Sound Card

[Adster]

Hi jsut downlaoded cakewalk and my audio always drops out on it so it looks like my soundcard is shit so i need a new one

what do you guys reccomend??

I need it to use cakewalk oviosly for home studio

[Wolfmight]

Creative Labs

[Pitbul]

if u dont have deep pockets Hercules is also pretty decent

[Lamsey]

Two words: Creative Labs.

Budget: go for a SoundBlaster Live! 5.1 - good performance, eax support, etc. and very cheap.

Standard: Go for the SoundBlaster Audigy 2, which is sweeeeeeeeeeeet (I have one :) ).

Power performance: SoundBlaster Audigy 2 Platinum - professional quality sound card with all the bells and whistles, but not cheap.


Creative also do a good range of speakers, called the 'Inspire' series; they come in 2, 2.1, 4.1, 5.1 and 6.1 sets, and are very good value for money.
I have the 4.1 set and it is fantastic - the bass is incredible for a £35 set of speakers. :-)

[3RA1N1AC]

if you're in the market for a motherboard upgrade as well, a Nvidia Nforce 2 comes with onboard sound which is said by reviewers to be nearly on par with Creative Audigys.

so, for less than the price of an Audigy 2, you'd get a decent "soundcard" with a free motherboard attached to it. :P

i also hear that Hercules Fortissimo III is not too shabby.

[boyzeee]

yeh agree soundblaster audigy cards are the about the best you can get and also as previous post said hercules cards are V good value high spec cards, if you on a budget go for hercules, also have you tried just updating the driver for your present card? :D

[Luca_Snipes]

5 words - "stay away from creative labs"

I've nothing but bad sound, distortion etc from their cards, if you can get a TerraTec any of their cards are good, or any VideoLogic card.

As for speakers I can only say to stay away from any "PC speakers", a cheap amp and speaker set will provide much greater sound

[3RA1N1AC]

Originally posted by Luca_Snipes@14 August 2003 - 12:00
5 words - "stay away from creative labs"
no consumer-level soundcard is really any good for professional audio recording/playback. creative, nvidia, hercules, etc are all fine for playing mp3s and video games, but if you want professional performance, you have to buy professional equipment.

[djflypson]

same price as a better soundblastercard : read the features on this nice site (http://www.m-audio.com/products/m-audio/USBaudio.php)

[Damnatory]

I use a Hercules Fortissimo III. I've had nothing but sweet, crisp, and clean surround sound out of this baby...

Go here for a good look at it:
http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/hercul...s-fortissimo71/ (http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/hercules-fortissimo71/)

[Schmiggy_JK23]

creative labs audigy2, bar none.

its included with virtually every major pc builder, for gaming, or media use... theres a reason for that.

[ezyryder]

Audigy all the way, that extra buck makes it all worth while.

[4play]

i have seen a valve amp soundcard about the other day. that would sound so fantastic you would not believe.
still it was about £220 if i remember.

and i cant find a link for it :(

[Cygnuz-Y]

I have a Sound Blaster Extigy with 5.1 Logitech Z-640 speakers and THEY ROCK WHENEVER I DO SPL TESTS to them, and they have that sweet 3d sound we all know and love.....