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OK, looking to buy a good 24-bit sound card. Looking over the Soundblaster variations, they seem to mostly center on 5.1 vs 6.1 vs 7.1, etc. All seem to have similar distortion, sampling rates, etc. Since my speaker setup is "2.1" (stereo w/sub woofer), I don't need a gazillion channel capability, I need a fast sound processor to speed up gaming. Anybody know if there's a processor difference between the Audigy, Audigy 2, and Audigy 2 ZS? I almost bought an Audigy LS, but chickened out and decided to post on a couple of boards first. Any words of wisdom?Pop
I have been using an Audigy 2 for about 6 months now and have had no problems. It gives good clean sound with MSTS and audio. I plan to move it over to my new box when I get it later this week.
Sharon Evans Glen Allen, Virginia Activities are what makes MSTS run.
>OK, looking to buy a good 24-bit sound card. Looking over >the Soundblaster variations, they seem to mostly center on >5.1 vs 6.1 vs 7.1, etc. All seem to have similar distortion, >sampling rates, etc. Since my speaker setup is "2.1" (stereo >w/sub woofer), I don't need a gazillion channel capability, >I need a fast sound processor to speed up gaming. Any card that can deal with multichannel audio won't even raise a sweat if you want to run stereo.The sustained throughput required for multichannel eclipses the throughput required for stereo operation by more than double.The 5.1 (and greater) spec calls for full bandwidth surrounds. So a card supporting 5.1 is capable of sustaining two stereo mixes, a mono channel, and an LFE (subwoofer) channel. -Jeff
Pop,Any visit to any computer shop will reveal that there are tons of CreativeLabs sound cards out there, and not very many other choices. Personally, I have had nothing but trouble with their products, be them sound cards or modems. I do IT work for the Navy; several guys in my shop have also had negative comments about CreativeLabs products - one guy struggled for 2 days getting his Audigy sound card to work, even with the "experts" at CreativeLabs "Technical Support" helping him.I personally purchased a Santa Cruz Turtle Beach card, and have been very happy with it. Installation was a breeze, too.I know there are a zillion people who have had no issues with SoundBlaster stuff, but I don't personally know any of them.Just my two cents...MC
I am one of the people using Creative cards without hassle. I am a fan of the SB 5.1 Live card, and when installing, choose the option for frivers only and you will alleviate any hassles with driver conflicts as I have seen before. For some reason, if the whole pile of add-on froo-froo is loaded, it can cause issues. I have their cards loaded on everything from Win98se to WinXP-Pro systems and have not had one issue at all. The SB 5.1 Live card gives something the budget cards do not, separate bass and treble adjustments, which are wonderfule if you have a decent set of speakers (2 plus subwoofer) and it will really add life to anything on your PC. Good luck, SeanK97
Thanks for the comments, all. I went with an Audigy LS. It seemed to have all the benefits of the Audigy chipset, without all the bells and gizmos of the new Audigy 2 ZS ("ZS" is pronounced, "Mo Money"). If I run into any MSTS specific problems, I'll let you know.Pop