which sound card?

[MakeYourslf2012]

hey guys im thinking of getting a sound card to add to my system. i dont really follow up on audio hardware so i dont really know what im dealing with.

what would be a reasonable price range for a good quality sound card?

which card would you suggest?

thanks
-makeyourslf2012

[Tin]

How much do you want to spend? If you want high end, go for the Soundblaster X-Fi Extreme Music, awesome audio hardware, and a great improvement over my Audigy LS. You could also opt for the Audigy 2 ZS, which would run you about $25 to $30 less than an X-Fi, the only disadvantage is that you wouldnt be able to use the X-Fi feature with the newer games like Battlefield 2 and Halflife 2. Theyre both great cards, just the X-Fi has better hardware decoders than the A2 ZS, but both are excellent cards.

[firewolf]

i'm not an audiophile and have been living on a laptop 845G chipset for a while, i'm sure the ALC850 will sound incredible to me, but i want to know if there is really a big difference between the audigy 2 ZS, value and live 24-bit?

[Spearball]

Hey guy... Talking about sound cards brings one thought to my head...Can someone please tell me if any audigy 2 (creative sound blaster) sound card is compatible with my older dell optiplex GX400 in any way. If not i would like to know some ideas on some other sound cards like those. No one has answered me in my own thread

[Panama Red]

You need to be more patient Spearball. I've answered you. And posting your question in someone else's thread is called "thread crapping" and frowned on here.

-----------------moderator-----------------------

[Spearball]

kk i didnt even know im just a noobie

[MakeYourslf2012]

You could also opt for the Audigy 2 ZS, which would run you about $25 to $30 less than an X-Fi, the only disadvantage is that you wouldnt be able to use the X-Fi feature with the newer games like Battlefield 2 and Halflife 2.

This is the card that I'm leaning towards right now, it's cheaper and one of the main reasons I'm getting a sound card is to get better audio performance out of Battlefield 2.

So as soon as i can scrounge up some money (in debt from the awesome MX510 Logitech mouse you guys suggested:) ), I will probably get the Audigy 2 ZS.

I'll update and post results when I get the card and install it!

Thanks Tin and everyone else,

MakeYourslf2012