Need Advice and some help choosing a new sound card [Archive] - Aria Forums

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TAZ007

27-01-12, 10:40

Ok, i play BF3 alot and im fed up of getting knifed cos i have not heard someone sneak up on me, so at the mo im using Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE 7.1 OEM PCI Soundcard which is a little dated i guess tho the still sell them :) no idea what to go for next, dont wanna spend hundreds, just want an improvement on what it got so please advice on what you and what it replaced, and how much better or worse it is :)

Traldera

28-01-12, 10:45

ok I'm not really an expert but it sounds more like a quality issue with the speakers. If your using externals then yeah if you can't hear movement you need speakers with better stereo, my sp2500s for example always tell me where people are and I'm using onboard.

if your using headphones and its those ozone's then that's likely the problem.....they ain't exactly what I'd call a quality brand. You don't need a 5.1 headset but if its really bothering you get a headset with better stereo reproduction...you'll have to look at £50+ really for that though.

course it could be the card but my onboard has never given me issues

Zahkyto

30-01-12, 20:29

For optimal sound you need both good speakers and a good audio card.

Its all very well having studio quality speakers but if you plug them into a device thats not up to that standard it will bottleneck your audio experiance and the same if you have a great soundcard and plug it into some rubbish speakers.

Your Creative soundcard is still pretty good, while its not extremely high standard it still beats onboard audio and the only reason you'd really need to upgrade it would be if you have some really great speakers. and the soundcard is kind of bottlenecking them.

Do you use headphones? if that is the case maybe you should look into getting a soundcard that has a headphone amp which will certainly help you to hear such things.

TAZ007

30-01-12, 21:29

Zahkyto

30-01-12, 23:09

I have a Soundblast X-Fi Xtream Audio in my system at present.

Truth be told i'm looking to upgrade it, not because its bad, purely because I want an external soundcard.

Its a nice little card although you can tell from the drivers that some features are a little cut down on this card, there are much better sounding cards out there but of course they cost much more money, for its value I think its pretty unrivaled and a lot better than onboard audio, furthermore i'll be shocked if you pay £50+ for it though, I got mine for around the £30-40 mark.

As for the ASUS Xonar ones I cannot say i'm too experianced with them, their reviews all look pretty good but beyond that I haven't really worked hands on with them.

Also I have a G510, I diden't much rate the onboard audio, it sounds okish but not brilliant, and then for some reason everytime I plugged it in or unplugged it from the keyboard it made the keyboard disconnect from the PC for like 10-20 seconds which can be a little annoying if you accedently unplug a audio jack during a game.

Sniperdude

30-01-12, 23:13

I have a decent sound card £130 headphones and still get knifed everyone does and i knife loads myself

soundcards don't stop you from getting knifed

TAZ007

30-01-12, 23:34

I have a decent sound card £130 headphones and still get knifed everyone does and i knife loads myself

soundcards don't stop you from getting knifed

true, but on bf2 i used to be able to hear them half the time, now i never hear them, maybe its just the game then still good excuse to spend some money :)

xTimmins

04-03-12, 17:07

Fiio e7 + e9 for your headphone amp + DAC (Digital to Analogue Converter) Aprox £150

AKG k702 Headphones Aprox £220.

Although these headphones are not made to be as pleasurable to listen to as others are. However this is the entire point of the headphones, there studio reference headphones. Basically they let you hear EVERY LITTLE SOUND you could possibly imagine at the cost of not enhancing the frequencies that we LIKE to hear as humans. Although I enjoy listening to music on these headphones ALOT because if anything sounds good on these, the producer has spent alot time perfecting their song, and they will also sound good on ANY setup whatsoever.

If you want actual speakers, the best budget ones are most likely KRK Rokit RP8 G2. aprox £200 or even RP5 G2 for aprox £150

Although THE BEST setup is - Genelec 1035B and this will set you back a measly £27,659.00 (WITH FREE SHIPPING WHAT A BARGAIN !!!)

But seriously 7050b genelec sub woofer combined with a pair of 8020a is literally the best thing I have ever heard (providing the room is acoustically treated etc). Oh and btw, this is only a 70watt Subwoofer.. People pls ignore people who think that more watts = better sound. this 70Watt sub provides perfect sound quality with almost literally no distortion. Aprox (£1100 - 1200)

TAZ007

08-03-12, 20:09

xTimmins, hello and welcome and congrats on ur first post, but WTF does the above have to do with the thread i started way back in January?

P.S Dont mean to come across as rude, its just the way i am ;)

Traldera

10-03-12, 01:50

lol yes that was a bit of a random bump to the thread :P