[sporky]

I'm looking into upgrading my current sound card (a turtle beach santa cruz). I currently have my eyes on the M-Audio Audiophile USB, mainly due to some of the comments I've read on this board. My problem is that the $200 price tag may be a bit of a stretch for me, since I'm also planning on buying a new set of headphones in the near future (most likely the A900s). I almost exclusively listen to mp3's while at my computer, and mostly use headphones. How much will splurging on a new sound card boost my overall performance?

Thanks!

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

Well even MP3's sound better as you get a better soundcard, and I would say that a jump to a pro-sumer card will provide a very nice sound quality upgrade for you. An M-Audio Delta 410 will provide roughly equal sound quality to the Audiophile USB, but is avaliable from www.newegg.com for only $110. Also consider the Revolution, which you can find for about $90, but has only minijacks, and slightly worse sound quality (though still a great step up from the TBSC).

 

[Melchior]

I just upgraded from a Philips Acoustic edge to the aformentioned Delta 410, and it's a great card. Driver installation was a snap too, easiest driver install ever

Sound quality was a big step up, most noticable is clarity and fine detail. The TBSC is supposed to be a better card than my AE was for music though, and it has the added benefit of sensaura modes for headphones (useful for positional audio in games). The revo is a more "consumer" pci card than the deltas/audiophile usb, with standard minijacks and sensaura 3d algorithms.

 

[kyrie]

Also, the audiophile usb is available from newegg for $155.

Whether it'd be worth your money depends on what bitrate mp3s you listen to. If 320 kbps, then yes, it would be worth the money. If 128 kbps, then it's not worth it. The A900 would also not be worth it in that case.

 

[sporky]

Most of my mp3s are 128kbps. A big portion of my collection came from my school network, so I really can't do anything about them. I could always re-rip all of my CDs in a higher bit rate though. How do OGG files sound in comparison to high bit rate mp3s? I've never tried them but hear that OGG is a nice format.