Is it worth it to upgrade soundcards for HL2?

[Kiva128]

Do NOT, I repeat, do NOT get any audigy card what-so-ever. There is a huge problem that started 2.5 years ago and STILL hasn't been fixed by creative. What happens is, if you have a subwoofer, the card sends a VERY weak signal to it so as a result, you get very little bass in everything. Games, mp3s, dvds, etc. It's basically, like you don't have a subwoofer at all, the bass is that low.

This only happens with audigy cards as far as I know. If you want to see how many people have this problem, check this thread out:

http://uk.europe.creative.com/support/forums/thread.asp?thre=13916&foru=51&page=1

Sad to say I have this problem as well...same as my dad. And guess what? We both have audigy cards! So basically, don't by creative crap anymore. They've had 2.5 _years_ to fix this, and they haven't done a damn thing, despite the complaints.

 

[nofx]

Kiva128, theres winamp plugins you can get for free that'll add bass to your mp3s. I know that much.

 

[Kiva128]

Well I have a workaround in place where I use the EAX effects to add bass. However, this screws up my EAX in games because if I have some effect on (like drum and bass) then EAX doesn't work in games, I have to take the effect off in windows first. And when I do, the bass doesn't work that well in my games sometimes. So right now I just play without EAX, which sucks because what the hell did my dad buy this card if not for EAX + awesome sound? It's quite the opposite really...

Bass should work well even without any workarounds but...nope.
Thanks for the suggestion though.

 

[urseus]

I agree, if you're experiencing wonderful sound there's nothing better than the knowledge everyone within a 200ft radius is experiencing it too...

lol gold...

Sad to say I have this problem as well...same as my dad. And guess what? We both have audigy cards! So basically, don't by creative crap anymore. They've had 2.5 _years_ to fix this, and they haven't done a damn thing, despite the complaints.

You bastard.

Where were you last saturday when i bought one...although im getting the same amount of base as my card before it....Live Value.

 

[Kiva128]

If you have an audigy card, then it should have put some .AC3 files on your computer. Can you do me a favour (I'm just curious),

-Go to AudioHQ and dblclick on the speaker icon.
-Under "Test" there's settings, click that.
-Make sure AC-3 Decode is checked.

After that search your computer for any .AC3 music files. (they should be in the Creative\Playcenter2 directory (at least for me) and play them with playcenter...I don't think they work with winamp. Anyways, if you play these, do you still have good bass? Because I sure don't. =[

AC3, don't let you have any EAX effects active when playing them. And I need to have them on to get bass...which I shouldn't have to do, but I digress.

Thanks in advance,

 

[Ahnteis]

Call me crazy, but I have an audigy and have to turn my sub all the way down or it totally overpowers everything (and makes the neighbors mad). Maybe it's your speakers?

 

[Kiva128]

Call me crazy, but I have an audigy and have to turn my sub all the way down or it totally overpowers everything (and makes the neighbors mad). Maybe it's your speakers?

Yeah but do you have that sub power when playing AC3 files? If not, then you have the same issue as everyone else. My dad has awesome speakers and it happens for him too so...

Make sure you dont have any EAX effects active. If you still have good sub bass then, well, good for you I suppose.

 

[Ahnteis]

What happens is, if you have a subwoofer, the card sends a VERY weak signal to it so as a result, you get very little bass in everything. Games, mp3s, dvds, etc.

Original quote definitely did not limit itself to just AC3 files.

That said, I don't watch too many DVD's on my computer since the 7' projection screen is sitting about 10 feet away and we use the big stereo for that. However, I haven't noticed any problem any of the times I've watched movies/listened to DVD audio/etc. Perhaps your drivers aren't installed correctly or maybe your speakers?

 

[phoenix3200]

The biggest advantage of upgrading is that the Audigy just about maxxes out quality. The ratio between the quietest sound and the loudest sound that our ear can hear is about 120 db. The Audigy 2 ZX (Proud owner) has a SNR of 108 db. And the AC '97 Codec (most onboard audio chips) have a SNR of "better than 90 db". For those of you who don't understand decibels, the Audigy performs almost twice as clearly as a motherboard can.

The audigy also performs 24-bit, 96khz PER CHANNEL, with up to 8 (7.1) channels of sound, unlike built-in sound cards which generally perform at 16-bit, 44.1 khz per channel.

I don't have problems when I plug in my .ac3 copy of the THX theater sound.

 

[ZoFreX]

@ Swizzel & RipperRoo - I bought a new soundcard 'cos my nforce 2 onboard kept crapping out, like I said - especially in FarCry. The sound went all bubbly and crackly, like underwater but crappier sounding. A lot of my sound problems, including this one, were down to the power supply not being able to power my cpu, graphics card, cd drive and sound all going flat-out. However, after replacing the psu I still had problems in farcry.

I honestly cannot hear the difference between an audigy and my sb live! Anyone proving me wrong may redirect my hard-earned moolah.

 

[urseus]

I dont heat a big difference between my old live and my new audigy, but im sure that i will once games with alot more work put into their sound come out.

 

[Sideswiped]

Do NOT, I repeat, do NOT get any audigy card what-so-ever. There is a huge problem that started 2.5 years ago and STILL hasn't been fixed by creative. What happens is, if you have a subwoofer, the card sends a VERY weak signal to it so as a result, you get very little bass in everything. Games, mp3s, dvds, etc. It's basically, like you don't have a subwoofer at all, the bass is that low.

This only happens with audigy cards as far as I know. If you want to see how many people have this problem, check this thread out:

http://uk.europe.creative.com/support/forums/thread.asp?thre=13916&foru=51&page=1

Sad to say I have this problem as well...same as my dad. And guess what? We both have audigy cards! So basically, don't by creative crap anymore. They've had 2.5 _years_ to fix this, and they haven't done a damn thing, despite the complaints.

as is mentioned on the last page of that thread, a 3rd party fix/driver has been made that apparently resolves the problem

www.kxproject.com

direct link to dl page: http://kxproject.lugosoft.com/down.php?language=en

On another note, I resently upgraded from an old Sblive! to an Audigy 2 ZS and have noticed a great improvement in sound. On the ZS music has a richer, fuller sound(big improvement in the mids) and more detailed sound when playing through my vintage Marantz reciever or through my Altec Lansing AD885.

 

[Ahnteis]

Glancing at the thread, and NOT reading all 48 pages, it looks like it's an original Audigy problem (and I would not suggest getting an original, they were well known to be extremely buggy). I have an Audigy 2 and assumed that the distinction was implied since no one buys an Audigy any more (AFAIK).