Sound card worth the $$$?

2007-01-10 06:20:47

#1

Lucien: Fantasma Parastasie; +1,451|6666

hey menz

was just wondering if it was worth it to buy a sound card to replace my onboard audio. I'm not looking to spend much, 70-80 eurii's, but if it makes a noticable difference I'll go for it.

These are my current headphones, btw.

thanks,

Sarge

2007-01-10 06:24:16

#2

Bell: Frosties > Cornflakes; +362|6562|UK

Probably less of a benifit if its just headphones.

Martyn

2007-01-10 07:41:31

#3

The Stillhouse Kid: Licensed Televulcanologist; +126|6655|Deep In The South Of Texas

An Audigy or X-Fi would do you better than onboard will.

2007-01-10 08:19:35

#4

Agent_Dung_Bomb: Member; +302|6749|Salt Lake City

The Stillhouse Kid wrote:
An Audigy or X-Fi would do you better than onboard will.

Except for having to deal with their crappy ass drivers.

2007-01-10 08:45:19

#5

.Sup: be nice; +2,646|6466|The Twilight Zone

hey! i would recommend X-FI. i have the same headphones as u do and audigy 2 zs and the sound is a LOT better than my previous on-board sound card.

https://www.shrani.si/f/3H/7h/45GTw71U/untitled-1.png

2007-01-10 08:50:36

#6

slicknic: Member; +145|6639

take my advice and go with a cheap sound card.. i spent $80 on the cheapest x-fi and there are some benefits... but not $80 worth imo. I cant even play on hardware right now cuz it lags my computer... 40 should be enough... onboard does suck tho

oh and im not a stickler for sound anyway... so if you are u may want a better card

Last edited by slicknic (2007-01-10 08:50:58)

2007-01-10 10:20:45

#7

kylef: Gone; +1,352|6506|N. Ireland

i stole my brothers zs, good quality on 5.1 but onboard ain't that bad nowadays.

2007-01-10 13:18:34

#8

Bertster7: Confused Pothead; +1,101|6594|SE London

Depends on the quality of your onboard sound. I've been considering dumping my Audigy 2 ZS and just using my onboard sound for a while, the technical specs on it are actually higher I think.

The X-Fi would be your best bet going for a normal sound card and if you're using headphones I think it's got various enhancements for headphone users. A decent set of speakers would be a better idea though.

2007-01-10 13:21:37

#9

White-Fusion: Fuck; +616|6565|Scotland

Well theres £800 headphones, which are banned from TWL & CAL.

I would love to have them

2007-01-10 14:43:19

#10

unnamednewbie13: Moderator; +2,053|6785|PNW

Agent_Dung_Bomb wrote:
The Stillhouse Kid wrote:
An Audigy or X-Fi would do you better than onboard will.
Except for having to deal with their crappy ass drivers.

Funnily enough, I've never had serious issues with Creative's drivers.

2007-01-10 15:02:07

#11

The Stillhouse Kid: Licensed Televulcanologist; +126|6655|Deep In The South Of Texas

Same here. I know there were problems with the X-Fi beta drivers, but my Audigy 2 has always run without a hitch.

2007-01-10 15:18:38

#12

Cheez: Herman is a warmaphrodite; +1,027|6452|King Of The Islands

I admit, you can get some really poxy onboard chips. But if you are one of the lucky ones, and you don't have to put up with tinnyness or lack of volume or crackling or some other shit like that, as in it sounds GOOD, then you're fine with onboard and will see no improvement besides maybe a shiny sticker you can put on the front. Hells they all support EAX in some form now, right?

I have a 2ZS, and I'm not really all that impressed with it, but my comp's old (AthlonXP old) so onboard was non-existant/shite so I can't fall back to anything.

My state was founded by Batman. Your opinion is invalid.

2007-01-10 15:19:01

#13

Towelly: It's A State Of Mind; +399|6604|Your attic

I'm not sure how much hardware prices differ between the UK and the continent but if it's within your budget I'd definitely suggest getting a X-Fi card. However if it ends up being out of your price range I wouldn't bother with anything less.

The base model which I have (Link) was a major improvement for me and the difference for BF2 was insane (as in I can't play properly on anything other than the X-Fi setting).

But then I'm not sure what improvement there would be with headphones.

In short if you're something of an audiophile as well as wanting something extra for BF2, X-Fi is a good option and in my mind worth the cash.

2007-01-10 15:25:01

#14

Clarity: Member; +1|6670

The X-fi gamer card actually made the game run faster for me.... It is supposed to off-load a lot of the audio off the CPU.

MP3's also sound much better with the card in Entertainment mode and I wouldn't call myself an audiophile.

2007-01-10 15:28:59

#15

Jello.01: Member; +46|6621|DFW, Texas

White-Fusion wrote:
Well theres £800 headphones, which are banned from TWL & CAL.

I would love to have them

Wtf? Why? Link please to those headphones.
I would go for the X-fi Xtrememusic, though, the drivers do suck (For all cards). I had to uninstall BF2 after finding that out 2 weeks later because I finally got XP, then you install your sound card, of course it will work if you just install it once you get it, but if you try to update the drivers, you can't get to your audio console, at least from my experience. You can also adjust the bass for your speakers or headphones, it's totally kick ass.

Last edited by Jello.01 (2007-01-10 15:29:58)

2007-01-10 17:59:45

#16

The Stillhouse Kid: Licensed Televulcanologist; +126|6655|Deep In The South Of Texas

Cheez wrote:
I admit, you can get some really poxy onboard chips. But if you are one of the lucky ones, and you don't have to put up with tinnyness or lack of volume or crackling or some other shit like that, as in it sounds GOOD, then you're fine with onboard and will see no improvement besides maybe a shiny sticker you can put on the front. Hells they all support EAX in some form now, right?

I have a 2ZS, and I'm not really all that impressed with it, but my comp's old (AthlonXP old) so onboard was non-existant/shite so I can't fall back to anything.

Onboard sound uses more CPU than a add-in card. And my ears can tell a difference between my Audigy2 ZS and my mobo's onboard sound.

2007-01-10 18:02:42

#17

jsnipy: ...; +3,276|6535|...

The Stillhouse Kid wrote:
An Audigy or X-Fi would do you better than onboard will.

... and you are less likely to have any feedback with a soundcard

2007-01-10 18:17:59

#18

TheEternalPessimist: Wibble; +412|6633|Mhz

Worth getting a sound card? Yes

An expensive one? No

It's worth getting away from on board audio simply to free up a little CPU, but going for anything more is pointless unless you have about 45 speakers and a room the size of the Albert Hall with similar acoutics.

If you need more than this just for earphones you need your head lookin at.

2007-01-10 20:10:37

#19

Reciprocity: Member; +721|6594|the dank(super) side of Oregon

went from an audigy 2 to an xfi xtreme music about a year ago. BF2 sounds like a different game on the xfi, especially with headphones. they achieved surround sound with 2 speakers.

2007-01-10 20:12:31

#20

Marine_fighter77: Member; +20|6369

yeh , whats the big deal on sound cards it all sounds the same ... no it isnt worth the money its just the sound if u have speakers ur fine ..

BF2S Forums Sound card worth the $$$?

The Stillhouse Kid wrote:

Agent_Dung_Bomb wrote:

The Stillhouse Kid wrote:

White-Fusion wrote:

Cheez wrote:

The Stillhouse Kid wrote:

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