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Lord Road
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Posted - 2008.09.11 15:13:00 -
[1]
I am currently using my onboard sound card Realtek AC'97, and have a Sony Hi-Fi system connected. It has an optical out but for some reason I can't get the optical out to work in surround sound (so it's only a 2 channel stereo).
I am looking for a sound card that will support atleast 5.1 on optical, any recommended?
Cheers Karl
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Lori Carlyle
Aztec Industry
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Posted - 2008.09.11 15:14:00 -
[2]
Edited by: Lori Carlyle on 11/09/2008 15:14:42 IIRC some higher end creative soundcards have optical outs on a drive bay,
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Lord Road
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Posted - 2008.09.11 15:17:00 -
[3]
this any good
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=44583
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Lori Carlyle
Aztec Industry
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Posted - 2008.09.11 15:19:00 -
[4]
Edited by: Lori Carlyle on 11/09/2008 15:20:07
Originally by: Lord Road this any good Link Fixed By Lori
TBH, If all you want is a cheep soundcard then yes.
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Meiyang Lee
Gallente Azteca Transportation Unlimited Gunboat Diplomacy
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Posted - 2008.09.11 15:29:00 -
[5]
Depending on your OS, a Creative one is fine if you're using XP. If you're using Vista, I suggest a ASUS Xonar.
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Master Gotama
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Posted - 2008.09.11 15:51:00 -
[6]
i recently upgraded my mobo and found that most these days have an optical and spdif out which you can hook up directly to your av receiver. this completely negates the need for an audio card as most recievers will blow away any audio card you could fit into your machine as far as sound processing is concerned. though you prolly don't want to upgrade your whole machine. just food for thought before you drop some dough on a "nice" sound card.
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Grimpak
Gallente Trinity Nova Trinity Nova Alliance
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Posted - 2008.09.11 16:47:00 -
[7]
Edited by: Grimpak on 11/09/2008 16:48:07 meh.
tbh I have an x-fi gamer, and I'm thinking if I should revert to the ALC888S that I have onboard because of vista ---
Quote: The more I know about humans, the more I love animals.
ain't that right. |
Meiyang Lee
Gallente Azteca Transportation Unlimited Gunboat Diplomacy
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Posted - 2008.09.11 19:03:00 -
[8]
Edited by: Meiyang Lee on 11/09/2008 19:03:08
Originally by: Grimpak Edited by: Grimpak on 11/09/2008 16:48:07 meh.
tbh I have an x-fi gamer, and I'm thinking if I should revert to the ALC888S that I have onboard because of vista
there's a reason I recommended the X-Fi if he used XP, and a Xonar if he was using Vista. X-Fi drivers were neutered by Creative for Vista, they probably won't allow those advanced functions to work until they release a new card specifically for Vista.
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Kappas.
Galaxy Punks
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Posted - 2008.09.11 23:54:00 -
[9]
Originally by: Meiyang Lee Edited by: Meiyang Lee on 11/09/2008 19:03:08
Originally by: Grimpak Edited by: Grimpak on 11/09/2008 16:48:07 meh.
tbh I have an x-fi gamer, and I'm thinking if I should revert to the ALC888S that I have onboard because of vista
there's a reason I recommended the X-Fi if he used XP, and a Xonar if he was using Vista. X-Fi drivers were neutered by Creative for Vista, they probably won't allow those advanced functions to work until they release a new card specifically for Vista.
Not so much creative killed them, than Microsoft stopped the way that the cards accessed parts of the operating system so they don't work properly any more. Creative are just too lazy to bother rewriting the drivers. __________________
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Mankirks Wife
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Posted - 2008.09.12 02:50:00 -
[10]
I *had* an X-Fi on my Vista machine but the damn thing would never work right (had horrible hissing, snapping, popping noises. Rebooting repeatedly until the problem went away was the only thing I could ever do to fix it, albeit temporarily). I 'upgraded' to an Audiology and haven't had any issues.
Of course, I've never had anything work right on my Vista (64-bit) machine without lots of tweaking which why I keep swearing up and down I'm getting a Mac next year. ---
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Meiyang Lee
Gallente Azteca Transportation Unlimited Gunboat Diplomacy
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Posted - 2008.09.12 07:47:00 -
[11]
Edited by: Meiyang Lee on 12/09/2008 07:48:32
Originally by: Kappas.
Not so much creative killed them, than Microsoft stopped the way that the cards accessed parts of the operating system so they don't work properly any more. Creative are just too lazy to bother rewriting the drivers.
Actually when someone managed to find a way to enable all the advanced X-Fi stuff under Vista they threatened to sue him if he didn't stop what he was doing. All the kid did was modify a few dll files to work around the problem, but Creative made it VERY clear that those functions were not intended to work under Vista. (it caused quite the uproar on the Creative forums, since the "sue you" letter was posted there.)
Here's a quick recap of what happened
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Giggly Eyes
Rifters of Doom
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Posted - 2008.09.12 21:01:00 -
[12]
Originally by: Meiyang Lee Edited by: Meiyang Lee on 11/09/2008 15:28:52 Depending on your OS, a Creative X-Fi is fine if you're using XP. If you're using Vista, I suggest a ASUS Xonar.
Seconded
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ReaperOfSly
Gallente Lyrus Associates The Star Fraction
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Posted - 2008.09.12 22:54:00 -
[13]
Originally by: Meiyang Lee Edited by: Meiyang Lee on 12/09/2008 07:48:32
Originally by: Kappas.
Not so much creative killed them, than Microsoft stopped the way that the cards accessed parts of the operating system so they don't work properly any more. Creative are just too lazy to bother rewriting the drivers.
Actually when someone managed to find a way to enable all the advanced X-Fi stuff under Vista they threatened to sue him if he didn't stop what he was doing. All the kid did was modify a few dll files to work around the problem, but Creative made it VERY clear that those functions were not intended to work under Vista. (it caused quite the uproar on the Creative forums, since the "sue you" letter was posted there.)
Here's a quick recap of what happened
I thought that turned out to be a hoax?
Anyway, +1 vote for Asus Xonar. I've got the DX version (i.e, the cheapest version) myself. As someone who is used to onboard sound, I have to say this sound card is the mutt's nuts, especially when coupled with a decent pair of headphones. (By the way, I don't know if this is normal, but I have to keep my system sound at ~7% in order for the sound not to blast my ears out )
My OS is XP, but these cards are supposed to have been specially designed to work well under Vista without bits dropping off them. And according to reviews, this seems to actually be true. __________________________
Quote: ...bored, skint, no charter, and a ship that looks like an explosion in a girder factory...
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Meiyang Lee
Gallente Azteca Transportation Unlimited Gunboat Diplomacy
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Posted - 2008.09.13 08:56:00 -
[14]
Originally by: ReaperOfSly
I thought that turned out to be a hoax?
Never heard anything about it being a hoax, but it is certainly possible. But that thread on the Creative forums was pretty nasty. (although they deleted the whole thing now)
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KingsGambit
Caldari Knights
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Posted - 2008.09.13 18:43:00 -
[15]
If you're willing to spend a little, I cannot personally find a soundcard for gaming/entertainment (and even production apparently) that can top the Auzentech X-Fi Prelude. I had my eye on it for months before it was released, then picked one up a couple of months after.
It offers a plethora of inputs and outputs (including optical) and supports Dolby Digital Live, DTS: Connect (where it can encode all audio output into DD or DTS for external decoding) as well as analogue 3.5mm 7.1 out and usual mic/line in. The audio quality I've found to be exceptional for music and games. It supports all EAX formats up to EAX5 I believe, so if you run XP and play EAX games you'll love it. Also, it can run Creative's ALchemy if you want to play said games under Vista.
I bought it as I really wanted something that played music better than my old Audigy 2 ZS, and also, I really wanted to break out of Creative's grip over computer audio (assuming you are bothered about environmental audio, which I very much am!). Sadly Creative/EAX has always been the *only* option for gaming, but here, AUzen get the X-Fi chipset along with EAX for the gaming side, but have Auzen's high quality components and expertise with making great music and entertainment sound cards.
The only bad feature is strictly an optional one. In the drivers/audio console you have the option of turning on the X-Fi crystallizer which supposedly *restores* some of the richness to compressed audio, like MP3s, which are lossy. Sounds great in theory, but sounds diabolical in practice. It only seems to add horrid distortion and makes the bass-mid sound flat and lifeless. Turn it off and play with the EQ yourself and you'll find the audio quality excellent. It handles upmixing very well, turning stereo music into nice sounding surround. I think I paid around ú100 and would not hesitate to do so again. -------------
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NeoShocker
Caldari Foundation Sons of Tangra
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Posted - 2008.09.13 19:30:00 -
[16]
Anyone know the update between Daniel k and creative? -----------------------------------
Peace through power! |
Evelgrivion
Black Nova Corp Band of Brothers
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Posted - 2008.09.13 19:42:00 -
[17]
I'd say to just go with Asus' Xonar regardless of your version of Windows operating system, just to avoid the bloated, terribly written driver bullshit of Creative.
It helps that the Xonars sound pretty good too.
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