sound cards

Rory Buszka

Partition Master
I have to say, I'm extremely happy with the way the Razer Barracuda performs (as I'm still using it). Its audio performance was at least as good as the Audigy 4. I'm not totally sure why it scored lower in my RMAA 5.5 loopback testing -- I think my test methods need more refinement. As I think I mentioned, I don't really trust my ears in every case to tell me the difference between two sound cards that are very close to one another in sound quality -- I'd rather use actual measurements to quantify the difference.
 

b1lk1

Tech Monkey
In my opinion, Creative has nothing that comes close to the sound quality for music and movies that the C-Media 8788 Oxygen based soundcards has. I have tried so many Creative cards and they do sound good, but they just don't compare to the really good C-Media based cards. That Razor has the same chipset as my card so I can readily assume the sound quality. My Logitech Z-680's sounded decent with a Creative card. I really thought it was as good as it got as far as dedicated PC sound speakers. Once I added this soundcard, I was simply blown away. The one important factor for me is digital abilities since I have the sound system that can use it too.

Taterworks, your review was very good, and reviewing a soundcard is really subjective based on the quality of your ears and the quality of your sound system. It is nice to see that you took alot more time trying to mechanically distinguish the differences as well as using your ears. Too many other guys trying to review soundcards should as well. There are a great many of us that could care so much less about EAX than a quality sounding card.
 

Rob Williams

Editor-in-Chief
Staff member
Moderator
$80 seems like a great price. Would that card make much of a difference with headphones? That's strictly what I use on my gaming PC, thanks to lack of room.
 

NicePants42

Partition Master
$80 seems like a great price. Would that card make much of a difference with headphones? That's strictly what I use on my gaming PC, thanks to lack of room.
Assuming that you're asking about the X-fi, it does have great DACs, and would probably make a huge difference in games IF you have 5.1 headphones.

If you're using stereo headphones and want to improve the way games sound, I would have to suggest that you spend money on 5.1 headphones before buying a fancy-schmancy sound card.

I'll be getting some Medusas in about a month.
 

Rob Williams

Editor-in-Chief
Staff member
Moderator
Yeah, I don't have 5.1 headphones on the gaming rig. I use Turtle Beach HPA 5.1 headphones on my primary PC, but I don't game on it at all. Maybe I should move those headphones over to the other PC, heh.
 

g-sixty

Obliviot
I have to say, I'm extremely happy with the way the Razer Barracuda performs (as I'm still using it). Its audio performance was at least as good as the Audigy 4. I'm not totally sure why it scored lower in my RMAA 5.5 loopback testing -- I think my test methods need more refinement. As I think I mentioned, I don't really trust my ears in every case to tell me the difference between two sound cards that are very close to one another in sound quality -- I'd rather use actual measurements to quantify the difference.

Probably because the barracuda and the creative sound cards are almost identical
 

Merlin

The Tech Wizard
I have the Audigy 2 ZS on the other machine, going to my Kenwood surround system, I use the machine to play movies on the 42" Plasma in living room.
Also record movie/shows with ATI Wonder TV card

Merlin/Deckard
 
Top