Thread: Best bang-for-the-buck PCI Sound card?

know what i just realized...you have that dqx and all you need is 2 chans. go with a usb dac. wont be that expensive and better quality then most of the soundcards.
read through the last few pages of this thread:
1/3 Octave Software EQ
we've posted a ton of info on getting great audio out from the computer, trying to bypass the alpine pxa-h700


i have a few links and some info on the usb-dacs. all of them are external and are the best way to go. i think you'll be spending about 150 or so.

oh.. and still look for the higher voltage outputs. it will mask more noise that will get introduced from the usb-dac or soundcard to the dqx

edit:

so i was bored...here is the post that i primarily wanted you to read:
1/3 Octave Software EQ

but you should read through the other posts as well.... oh, and did i mention, these boards will have rca outs? so no worries about sharing a signal on that skinny little shared mini jack.


BUT before you go and buy anything, since you have a soundblaster live 5.1 card, i highly suggest loading the kxproject driver and playing with them for a couple weeks. when i had the sb live card and my 24xs installed, i was shocked at the sound quality. sometimes i liked it better then the pxa-h700 (may be because i am not that great at tuning) but it did do wonders over the regular sb drivers and you can practically rewire the card internally. and you can set up time delays and what not.

Originally Posted by WebGeek

I have read that before, but the thing I read wasnt as detailed. I actually had the AV-710 on my list of items to buy, but then removed it thinking I could just keep the SB Live! 5.1. I guess one way to do it is to just try the SB Live! 5.1 and then I could pick up a AV-710 for less than 30 bucks some day and compare the two. I suppose I could read up on it, but for those two channels that have WM8728, how would that work? Could I use only one of them to run my entire system via the DQX?

You just have to plug your system into the last port on the card, and check the right setting in the drivers. Like I said though, I don't know much about the soundblaster series - it could have similar DACs. I know one big advantage of the Envy cards is enabling bit perfect sound through ASIO (with an ASIO->kernel streaming wrapper). I think all SB cards resample but maybe that can be modded, based off scott_fx's mention of the kxproject drivers.

It's a little off-topic, but great choice on the amps. I have been using a PC4100 and PC2100 for several years, and they are awesome.

X-Fi Music Extreme. Best bang for the buck period

Originally Posted by Will Albers

X-Fi Music Extreme. Best bang for the buck period

i would have to say that the usb-dac is a better bang for the buck... I find it hard to believe that any card with 1/8" mini outputs can be that great. with the usb dac being outside of the computer case and the fact that it doesnt resample or upsample (like spdif) you'll get the purest sound that way. the only drawback is only having stereo out but that isnt the problem with his set up.

Originally Posted by scott_fx

edit:
so i was bored...here is the post that i primarily wanted you to read:
1/3 Octave Software EQ
but you should read through the other posts as well.... oh, and did i mention, these boards will have rca outs? so no worries about sharing a signal on that skinny little shared mini jack.

BUT before you go and buy anything, since you have a soundblaster live 5.1 card, i highly suggest loading the kxproject driver and playing with them for a couple weeks. when i had the sb live card and my 24xs installed, i was shocked at the sound quality. sometimes i liked it better then the pxa-h700 (may be because i am not that great at tuning) but it did do wonders over the regular sb drivers and you can practically rewire the card internally. and you can set up time delays and what not.

Wow, thanks for all that man, really. Anywho, I think you hit on something there. I will give the SB Live a whirl with the kx drivers, and see how I like it. That way I can save some money right off the bat, and then pick at little upgrades down the road. I am really running low on funds for my setup/install. If anyone is interested in seeing the install, which entails a complete interior gutting, and fab'ing all new interior panels, check out my install thread:


http://www.icixsound.com/vb/showthread.php?t=23929

heh..thats why this looks so familiar! i've read that thread before on icix. I have been on there researching the eu-700's (actually picked up 6 of them for my ride) I have been toying around with getting some horns like you have (not sure how they'll fit in the vette though) I'd love to get your impressions when you get it all fired up.

ahh... Thats funny. We both get around, at least on the net anyways! I'd love to get my impressions also! I just want to hear how everything sounds soooo bad! Stay tuned to that thread as I update it once or twice a week, and will post my results there.

since yesterday i have an X-FI xtreme music from creative, this card is thx certified, and it really plays beautifull !!!!