New Sound Card Ideas?

TheSmJTheSmJ
edited November 2006 in Hardware
I’m sick of the crackles and garbage that comes from my Creative Audigy 2 ZS all the time. Creative can’t fix it so the only solution I can see is to start using something better.

Does anyone have some ideas as far as brands/models to look at which are comparative to the Audigy series in features, not in defects?

Comments

  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited November 2006
    Auzentech X-Mystique.
  • djshowdowndjshowdown London
    edited November 2006
    well firstly you need to be sure the soundcard is at fault

    do you have access to another sound card that you could try?

    anyways the type of soundcard that is suitable depends very much on your needs

    do you play games?
    watch films?
    make music?
    listen to music?

    give us a bit more info and we can start to make some suggestions
  • ins4n17yins4n17y Cabanatuan City, Philippines Icrontian
    edited November 2006
    TheSmJ wrote:
    I’m sick of the crackles and garbage that comes from my Creative Audigy 2 ZS all the time. Creative can’t fix it so the only solution I can see is to start using something better.

    Does anyone have some ideas as far as brands/models to look at which are comparative to the Audigy series in features, not in defects?

    i'm surprised to hear that. creative makes very good soundboards, as long as you wait 6 months after release. I'm sure the Audigy you speak of is alot older than that as that is the card i use and it is fantastic.

    If you are really experiencing issues, put the Audigy into the last PCI slot of your system....and oh yes, download the updated drivers.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited November 2006
    Creative makes fantastic soundcards. Creative has not made a good driver since the <i>AWE32</i> of yesterdecade. In fact, they've been utter crap for the better part of the last 7 years, starting with the original Audigy. If it's not IRQ or DMA issues, it's the simple fact that Creative has no idea how to release bug-free code or drivers that cooperate with other system devices.

    Lastly, it's bad mojo to put anything in the last PCI slot as often that slot is shared with AGP or PCI-E.
  • ins4n17yins4n17y Cabanatuan City, Philippines Icrontian
    edited November 2006
    Panties wrote:
    Creative makes fantastic soundcards. Creative has not made a good driver since the <i>AWE32</i> of yesterdecade. In fact, they've been utter crap for the better part of the last 7 years, starting with the original Audigy. If it's not IRQ or DMA issues, it's the simple fact that Creative has no idea how to release bug-free code or drivers that cooperate with other system devices.

    Lastly, it's bad mojo to put anything in the last PCI slot as often that slot is shared with AGP or PCI-E.

    i better google that one. i never knew. (i knew about the resource sharing however)
  • TheSmJTheSmJ
    edited November 2006
    I tested everything - including the speakers. I know for a fact it's the soundcard (or the drivers, as Thrax said). Just check out Creative's forums for the "crackling" issue and you'll see I'm far from the only one with this problem.

    I tried giving the card its own IRQ, all the PCI slots, increasing PCI latency, using different speakers -including both digital and analog outputs, and I can say it's the card/drivers without a single doubt.

    I really wish the card worked like it's supposed to, and I understand the Linux drivers for this card have none of these issues (or so I've read - I never tried it myself). But the fact remains that it just doesn't work.

    For now I'm using the onboard audio adapter my motherboard provides. It's nice to be able to play games again without them sounding like there’s a perpetually spinning rainstick in the room. I can live without EAX if that’s the price I have to pay.


    EDIT:

    Oh yes, and I've tried every driver I could get my hands on to get this POS to work, including betas. It's not happening. I've been trying to find a solution for this problem for weeks and I only wish a driver update was all that I need to fix this.

    I'm mostly worried about compatibility with games. I’d prefer to spend no more than $50 unless there’s a feature I absolutely cannot live without.
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