Creative or Not Creative, that is the question.

codiak

Hello chaps,

I have indeed hit a crossroads when it comes to cound cards, something a loyal creative labs cutomers would never have said a couple of years ago.

Now Here's the deal, i have a SB Audigy 1 player, that while i had win98 on my old pc worked a treat, then moven on to xp still not a problem. I then binned the old mobo and chip, and began to get trouble.

Not being scared of a challenge, i used the web to find tips tricks etc to fix the well known squeal of death, everything from ACPI settings at XP install, to running a certain 3com network card along side it, even hacked audigy 2 drivers.

Now i have have really had enough as the situation may have improved it has never gone away. so while i am writing this i am downloading drivers for a turtle beach santa cruz i have borrowed off my brother as i am not a fan of integrated audio, even if it is nforce2 ac97.

so the question is do i go for another creative labs card with the hope thay have got their act together or is there a decent alternative available these days?

hope you guys can help

regards
codiak

02-06-2005, 18:49 | posts: n/a

To be honest you'll be hard pushed to find anyone selling anything other than Creative over here. Best selection of non-Creative sound cards I've seen is at Overclockers (Overclockers don't have the best reputation if anything goes wrong with your order though). With creative it's a matter of buying the right card at the right time. The any of the Audigy 2 series would be a good bet (I've got an Audigy 2 Value on order). Just avoid the Audigy LS and Live! 24-bit.

vapor matt · 02-06-2005, 21:18 | posts: 10 | Location: Uk

why is everyone so creative blind! if you want something that sounds great! ( better than a A2 ZS ) have a look a the terratec space 7.1 or M - Audio cards both have great sound. i have just upgraded from a ZS to a universe terratec 7.1 card and the sound is amazing!

the only diffrence between the space and universe cards is the break out box on the uiverse version, plus it has optical out on the back of the card!

I have been creative for many years and i also didnt think i would be able to get better, but this universe card is far better in sound quality for a start. plus you can hear the diffrence.

if your after a sound card www.******************** carry many makes so dont go creative before checkig out the others. M audio another good card.

combined with winamp5 and my MD i have the most crystal clear sound thanks to the optical output. and a big plus for me was the software, easy, rock solid and does everything you could possibly want!

matt

ROBSCIX · 02-06-2005, 22:05 | posts: 16,087 | Location: Guru3D Audio Lab

yep..I would also recommend a sound card from those companies aswell...you have to consider what you want out of your sound card and go from there....people think creative are the only ones who make sound cards....NO, actually there are much better cards out there..just creative controls the game niche

codiak · 02-07-2005, 10:14 | posts: 26 | Location: UK

ok will have a good hard look. What i do need is support for my 5.1 speakers, the sound of fmy audigy was tinny on my system withou the bass redirection seitched on in surround mixer.

i have tested this turtle beach santa cruz and its good in doom 3, but naff in UT2004. music playback just isnt quite the same.

what is the mixers support like for the M and terra ?

thewiseyoda · 02-07-2005, 10:37 | posts: 309

if i were you ! i would go for creative audigy 2 for gaming/movies and Chaintect av 710 for music ... total will cost you about 60$ but its worth it!

[ZoNk]Kostas007 · 02-07-2005, 10:41 | posts: 228 | Location: ATHENS/GREECE

Quote:

Originally posted by adrichardson
Just avoid the Audigy LS and Live! 24-bit.

why that????????????????

ROBSCIX · 02-07-2005, 23:39 | posts: 16,087 | Location: Guru3D Audio Lab

hes said avoid those model because they have weird DSP chips that vary from the ones most other Creative cards have the 10KX series. They are perferable as they handle all effects on the chip..SO stay away from those models...also you can't use KX with these cards either and people who use KX know thats a bad thing..

02-08-2005, 10:31 | posts: n/a

Also neither of them have EAX hardware acceleration (just software), considering creative is primarily aimed at gaming that just sux. + The LS can only run at 48khz in a 5.1 setup (not the 96khz it advertises)

codiak · 02-11-2005, 11:16 | posts: 26 | Location: UK

just curious, is there much difference between the audigy 2 zs retail and the audigy 2 zs oem apart from the obvious gold plated connectors?

02-11-2005, 12:53 | posts: n/a

I thought the ZS oem had gold connectors as well? Oem cards don't have the retail box or any of the cables or extra software, you just get the driver cd etc.

You may be confusing it with the Audigy 2 Value - that doesn't have gold connectors or the firewire port, but other than that it's the same card. (Good value if you don't want the extra crap).

codiak · 03-06-2005, 14:41 | posts: 26 | Location: UK

is the oem card any doof and if so is this a good deal?

http://www.lowestonweb.com/Products/...6-A0068736E4FF

codiak · 03-06-2005, 14:42 | posts: 26 | Location: UK

forgot to mention, it has free delivery too.

03-06-2005, 14:58 | posts: n/a

It's probably the best price you'll get in the UK... The Audigy 2 ZS is a good card, but remember that this version will only come with the card and a driver cd, and it won't have the gold contacts etc that you get on the retail version. (Personally I saved a couple of quid and went for the Audigy 2 value, fine for me as I don't need another firewire port).

ROBSCIX · 03-06-2005, 17:01 | posts: 16,087 | Location: Guru3D Audio Lab

Whats the big deal with the firwaire anyway?...I would be interested in knowing how many people actually use it for high speed connection for gaming..other than that the only real use it has is firewird enabled DV..guess it's cool to have though just in case...I am actually trying to trade a external KORG NX5R synth module for a A2ZS right now...just waiting to hear if the guy is willing to trade or not...

codiak · 03-06-2005, 23:14 | posts: 26 | Location: UK

so is the audigy 2 value the same hardware as the zs only without the fire wire?

if so i might just go for that instead.

by the way, have creative sorted out the compatibility issues out under win 2k / xp i really cant be bothered with all the crap i had with my audigy 1.

03-06-2005, 23:53 | posts: n/a

I've not had any problems with my Value, so I guess they've sorted them out. Most programs (including Creative diagnostics) show my Audigy 2 Value as a straight Audigy 2, so I gues they're the same for most purposes (in contrast my Audigy LS always showed up as an LS, so they were clearly seeing something different with that one).

ROBSCIX · 03-07-2005, 01:49 | posts: 16,087 | Location: Guru3D Audio Lab

Technically speaking the Value is the same..just not as "quiet" and it doesn't have firwire port as far as I know...now the LS is a weird stepchild type card to the rest of the CL cards..same as the 24 bit Live! I would stay away from either.

BuMp · 03-07-2005, 10:19 | posts: 1,474 | Location: UK

Audigy LX sux badly.

ROBSCIX · 03-07-2005, 14:08 | posts: 16,087 | Location: Guru3D Audio Lab

the LS and the 24 bit Live! don't have the 10KX DSP chips that the rest of the creative Line have..this is why they make nice paper weights.

03-07-2005, 17:48 | posts: n/a

I know - man buying that card was a mistake. They don't even support EAX in hardware, so you lose most of the performance gains from that. (In the end I gave up and flogged it on Ebay for a whopping £8).