Looking for sound card suggestions

[Shurman292]

Hi all,

 

I just bought the Turtle Beach HPA2 true 5.1 headset at a ridiculously low price from Newegg and am wondering if purchasing a mid-range sound card would improve directional separation at all since there are actually 8 drivers in the cans. I was also hoping that a sound card would reduce the hiss and slightly random noises that sometimes come from this headset. I am currently using on-board audio (Realtek ALC889) which, in all honesty, is a great little piece of hardware.

 

Two of the cards I have been looking at are the ASUS Xonar DX and the Creative X-Fi Soundblaster Titanium, both of which are around $50-70. If you guys have any other suggestions they would be much appreciated as well.

 

Thanks!

[mattyamdfanboi]

i 2nd this thread as i too am lookin for an upgrade frmo my crappy built in sound lol

[bp9801]

Is your budget just 50 to 70 or can you go higher or what?

[potatochobit]

open your sound card control panel and go to mixer

UNDER VOLUME settings, make sure mic is UNCHECKED if you are not using mic, this will get rid of most of the hiss

you can leave mic checked under recording

 

when u want to use the mic though, u have to recheck it

the Asus sound cards seem good

but with a noisy motherboard you may still get some feed back

it should go away if you dont use the front panel audio port and plug it into the back... usually

or u can use an amp, like if your speakers have a headphone jack

[BBGR]

I'd vote for the ASUS, from the reviews I've read it's a nice card.

[Shurman292]

Is your budget just 50 to 70 or can you go higher or what?

I can go higher but I would really prefer not to unless absolutely necessary. I know there are some good sound cards out there for $150 but I just can't justify that much $$ for sound (maybe I would change my mind if I could listen to the difference before I commit).

 

open your sound card control panel and go to mixer

UNDER VOLUME settings, make sure mic is UNCHECKED if you are not using mic, this will get rid of most of the hiss

you can leave mic checked under recording

 

when u want to use the mic though, u have to recheck it

the Asus sound cards seem good

but with a noisy motherboard you may still get some feed back

it should go away if you dont use the front panel audio port and plug it into the back... usually

or u can use an amp, like if your speakers have a headphone jack

Yea, I have to use the back panel since the headset is 5.1, but I do not see this "mixer" menu you are talking about. I can disable the mic through the general sound options if that's what you mean. I gave that a try but unfortunately it didn't change anything.

 

--Edit-- In trying to re-enable the mic, I realized that it is completely gone from all menus: sound options in the control panel, Realtek HD Audio Manager, and it has also disappeared from the device manager. A little help would be appreciated...I'm getting slightly paranoid!!

Edited December 3, 2010 by Shurman292

[sack_patrol]

Almost any sound card will be better than onboard and it will reduce the distortion since it's not on the motherboard. If you aren't low on cash, a good sound card is the Asus Xonar Essence for 200 bucks on newegg. That will also be good for further updading of your sound output device be it headphones or speakers because if your soundcard is bad, and you buy a pair of Grado SR325is for 300$, the sound will actually be worse since you'll notice all the details that the bad soundcard creates, but if the soundcard is good, then you'll improve the sound quality.

[bp9801]

Almost any sound card will be better than onboard and it will reduce the distortion since it's not on the motherboard. If you aren't low on cash, a good sound card is the Asus Xonar Essence for 200 bucks on newegg. That will also be good for further updading of your sound output device be it headphones or speakers because if your soundcard is bad, and you buy a pair of Grado SR325is for 300$, the sound will actually be worse since you'll notice all the details that the bad soundcard creates, but if the soundcard is good, then you'll improve the sound quality.

 

His budget doesn't really allow for that. He said basically no more than 70 bucks and you're recommending stuff that'd run him up to 500 when all is said and done? Yeah...

 

 

The Xonar DX is a good option, as is the Xonar DS for a bit less. Its a PCI interface but it uses a newer chipset than the DX so it should sound a bit better. Another option would be the HT|Omega Striker, though its at the upper range of your budget. It'd be a good solution, would work well for your needs.

[_TheAlexO]

Asus D2x from Munkypoo7's for sale thread. a little expensive $110, but maybe you can talk him down a little ha

 

i dont know much about sound cards, but that looks like a gooden

Edited December 3, 2010 by ShallowBay

[Shurman292]

His budget doesn't really allow for that. He said basically no more than 70 bucks and you're recommending stuff that'd run him up to 500 when all is said and done? Yeah...

 

 

The Xonar DX is a good option, as is the Xonar DS for a bit less. Its a PCI interface but it uses a newer chipset than the DX so it should sound a bit better. Another option would be the HT|Omega Striker, though its at the upper range of your budget. It'd be a good solution, would work well for your needs.

Thanks man! If it were between the Asus DS/DX I would go with the DX purely for the PCI-E and the ability to add a second GTX 470 down the road if need be I like the fact that the HT | Omega is an American company, but its 16 bit audio makes me a tad leery of buying it as compared to the Asus cards. Although I'm not an audiophile per se, I do want to make sure games have good, smooth surround separation.

 

Oh on another note, I believe I have figured out how to re-enable my microphone in Windows, I just need to get home and test it. Phew lol

[potatochobit]

I think you are misunderstanding what 24bit means

the striker is far better card than the el cheapo DS

if you want to get an asus DX that is fine though

when you become the next P-diddy with two thousand dollars worth of recording gear you can complain about needing a 24bit dac

[bp9801]

16 or 24 bit doesn't matter much. What matters more (imo) is the quality. Like 44.1KHz, 48KHz, 92KHz, and so on. The higher that is, the better. Who cares if its not 24 bit, like potatochobit said, its not as important as the quality it is outputting.