Turtle Beach Santa Cruz Sound Card; Well, Well Worth the Switch!
Written: Oct 02 '03 (Updated Oct 02 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Outstanding sound quality, versatile inputs & outputs.
Cons: None come to mind.
The Bottom Line: Everything you'll ever need in a reasonably priced sound card.
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| vemartin's Full Review: Voyetra Turtle Beach Turtle Beach Santa Cruz Sound... |
I have been a Sound Blaster user since the infancy of sound cards way back in the late 1980’s. From 16-bit to PCI, from low end to high end I have used, or installed, just about every type of sound card Creative (the makes of Sound Blaster) has produced. Of late however, in an effort to save money when building systems for friends and family, I have been installing Sound Blaster Live! sound cards (see below for my review of this product). But recently “my” desktop system has been acting up; e.g. the sound has been skipping and the mouse sticks on the screen. This fast became an annoyance, and I have tried everything I know to correct the problem to no avail. So I decided to purchase a new sound card, to see f that might be part of the problem; it wasn’t, but I am very happy with my purchase nonetheless.
Over the years I have heard a lot of good things about the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz sound card, but the product has always been priced on the high end, so I continued to install the less expense Sound Blaster Live. But at my favorite on-line computer store Mwave.com (see below for review of this on-line store), the OEM version of the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz was priced at $55.00, so I gave in and purchased the card.
The Turtle Beach Santa Cruzsports 6-channel outputs that can be used in a variety of configurations, ranging from stereo with two from channel speakers, to full 5.1 surround sound. A flexible assortment of inputs and outputs let you attach a wide selection of devices for recording and playing back different audio sources to and from your PC. Rear inputs and outputs include “Midi/Game Port,” “Rear Out,” “Front Out,” “Line-In,” “Mic-In,” and “Versa Jack.”
Installation:
Hardware installation was easy and straight forward; standard PCI slot configuration. The Turtle Beach Santa Cruz has standard plug-in internal audio jacks for Telephone answering machine, MPC-3 analog CD-in, and MPC-3 AUX-in.
Software installation was a little more problematical. Windows XP detected the card without a problem and the drivers load from the included CD, but the included add-on software Audio Studio would not load without a fight. After about twenty minutes of work clicking, and failing, clicking and failing, I finally got the software to load, but the software is so limited in functionality, one needn’t bother; Microsoft’s Media Player, or Real Network’s Real Player are much better players.
First Impressions:
I love this card! Did I say I love this card, well I love this card! Clear, crisp, clean, dynamic, the sound Turtle Beach Santa Cruzcreates is on par with some of the best stand alone hi fidelity components I’ve heard. The highs are clear and crisp without a moment of distortion or hiss; the mid-range is solid; and the lows create the driving a driving and thumbing bass I love. Music is reproduced with stunning audio clarity; I was mesmerized by the strength of the vocals in track after track, CD after CD.
Mated with the right pair of speaker (mine is the Altec Lansig ATP3 2.1 Speaker System) and you will be in musical Nirvana, and the hours will pass like minutes. Did I say I love this card!?
The Versa-Jack is especially impressive because is can used for a variety of functions; e.g. the jack can be used as a digital 4.1 input. Turtle Beach literature explained says this of the input:
“The VersaJack Digital 4.1 setting is a hybrid digital/analog output mode designed for speaker systems equipped with a digital input for the Front Speaker pair and an analog input for the Rear Speaker pair. These speaker systems are designed to reproduce both Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound and audio for 4-channel games. When playing anything other than Dolby Digital from a DVD, Digital 4.1 mode sends the Front L/R audio signals in digital format to the VersaJack tip and ring conductors and the Rear L/R audio signals in analog format to the Back Speakers, so you don’t have to unplug the digital input when switching between Dolby Digital and four channel audio.”
I personally use the Versa-Jack to record voice and hear simultaneous playback through headphones, because the jack can be used as an output if set via the Control Panel applet. Speaking of which, the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz’sinputs and outputs can be manipulated via the applet.
Conclusions:
If you are ready to leave the humdrum two-dimensional world of the Sound Blaster Live for the exciting three dimensional universe of the true stereophonic sound then the Turtle Beach Santa Cruzsound card is just right for you. Yes, it cost a little more, but it is well, well worth the cost.
Related Reviews:
Sound Blaster Live! (http://www.epinions.com/cmd-review-E29-10F91033-3992E435-prod1)
MWave Online Store: (http://www.epinions.com/content_39708692100)
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 55.00
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vemartin
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Member: Vincent
Location: Aurora, IL
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