Soundstorm Vs Audigy

SpinnerSpinner Birmingham, UK
edited May 2005 in Hardware
Okay, I realise people have tried to tell me this before, but I'm still not 100% convinced that ditching my Audigy 1, for using the onboard Soundstorm audio (on my NF7) is such a great idea. Firstly...

I do a lot of MIDI work, so my main concern is with the quality of the sounds in comparison to the Audigy's midi sound base, also... I've always seen onboard sound as another way to drain your CPU resources, where as an add-in card will not. But eventhough my Audigy ran great on my KR7A (KT266A), it crackles and pops like no tomorrow on my nForce board.

Thoughts, suggestions, links... all are welcome.

Thanks in advance.

Spinner.
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Comments

  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited November 2003
    I don't know how it relates to midi, but I can provide answers to some of your questions:

    The Sounstorm2 is its own APU. It's like a real, signal-processing soundcard embedded in your motherboard. The APU does not need any more CPU cycles than a regular soundcard. And I can guarantee you it sounds better than the audigy1.

    It does not crackle either.
  • leishi85leishi85 Grand Rapids, MI Icrontian
    edited November 2003
    yes i was happy moving from my sblive 5.1 to soundstorm, no crackles, i love it.
    i have always bought soundcards to use than using the onboard, but after i experienced soundstorm, i didn't regret giving that sblive 5.1 to my sister at all.
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited November 2003
    First, the specs of the system I did the comparison on (this was a while ago, a lot of my hardware has changed since then):
    ASUS A7N8X-Deluxe 1.04
    512MB DDR266
    AMD Athlon XP 2500+ @ 2.2GHz
    ATi Radeon 8500 64MB @ 320/295
    Onboard SoundStorm Audio
    Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum

    My speakers were/are Altec Lansing ADA-890R 120w RMS THX 4.1s.

    At the default settings, with the graphics EQ in the nForce control panel disabled, the Audigy2 (which is substantially better than the original Audigy) is noticeably better, but only very slightly. Tweaking the graphics EQ (which is not present in Creative's drivers) eliminates any difference what-so-ever. It is literally impossible for me to tell the difference between the two.

    In 3DMark '03, the Audigy 2 uses more cpu resources (lower frame rate) in the audio portion of the benchmarking than the Soundstorm audio does.

    Since I did the sound quality comparison, I've replaced the system with the NF7-S, a JIUHB/DLT3C 1800 good for 2.51GHz, a Radeon 9700 Pro, and 1GB of DDR400, and the 2500, the Audigy, and the 8500 have been "relegated" to the AMD dually... and the Soundstorm audio still sounds better than the Audigy. The Audigy 2 is probably the best add-in card on the market (disregarding the software package, which I don't think is all that bad, actually), but it's not as good as the nForce2 Soundstorm audio.
  • SpinnerSpinner Birmingham, UK
    edited November 2003
    Okay cokey. Thanks fellas, I'll give it a go.

    /me rips out his Audigy, and throws it out the window.
  • BlackHawkBlackHawk
    catches it in a box and runs off

    Better than my Live 5.1 :rarr:
     Bible music connoisseur There's no place like 127.0.0.1 Icrontian
    edited November 2003
    catches it in a box and runs off

    Better than my Live 5.1 :rarr:
  • SpinnerSpinner Birmingham, UK
    edited November 2003
    Black Hawk had this to say
    /me catches it in a box and runs off

    Better than my Live 5.1 :rarr:

    Hey!

    /me runs after Black Hawk
  • ThraxThrax
    tackles BH and smashes the Audigy
     🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited November 2003
    tackles BH and smashes the Audigy
  • ShortyShorty
    helps

    PURGE!

    One more down, another few million to go. No retreat, no surrender :ninja:
     Manchester, UK Icrontian
    edited November 2003
    helps

    PURGE!

    One more down, another few million to go. No retreat, no surrender :ninja:
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited November 2003
    mtgoat jumps on top and yells "Dogpile". ;)
  • BlackHawkBlackHawk Bible music connoisseur There's no place like 127.0.0.1 Icrontian
    edited November 2003
    :Pwned:
  • SpinnerSpinner Birmingham, UK
    edited November 2003
    Erm, well thanks for that guys. I guess I'll have to use the soundstorm now.:rolleyes::D

    I've actually started using it, and there does seem to be much improvement. However, unless I'm being a dumbass, there doesn't seem to be a gameport erm.. port. I mean I know I can do Midi stuff through USB but my senquencing keyboard is exclusively game port, unless you can get some strange midi to USB convertor cable.

    Nevertheless, sounds sweet.

    /me gets a dust pan and brush to clean up the remains of the Audigy.
    Cheers guys.
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited November 2003
    No gameport on the ABIT board... The A7N8X-Deluxe has one, but most boards don't anymore... Although most PCI cards don't have them anymore, either, so...
  • SpinnerSpinner Birmingham, UK
    edited November 2003
    ...so I'm screwed.;D

    I suppose when I want to start sequencing I can just put my Audigy back in.

    Oh no, wait... I don't have that anymore. Doh!:shakehead
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited November 2003
    Spinner had this to say
    ...so I'm screwed.;D

    I suppose when I want to start sequencing I can just put my Audigy back in.

    Oh no, wait... I don't have that anymore. Doh!:shakehead
    Don't forget this thread - you may be able to have the best of both worlds.

    Make those criminals reimburse you for your card.

    Wait, you're the one who threw it away, right? Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers... :hiding:
  • SpinnerSpinner Birmingham, UK
    edited November 2003
    Thanks for reminder of that thread Prof'. I'm a bit creatively drained at the moment, I imagine I won't be recording any more songs for a good few months yet, so I'll worry about the problem when the time comes. Like the thread you linked to suggested though, a USB to Midi adapter, of some sort, would seem to be the way to go.

    Cheers
  • TheSmJTheSmJ
    edited November 2003
    I'd have to double check, but I coulda sworn my NF7-s came with a game/MIDI port that connected to on an board header.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited November 2003
    I have two. Mine didn't.
  • LammypieLammypie
    edited November 2003
    I think I missed something spinner, what have you done with the audigy you removed?

    I have a spare one sitting in the folding machine at home, you can use if you ask me VERY nicely!

    Just so you know what level of niceness I will require, something like "Please Please Please Please Please can I borrow your spare soundcard, oh genius dude" would not be nice enough.
  • SpinnerSpinner Birmingham, UK
    edited November 2003
    Well thanks for the offer, but I think I'll stick with the soundstorm for now, besides I'm not in the habit of begging for Creative products. As for what happened to my Audigy... ask BlackHawk.
  • BlackHawkBlackHawk Bible music connoisseur There's no place like 127.0.0.1 Icrontian
    edited November 2003
    :ninja:
  • WuGgaRoOWuGgaRoO Not in the shower Icrontian
    edited November 2003
    why doesnt nvidia make its own soundcards by now...tehey seem to have good shiznet
  • EyesOnlyEyesOnly Sweden New
    edited November 2003
    That usb to midi adapter you're talking about. does it work for gamepads as well.
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited November 2003
    EyesOnly had this to say
    That usb to midi adapter you're talking about. does it work for gamepads as well.

    Thats pretty much the main reason it was made....

    NS
  • EyesOnlyEyesOnly Sweden New
    edited November 2003
    Thanks Ns. I'll keep looking for it.
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited November 2003
    WuGgaRoO had this to say
    why doesnt nvidia make its own soundcards by now...tehey seem to have good shiznet

    AFAIK, nVidia doesn't make any cards, just the chips. If they were to seperate their Soundstorm APU out of the SB chip, somebody else would still have to put it on a board.
  • kanellkanell
    edited March 2004
    Hello, how do I enable the Tone Controls on my soundstorm integrated sound?
    (NF7-S)
    The option is greyed out in the Sound Volume. Thanks ;)
  • SpinnerSpinner Birmingham, UK
    edited March 2004
    kanell wrote:
    Hello, how do I enable the Tone Controls on my soundstorm integrated sound?
    (NF7-S)
    The option is greyed out in the Sound Volume. Thanks ;)

    Hello and welcome to Short-Media. You should be able to get access to a 9-band graphic equalizer (bass, treble etc) in the Nvidia nForce Control Panel, which is located in the Windows Control Panel. I think it's perfectly normal to have the bass and treble sliders in the windows volume control greyed out in your instance. Mine on my NF7-S are the same. However it may be worth pointing out, the previously mentioned EQ on my soundstorm integrated, doesn't seem to do much.

    Cheers
  • KometeKomete Member
    edited March 2004
    Well I guess after reading this thread I'll give it a go and take out my beloved audigy1.
  • qparadoxqparadox Vancouver, BC
    edited March 2004
    I managed to get rid of 4 SB Live 5.1's that I bought (all which crackled) and the magical audigy that actually worked. I've vowed to NEVER buy creative products again, and to think I actually thought of them as a high end manufacturer at one point. How wrong I was.
  • KometeKomete Member
    edited March 2004
    well I was deff blown away by the sound of a dvd I had in the pc but I played ut2k3 for a few minutes and the onboard seemed to be missing that umph the audigy 1 had. I'll mess some more with the settings and see what I can do.
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