what sound card should I buy?
Jan 28 '00
If you consider buying a computer maybe you think that the sound card is not really the "big thing"!! But you have to know that there are differences between the different kinds of cards on the market. I will talk about the 3 big ones : the Soundblaster live family(100 to 200$), The aureal SQ2500(100$) and a new one, the diamond MX400(70-80$).
There are many things to consider before buying your card : sound quality, 3D support for those who wants to play a lot, the way the card impacts on your processor when it runs and finally the different input/output on the card.
Let's first talk about the sound quality. The best 3D quality is found with the aureal SQ2500 (or any vortex2 card...) But you must have a good processor to have this card because you're going to loose as much as 4-7% of CPU time in the process. If you can afford that loss, just buy a soudblaster live or platinium for those of us want a lot of connectors.
The MX400 is a balance between sound quality and CPU's use. But it offers the advantage to be compatible with RIO mp3 player (from diamond too) and have 5.1 channel included for those who have a Dolby Digital receiver or decoder.
So the choice is : Sound blaster live for those with low end processors, or MX400.
If you have P3 or K7 you can enjoy SQ2500 or MX400 and experience a real 3D sound better than soundblaster live.
I think also that If you don't have a PC for playing there's no need need to buy an expensive card, and the MX400 is a very good card in that case. There is also a guillemot card that is quite good but it's more difficult to find.
I hope this could help someone.
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Epinions.com ID:
manjarres
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Member: nicolas manjarres
Location: Tulsa (oklahoma)
Reviews written: 14
Trusted by: 8 members
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