[grinder143]

i am in the market for a new sound card and would like to know what others think are better than average , i have a soundblaster live now and want the new card to be an upgrade

 

[Bill Paul]

Yes, I have one. Very nice card. I'm using the SPDIF output exclusiely, so I can't speak about the noise floor of the onboard DACs, but I understand it is better than average.

The Windows 2K drivers are solid, and the install went very smooth.

 

[James Thorne]

My problem with Turtle Beach is that once they come out with a new card, all support for the old cards stops. I was left holding a perfectly good Quadzilla card with no SPDIF support in Win2k as Turtle Beach no longer supports the card.


Was a great card with much better specs that the competitive Creative card at the time. The SB Live is still supported while the Quadzilla is not.


This time I went with the CL Audigy card. Works fine for SPDIF out. May not be the 'best' card out there but I bet Windows 2003 or whatever is past XP will have support for it.


James

 

[audioqueso]

Yes, that is true about their support, but honestly, how many soundcards can you find that are good and have rock solid stable drivers. I have thrown the appropriate drivers into 2000, 98, and XP and I've not once had an issue with the soundcard or it's driver.


It's a great card. So I hear that the Revo 7.1 has better sound, but they still have premature drivers. I think for stability, the spdif of the Santa Cruz and its drivers really make it a great offer.

 

[cdrakejr]

You might find this link helpful. It doesn't include the newest sound cards but you will find the Santa Cruz there. He gives it high test results.

http://www.pcavtech.com/soundcards/compare/index.htm