[jerem223]

lu all,
Now I have my HD595 !! (fantastic !

), i want to change my stupid integrated chipset sound in order to exploit correctly my new headphone !
I don't want the better, but just have the same range quality betwenn soundcard and the HD595 .

Audigy 2 value is it enought ??, Audigy 2 ZS ?? .....

 

[Soundstorm]

Stay away from Audigy2 garbage and get either:

A)AV-710 and a headphone amp

B)Prodigy 7.1LT with built-in headphone amp on the 7/8 connector

C)E-MU 0404 and a headphone amp

D)E-MU 1212M and a headphone amp

Depends on your budget.

 

[10118]

I think the more important thing is what do you plan on using your soundcard for? If you do alot of gaming, and still want fairly good quality music - then your best fit is the Audigy2. They all pretty much use the same chipset so it does not matter which you get, just the extras that come with it. However, if you plan on using your pc strictly for music - then you can take suggestions from the guy above.

 

[YngwieJMalmsteen]

You should also consider the bithead and new porta corda when it comes out. The Audigy's headphone out is leaps and bounds behind the bithead (and presumably the porta corda). Of course if you need INPUTS as well, you may want to go with a traditional soundcard, emu 0404 is probably the most common choice.

 

[Svperstar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerem223 lu all, Now I have my HD595 !! (fantastic ! ), i want to change my stupid integrated chipset sound in order to exploit correctly my new headphone ! I don't want the better, but just have the same range quality betwenn soundcard and the HD595 . Audigy 2 value is it enought ??, Audigy 2 ZS ?? .....

Well if you are going to play a lot of games then I recommend the Audigy 2 ZS, then use WinAMP ASIO to resample to 48 khz to avoid the resampling problem.

However if you don't care about games and just want good music, I recommend the EMU 0404. I just finished setting mine up last night and the fidelity vs the Audigy 2 is amazing, the music sounds so much closer and detailed compared to music on the Audigy 2.

You could always do what I did and run both an Audigy 2 and the EMu, but that is more expensive and more complicated.

 

[jerem223]

Thanks to this nice answer .

Of course, the better it's to have both audigy 2 and EMU 404, but I can't !
Then, I think i'm going to buy the Audigy !
But which audigy 2 : Big difference between the first version, the value and the ZS ??
We can have the value, and the first verion for a cheap price, wheras the last is clearly more expensive ...

 

[devwild]

If you want a compromise between gaming and sound quality, I suggest getting an m-audio revo (5.1 or 7.1). I've used Senns with both, and with the 595s especially because of their detail, the M-Audio is far better than anything with the Creative name.

Not to mention the drivers don't try to hijack and kill your computer.

 

[Orthogonal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by devwild If you want a compromise between gaming and sound quality, I suggest getting an m-audio revo (5.1 or 7.1). I've used Senns with both, and with the 595s especially because of their detail, the M-Audio is far better than anything with the Creative name. Not to mention the drivers don't try to hijack and kill your computer.

However, for a gaming computer, doesn't the M-Audio use up more system resources and thus lower gaming performance??? I was under the impression much of the surround sound capabilities of the Revo is done in software and not in hardware like the Audigy's. If someone could clear this up for me it would greatly influence my decision.

Gaming is far more important to me than sound, but I don't exactly want to skip on the audio quality either

I do plan however, to have 2 computers in the future. A gaming rig, and a cheaper home theater/pc setup

 

[devwild]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orthogonal However, for a gaming computer, doesn't the M-Audio use up more system resources and thus lower gaming performance??? ---- Gaming is far more important to me than sound, but I don't exactly want to skip on the audio quality either

The original poster is coming from on-board, so it will be an improvement regardless. I personally have no problem sacrificing a few frames per second to have audio that doesn't sound like it's been run through a dishwasher for my music

. Spending another $20-40 on your proc will make up the difference you lose from audio processing. The "best" gaming/music solution unfortunately is still two sound cards - an Audigy and something else.

If you are running a dual proc gaming rig, you probably won't notice the hit much at all because that kind of multitasking is where your machine can shine (and you are more likely to be video card limitted, not proc).

My M-Audio is actually in my G5 - my gaming PC, which I'm actually looking to sell, has a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz, which was still a step up from the Audigy series for music via headphones IMO. That cost me very little additional proc time. But the TBSC is understandably not highly recommended around here because of its limitted hardware.

The Audigy is undoubtably the best thing on the market for gaming. They pretty much created the market. Unfortunately, for the price range they are about the worst thing you can buy for pure unadulterated music and movies. Honestly the crap quality of their drivers, and their decision to charge you for a copy of the drivers if you don't still have your original disk was enough to drive me away from Creative permanently. They are not a consumer-friendly company, and I want to spend my time playing my games, not theirs.

If you don't clean up all the crappy toolbars and helpers and services Creative installs on your machine, you are still losing performance.

 

[kalzone]

yeah! no more creative crap in my system. i currently run a dual soundcard system composed of the m-audio revolution 7.1 and an emu 1212m. sure, the computer takes a hit in performance when playing games but it's very small although could be greater on a slow system.
in my opinion, it's nothing to be concerned about unless your system is already slow.

 

[Svperstar]

I know I am just begging to be flammed saying this but honestly I never had much trouble with creative drivers besides one thing, Doom 3, I always got a high pitched pop at about 10-20 second intervals playing that game, oddly enough now that I have the signal going through the EMU I don't have that problem.

Other thing that pisses me off is the fact that you can't just download the damn drivers if you lose/scratch the disk.

You will get no argument from me that things like the resampling issue and whatnot are annoying but driver wise I have never had a creative card blow up in my face.

 

[Orthogonal]

So how do you run 2 sound cards effectively. Do you have to disable one when doing one activity, and disable the other for something else?

 

[Cthulhu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orthogonal So how do you run 2 sound cards effectively. Do you have to disable one when doing one activity, and disable the other for something else?

Most programs - and windows, will let you specify which sound card they use!

So I have music going to my e-mu, and everything else going to my onboard sound.
Then I run an optical cable from the out on mobo the E-mu's in.

Then I get the benift of the E-mu's DAC on everything, no problem with the E-mu drivers and games, and then use ASIO streaming to the E-mu for music

 

[robyno]

Quote:

Originally Posted by devwild I've used Senns with both, and with the 595s especially because of their detail, the M-Audio is far better than anything with the Creative name.

Does M-Audio (which one) need an amp to drive Senns 595 ?
Which soundcard can drive correctly Senns 595 without amp ?
What about the headphone output quality of Prodigy 7.1 LT ? Does it deserve senns 595 ?

 

[devwild]

Quote:

Originally Posted by robyno Does M-Audio (which one) need an amp to drive Senns 595 ?

Any as far as I know, the 595s are quite efficient, especially the new 50 ohm version. I have the original 120 ohm version and even then, on my Revo 5.1 there is only a small difference between amp and no amp.
Quote:

Originally Posted by robyno Which soundcard can drive correctly Senns 595 without amp ?

Pretty much any sound card, I've even run it out of on-board sound. driving it really isn't a problem, the quality of the card is. I honestly feel my Koss clip-ons are harder to drive properly than the new 595s. Certainly the HD280Pros are harder to drive properly, and most people use those without an amp.
Quote:

Originally Posted by robyno What about the headphone output quality of Prodigy 7.1 LT ? Does it deserve senns 595 ?

Dunno, first I've even heard of that card.

I leave that to someone else.