[kelbern]

I have a few questions to help me decide on what sound setup I should have for a few boxes of mine

For those who have a X-mystique or soundstorm and an audigy 2 - which gives you a better "gaming experience" the digital or analog (assuming equivilant recievers and speakers)

For those who have a X-Mystique and Soundstorm which one sounds better and has the best game compatibility

For those who have an Audigy and AV-710 which is best for positional audio in a game using the same headphones and an amp for the AV-710?

At the moment i'm thinking:

-The Soundstorm is the best digital solution mainly due to compatibility.
-Digital is better than the analog output of the audigy even without EAX etc.
-The AV-710 would be best for the positional audio in games as it is clearer

Is the above right?

If it is i'll buy a digital reciever - hook up my soundstorm to it (for both the games and HTPC) and buy an AV-710 for lanning on the game machine. Later when i hope to go to dual core for the games machine i will throw in a X-Mystique or whatever is available then.

Also there was a post where one person has looped the Audigy to the AV-710, what exactly does this do ( i will also continue to check that thread if it answered there)

thankyou for you help

 

[korben_dallas]

My PC is a combined workstation, gaming rig, and HTPC. My Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro works fine for all those aspects. If it's weak in any area, it would be on the music recording side.

For gaming, I have a 5.1 system, and the EAX + surround sound is just awesome, particularly in HL2 and BFV.

For HTPC, I send the digital out on a real long cable over to the entertainment center. (For video, I'm using the ATI component dongle, sending its output also to the ent center.) DVD's sound (and look) fantastic.

 

[kelbern]

cheers

but have you been able to compare the audigy to soundstorm at all? I have no doubt that is sounds great but whether it is better wiht soundstorm is what i would like to know...

 

[lordgibbness]

If you want a significant step up in quality maybe you should think about getting away from Creative and getting a soundcard such as the Revo 5.1 - it works fine in games and has very good sound quality.

The Audigy 2 ZS is fine if you want EAX etc, but purely from an sound quality point of view take a look at the Revo 5.1 (not the 7.1).

 

[kelbern]

I dont know whether it is so much the quality for games...

Its more the "wow that sounds cool" for 5.1 and like i said positional audio for headphones...

 

[kelbern]

I would like to try it out myself but i don't have the cash to buy an audigy and digital reciever with 5.1ch analog input as well and compare that to my soundstorm. Then buy and AV-710 and amp and compare that to the audigy for headphones

Just another quick question, a home theatre reciever would be better than any computer speakers you can get right? There are some cheap ones floating around but have a SNR or ~85, where as much better ones out there have an SNR of 100 - is it worth getting those wth only 85 SNR?

Another thing about SNR, the SNR on high end cards is about 106-108, this is 2 -3 times better than the SNR on the recievers i have seen, even some more expensive ones, surely the soundcards amps arent better than a good quality HT reciever...

cheers

 

[tgunner]

I used the the AV-710 with Flight Simulator, and every time I revved the engine, I would hear a lot of pops and crackel. Went back to onboard audio which didn't have the problem.

 

[kelbern]

hmmm - bugger about the AV-710...

i'm going to go soundstorm -> digital reciever.

I just need to know what would be the best soundcard for positional audio in games now... With the above comment on the AV-710 perhaps not that? This will be for lanning so i wont have my digital reciever with me and the soundstorms output isn't that great...

 

[tgunner]

Forgot to say that I used the AV-710 for analog 2.1

 

[Edwood]

I have the HDA Digital Mystique 7.1. Dolby Digital Live is awesome. Finally, I can play Half-Life 2 in full Dolby Digital glory.

Movies work perfectly too.


There is a Turtle Beach one that is even cheaper too.

-Ed

 

[kelbern]

I'll be updating to the Mystique when i update my motherboard - when dual core becomes affordable...

also i think i forgot to mention the sounds card for positional audio when lanning will be used with headphones...

 

[tgunner]

This one from turtle beach looks nice, but I don't know if it would have the same problem as the AV-710, seeing as how it uses the Envy 24 chip.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829118106

Or, for a cheaper turtle beach, there is this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829118103

 

[sgrossklass]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tgunner This one from turtle beach looks nice, but I don't know if it would have the same problem as the AV-710, seeing as how it uses the Envy 24 chip. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829118106 Or, for a cheaper turtle beach, there is this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829118103

A bit of searching reveals that apparently the Catalina is pretty much the same as a MadDog Entertainer 7.1 (thus not overly different from the AV-710) and that the Riviera is CMedia based.

 

[patricklang]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edwood I have the HDA Digital Mystique 7.1. Dolby Digital Live is awesome. Finally, I can play Half-Life 2 in full Dolby Digital glory. Movies work perfectly too. There is a Turtle Beach one that is even cheaper too. -Ed

Does the Turtle Beach do Dolby -> AC3 coding for digital out from games?

Also, have you tried the analog out of the Mystique? I have a friend looking for a replacement for his old Game Theater XP with aging (crashing) drivers. He's interested in gaming and movies.

 

[Blitzzz]

you have to get something with dolby digital live or else you miss out on the 5.1 gaming