Since my X-Fi card signed out, with the spectacular screech of death, I've been making do with the onboard chip. I can't bear it anymore, I'm sick to death of all my music sounding muddy and flat. Seriously, how does anyone put up with that? Anyhoo, I'm not minted, so what's the best card out there for less than £50? Anyone?
Perhaps; http://www.scan.co.uk/products/creative-labs-sb-x-fi-xtreme-audio-pci-express-x1-new-version http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-xonar-dg-dg-headphone-amplifier-and-51-pci-sound-card-oem http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-xonar-dg-51-pci-surround-sound-card-with-headphone-amp I've not had personal experience of the Xonar cards but I believe they're very good; I have an X-Fi card (Xtreme Gamer) and it's brilliant. I own a lot of other Creative stuff so I'd certainly recommend another one of them
When you install a separate sound card do you have to plug your front panel headers in to it directly?
broken record moment: factory refurbished x-fi extreme music SB0460 can be had for just under 20 quid (pci)
Can't you stretch a little and go for one of those ? ESI prodigy 7.1 HIFI ESI Maya 44 M-Audio Audiophile 2496 .... and over budget but very nice .... Infrasonic Quartet
Unfortunately not. Those two are well outside my reach at the moment. I just want a good card, for as cheap as possible. I haven't paid any attention to sound card reviews over the past couple of years, so I'm not up to speed on which offer the best value.
I have a M-Audio Audiophile 2496 that I'm not using, but this is a pure stereo card (no 5.1, 7.1, EAX, etc.)
Thanks, but not really what I'm looking for. I don't want to change my speaker setup for the sake of a new sound card.
Currently 5.1 but, to be honest, I'm considering swapping them for my son's 2.1 system. I'm going to have a look at some xonar reviews. Thanks to all of you for your input.