games. The Revolution 5.1 is the best compromise. It's not quite as good for games (marginally higher CPU utilization than Audigy cards) and isn't quite as good for music as an EMU, but it's not expensive and does both pretty damn well. I'll buy an EMU the day I can play Call of Duty in surround sound with it. Which, by the time that happens, will probably be Call of Duty 3.

 

[perdomot]

The M Audio 5.1 was something I was looking at too. Thanks for the advice.