sound card? any sound pros in the house

ilikeTOFU

ilikeTOFU

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hmm well my sound card utterly sucks.. no matter what i play the volume keeps lowering for some reason.. it has to be software or sound card.. not sure what the problem. cant be the speakers cause it does this w/ both sets i have :[

i use k-lite and ac3 codec for movies btw

soo... im thinking its my "on-board" sound card.. so whats a good/inexpencive sound card that is good for 2.1 and wont break my art student's income.. which is very measly.

any sound guys in the house to help me out? tnx tnx tnx in advance
 
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For 2.1 just about any card will be good. I'd suggest either a creative or turtle beach card. You should be able to get one for under $20. Try checking newegg.
 
just wondering..

is this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829130001
or this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829117104 any good? :] its like $15 shipped w/ tax n all. or should i just use on-board since these dont look all that different

edit: hmm i was reading some reviews seem like other users have these low freq noises from their on-board sound cards also.. thats what i have too besides from the volume going nuts, scrapping the "not buying new card" idea
 
this reminds me of a question i have been meaning to ask. I have a Kinyo Surrond Sound 5.1 that I have been using on my computer. I assume that the encoder for the five satelite speakers is inside the subwoofer. I use a RCA-to-Mic conveter to plug into my sound card. I am curious is their any way to get true 5.1 in my games? When ever someone is talking in a game and I turn away from them I can barely hear what they are saying. This is how I know that 5.1 really isn't working. Any suggestions?
 
[quote name='jughead']this reminds me of a question i have been meaning to ask. I have a Kinyo Surrond Sound 5.1 that I have been using on my computer. I assume that the encoder for the five satelite speakers is inside the subwoofer. I use a RCA-to-Mic conveter to plug into my sound card. I am curious is their any way to get true 5.1 in my games? When ever someone is talking in a game and I turn away from them I can barely hear what they are saying. This is how I know that 5.1 really isn't working. Any suggestions?[/quote]

isnt it that you have to use a digital output cable instead? i think the rca-to-mic changes everything into stereo? i may be way off but thats what happens to me when i convert my tv audio
 
[quote name='jughead']this reminds me of a question i have been meaning to ask. I have a Kinyo Surrond Sound 5.1 that I have been using on my computer. I assume that the encoder for the five satelite speakers is inside the subwoofer. I use a RCA-to-Mic conveter to plug into my sound card. I am curious is their any way to get true 5.1 in my games? When ever someone is talking in a game and I turn away from them I can barely hear what they are saying. This is how I know that 5.1 really isn't working. Any suggestions?[/QUOTE]
Most, if not all, soundcards decode the 5.1 channel at the line out level. This means that 5.1 GAME sound (EAX) is ONLY possible when the speakers are plugged into their respected jacks. If you run an "out" from just one jack you are essentially only passing ONE channels worth of info since it was split up right before the jack (so either front,center,rear) This is why Creative sucks. You CANNOT pass EAX via a digital out or any other method. You either have to have a reciever with dedicated ins to each channel (run a cable from cards fnt channel to receivers frnt channel in, center to center, rear to rear) or have crappy computer speakers pluged into each hole.

Movies are a different ballgame all together. You can pass through (if your card allows it) DTS or DPL2 or DD at the line out level (to a receiver) and let it decode the stream. Thats why people CAN do dvds but not games (well not easily)
 
[quote name='supadupacheap']Most, if not all, soundcards decode the 5.1 channel at the line out level. This means that 5.1 GAME sound (EAX) is ONLY possible when the speakers are plugged into their respected jacks. If you run an "out" from just one jack you are essentially only passing ONE channels worth of info since it was split up right before the jack (so either front,center,rear) This is why Creative sucks. You CANNOT pass EAX via a digital out or any other method. You either have to have a reciever with dedicated ins to each channel (run a cable from cards fnt channel to receivers frnt channel in, center to center, rear to rear) or have crappy computer speakers pluged into each hole.

Movies are a different ballgame all together. You can pass through (if your card allows it) DTS or DPL2 or DD at the line out level (to a receiver) and let it decode the stream. Thats why people CAN do dvds but not games (well not easily)[/quote]

to sum it up.. ur telling him to get a new sound card? oh yea.. and i guess that means no creative sound card for mee hehe..
 
[quote name='ilikeTOFU']to sum it up.. ur telling him to get a new sound card? oh yea.. and i guess that means no creative sound card for mee hehe..[/QUOTE]
Im not suggesting anything, just passing on the facts.

EAX is (sadly) the "standard" for game sound now and Creative owns exclusive rights to it. So, no creative card, no EAX (well above EAX 2.0 which is very very old)
Doubly disturbing is that EAX is decoded at line level so unless you use PC speakers (NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!) or have one of the fairly uncommon HT receivers that has direct Front, Rear, and Center ins (and run a Frankensteinish bundle of cord from your pc to it) no EAX passthrough for you.
 
To the OPs actual question, if you are 2.1ing, the best value/price ratio card now is probably the SBlive 24. It does support EAX HD (not the lastest but passable) if needed later and has 5.1. outputs. About $25.
 
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