[lan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Haribo CPU Hit is almost never a problem on >1GHz machines, but many games just don't work well with other cards than Creative's. You might get crackling sound, effects missing and so on with other cards.

I've never experienced those issues and I havn't used a creative labs card for 4 years.

 

[Haribo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lan I've never experienced those issues and I havn't used a creative labs card for 4 years.

The first game I started up after getting my M-Audio Revo didn't work properly until I changed the settings in it to compatible mode, the game was Far Cry.

And left out effects are hard to spot as you don't hear them, so you might have problems and not knowing it

 

[TheBigDu]

This might be getting too complicated:

If I want to keep the creative for gaming, and use the Chaintech for music, then wouldn't I have to get a Y-adapter connecting the outs of both soundcards so that I can have them both going to my speakers? Thanks.

 

[Stephonovich]

Um, first, if you're using speakers, any differences are probably going to be lost. Most computer speakers, if not all, suck.

I have a SB Live! X-Gamer and Chaintech AV-710, and have my speakers hooked up to the Live! for gaming, and my CMoy and mic hooked up to the AV-710. Windows default is the Live!, Foobar uses the AV-710. No problem.

Oh, and it's not that games won't support non-Creative ones, but a lot of new games use EAX 2 (or whatever the current one is), and the Audigy 2 is the only card for that. Live! supports EAX, but not 2, IIRC. You can still run it, but a lot of the effects won't be there, if that's important to you. I know I like hearing subtle reverb changes...

(-:Stephonovich

 

[Jasper994]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stephonovich Um, first, if you're using speakers, any differences are probably going to be lost. Most computer speakers, if not all, suck.

Which is why you should instead get a pro card with RCA outs and run them into a decent receiver and speakers... ahhhhhhh

Sure headphones are great but sometimes the visceral aspects of a speaker setup are nice too...

Right now I'm very much enjoying "The Best of Sade" with my TEAC receiver/speaker system running off my Audiophile USB...

 

[Orestes]

got the av710 yesterday. installed it on my pc. btw, i have the audigy 2 zs platinum. just wanted to compare the sound quality between the two. with all the buzz surrounding this cheap but apparently better soundcard than the audigy 2 zs. well, i'm taking the av710 to my mom's place today and will be installing the soundcard on her pc.

the av710 is a good upgrade from onboard audio but certainly not better than the audigy 2 zs. but considering the price, it really is worth it. if you need a cheap soundcard with decent output for music, then get it. however, it isn't good for gaming. especially if you play the latest games like farcry. 3d positioning isn't that accurate.

 

[some1x]

I think the AV710 is a better card than Audigy2 for music quality. Don't care much about gaming anymore

So, for nongamers, Chaintech AV710 is better than Audigy2.

 

[TheBigDu]

So the only problem I'll have with gaming is the fact that effects won't sound that good? That's not a big deal, because like I said, I'm only playing simple stuff like Age of Mythology and SimCity. I just wanted to make sure I wouldn't have any of that popping noise that was mentioned in another post. Thanks guys.

 

[Glassman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orestes got the av710 yesterday. installed it on my pc. btw, i have the audigy 2 zs platinum. just wanted to compare the sound quality between the two. with all the buzz surrounding this cheap but apparently better soundcard than the audigy 2 zs. well, i'm taking the av710 to my mom's place today and will be installing the soundcard on her pc. the av710 is a good upgrade from onboard audio but certainly not better than the audigy 2 zs. but considering the price, it really is worth it. if you need a cheap soundcard with decent output for music, then get it. however, it isn't good for gaming. especially if you play the latest games like farcry. 3d positioning isn't that accurate.

this all using rear channels in hi-res mode? don't tell me..

 

[Orestes]

Quote:

Originally Posted by some1x I think the AV710 is a better card than Audigy2 for music quality. Don't care much about gaming anymore So, for nongamers, Chaintech AV710 is better than Audigy2.

have you even tried listening to both?