New Soundcard...suggestions?

[CharlesMcKinney]

I recently replaced my old motherboard with an ASRock Dual-SATA 939. The problem is, my old motherboard had onboard optical audio output. My current motherboard does not. Now sound quality-wise, I've never had a problem using onboard audio, but it seems this new motherboard has decided that it's time for me to move on to the lovely world of PCI audio cards.

Now comes the current problem, I've never used a PCI audio card, so I don't really know where to begin, other than Creative Labs. Now, I can't find a Creative card with Optical output for less than $177 and it doesn't even do 5.1 output on the optical connection. I'm looking for a card that will do 5.1 in optical out so I can connect it to my home theater digital receiver, any help is much appreciated.

Sorry for the long-winded post.

 

[hurtstotalktoyou]

If all you need is an optical output, Turtle Beach makes a basic card for about $29. However, I'd be more concerned about the quality of the sound than the output medium. M-audio makes a 5.1 card for $77 (no optical out), which is what I would suggest.

 

[CharlesMcKinney]

Well, I'm concerned with both. I'd like to step up to a good quality card and hear the difference that everyone claims is there. but the optical output is necessary for connecting to my receiver in 5.1. Plus the reviews I've read state that the Turtle Beach drivers have difficulty in gaming, which is a deal breaker for me.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Do you just need 5.1 from movies or do you want 5.1 from games too?

Does your receiver have a 5.1 channel analog input (6 channel direct)?

 

[vanvock]

I've got a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz in an older box & never had any probs. Played UT04 fine. Thats the main reason I ditched the Creative card I had because the TB drivers didn't swamp my system like the Soundblaster stuff. I'ts still a great card for me. I don't know what they're up to now, I'm using onboard & headphones.

 

[hurtstotalktoyou]

Yeah, Turtle Beach has a very good reputation. I'm not sure where you heard about driver issues.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

If you do get a turtlebeach, you'll want to get a Montego if you need 5.1 for gaming.

If 5.1 in gaming doesn't matter to you and you can live with 5 channel stereo or prologic II etc. you can get a Chaintech AV710 for about $30. You'll get stereo for games, music which you can apply surround processing to with your receiver and you'll get DD for movies.

The Montego and other DDL cards like the X-Mystique will get you 5.1 from games and DVDs.

 

[CharlesMcKinney]

5.1 in gaming isn't too important to me, as I don't have the room to set up my 5.1 comp speakers. I usually use a USB headphone set while gaming anyway, basic thing is decent sound quality for the optical output, as I play music and movies through my digital receiver with it. 5.1 optical and decent quality on the port is what I'm after. Thanks for your help!

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: CharlesMcKinney
5.1 in gaming isn't too important to me, as I don't have the room to set up my 5.1 comp speakers. I usually use a USB headphone set while gaming anyway, basic thing is decent sound quality for the optical output, as I play music and movies through my digital receiver with it. 5.1 optical and decent quality on the port is what I'm after. Thanks for your help!

The Chaintech AV-710 sounds perfect then.

It can do bitperfect digital out and is a cheap card. Some driver versions are not as good as others, but once you get it working it's very easy to use and is a quality card.

 

[KayKay]

Chaintech AV-710
End of Thread

 

[CharlesMcKinney]

Thanks all for your help! It's on its way!

 

[kyparrish]

Originally posted by: KayKay
Chaintech AV-710
End of Thread

 

[CharlesMcKinney]

I was checking the reviews on Newegg, and someone mentioned that this card doesn't encode in AC3 format, diminishing its capability of playing .avi's in 5.1. Is this true? I won't really be using this to play DVD's, as I have a progressive scan DVD player hooked up separately, this will mostly be used to play avi's in surround sound.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: CharlesMcKinney
I was checking the reviews on Newegg, and someone mentioned that this card doesn't encode in AC3 format, diminishing its capability of playing .avi's in 5.1. Is this true? I won't really be using this to play DVD's, as I have a progressive scan DVD player hooked up separately, this will mostly be used to play avi's in surround sound.

If you need something that can encode 5.1 into DD, then you'd want one of the DDL cards I mentioned above.