Creative or M-Audio?

[whoopyour]

Im looking for a new sound card to run a Logitech Z-5300e 5.1 surround sound speaker system. Which sound card do u guys reccamend I get? The Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS or the M-Audio Revolution 7.1 PCI card.

 

[DarkSin]

Would also like people's opinions on this. Which has the best sound quality and features?

 

[bosox188]

I don't know much about sound cards but I'm pretty sure the Audigy 2ZS would be the best.

 

[Reaktor4]

It depends on what you want the card for really.
M-audio make semi-pro/pro cards (low latency, high quality, but can use around 10% of your cpu in games). Creative cards are gaming cards (higher latency, lower quality, low cpu usage in games, and more support for things like eax), apart from one which wasnt even made by them but sold under their name since they own the company that made it (emu). Latency wont matter to you unless youre a producer and doing live work though.
If you dunno what i mean by latency, say if you have a midi keyboard hooked up to a synth in a sequencer. The length of time between you pressing a key and hearing a sound is the latency. Or pressing play in the sequencer and it starting to play the synths and stuff. If you set the latency too low the sound will chop and stutter like crazy. The thing is finding a balance between low latency and good performance, and thats what cards such as m-audio cards are for, mostly (they also have higher quality dacs (digital-analogue converters) and adcs).
Youve probably fallen asleep by now, but anyway you should probably go for the audigy if youre gonna use it purely for gaming and dont mind not having uber high sound quality.

 

[Dinkleberry]

You can get an M-Audio Revolution 5.1 for 30 squid cheaper than the 7.1 model (5.1 is based on the 7.1). I'd go for that one as it is a better match for your speakers. It has EAX as well so it could compare well to an Audigy 2 ZS.

 

[the_lone_wolf]

Perosnally went through this issue a month or so ago, in the end i chose the Audigy2 ZS, since i was more interested in games than music production - every one of the many reviews i read said that the Audigy was THE card to have for games, mothing i saw came close. If these M-Audio cards use ~10% of your CPU you'll notice a drop in performance since HL2 is very CPU intensive. As for audio quality unless you have CD quality music stored on your PC i'd be surprised if you notice any difference between any decent soundcard. my audigy produces crystal clear sound through my creative speakers, unless you have quality speakers you'll never hear the extra sound quality - afaik the audigy is also the only card currently availlable that can decode and play 24bit DVD-A media (although if you ever wanted to do this you'd need a capale DVD player.

Audigy 2 ZS all the way, try www.ebuyer.com for a good price in the UK, i got my card and Inspire 6700 6.1 speakers for less than £100 the pair

 

[[w0f]Oblivion]

Turtle Beach: Santa cruz, Best bang for buck sound card, i use it and havent ONCE regretted buying it, Also i got it for around $30 on newegg.
OH annnd its the highest rated sound card on newegg, so i really do reccommend it.

 

[Dinkleberry]

Bugger all that, I've just changed my mind - just use the system speaker (silly speaker as me and my mates call it).

 

[[Matt]]

M-Audio cards are the better cards all round but the creative cards are better for 3D gaming. I hate the overbloated creative sound drivers though... creatives driver coders need lining up against a wall and shooting.

 

[Asus]

My take on it.
If you have 5.1 speakers and play a lot of 3D games then you can take advantage of the Audigy2's good 3D positioning.
If you look to higher quality audio then look to M-audio.
If you do not like Creative products or have issues with their drivers then M-audio also.

Note:M-audio can be subbed by the old Turtle Beach Santa Cruz 5.1 card. New Turtle beach cards are not quite the same though.

I have had some pop'n click issues with creative drivers on Audigy/Live cards and also game glitches. I really liked my old Santa Cruz's audio quality on some nice speakers. Was better than the Audigy even if I ignore the glitches. Too bad I broke a small capacitor off and now I can't use the card. :\

 

[[w0f]Oblivion]

Yeah i got an older one too, gotta love it!

 

[whoopyour]

so will getting a new sound card add stress to my cpu or take away stress from my cpu becuase ive herd that they can make fps go down or make your fps go up with games....which one is it?

 

[Bakurei]

M-audio has better quality in sound, but the CPU thing is not nice for games, but it's great for a Htpc.