Best PCI-E Sound card $200 or under

1054 Views 10 Replies 6 Participants Last post by Enigma8750, Nov 28, 2009

dizzyscure1

Discussion Starter · Nov 28, 2009

Best overall PCI-E sound card for gameing,music,and movies under $200 i currently have a X-FI Extreme Music PCI sound card and its really done a great job but its time to upgrade

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sccr64472

· #2 · Nov 28, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by dizzyscure1

Best overall PCI-E sound card for gameing,music,and movies under $200 i currently have a X-FI Extreme Music PCI sound card and its really done a great job but its time to upgrade

The Auzentech is a nice step up from the Creative. I have both side by side on identical speakers (z5500) and the difference is noticeable. I've never upgraded the Opamps on the Auzentech, but they have that option as well. Fantastic card and I haven't even looked at other cards since getting it. It's perfect for what I wanted and I feel the higher price is worth it comparing it to my Creative Cards.

Edit: Btw, here's the cheapest price I've seen on the Prelude. It's on sale for $121.50 this month only!
http://www.ncixus.com/products/?sku=...h&promoid=1006

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fencefeet

· #3 · Nov 28, 2009

The Auzentech is easily the 5970 of sound cards. Go for it and you will NOT be disappointed. Incredible card and most importantly incredible deal ^^^

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dizzyscure1

Discussion Starter · #4 · Nov 28, 2009

Auzen X-Fi Bravura 7.1 Sound Card??? looks really new!

what yall think im trying to find it on the net but cant.

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Zensou

· #5 · Nov 28, 2009

Auzentech Prelude is nice but the creative chipset is ehhh..

I suggest the Xonars, incredible cards, incredible sound.

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sccr64472

· #6 · Nov 28, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by dizzyscure1

Auzen X-Fi Bravura 7.1 Sound Card??? looks really new!

what yall think im trying to find it on the net but cant.

Are you talking about their new HTPC card?
http://www.ncixus.com/products/40688...THD/AuzenTech/

Regardless, make sure you're going to be using the extra features that you're paying for if you buy one. Having 7.1 decoding would only be useful if you have 8 speakers. Personally, I'll take a high end 5.1 setup over any 7.1 home theater. Those extra channels are nothing more than filtering and time domain delays as no source is recorded in 7.1. Full range 5.1 is where it's at! If you've never heard a full range rear channel, it's amazing! I have a Vandersteen 2WQ sub in parallel with my rear channel and there is WAY more rear channel information than you'd of thought!

Sorry for going off topic

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dizzyscure1

Discussion Starter · #7 · Nov 28, 2009

nope its a new card thats not out yet but im kinda thinking about asus b/c i see a lot of issues with ppl and there AuzenTech cards

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dizzyscure1

Discussion Starter · #8 · Nov 28, 2009

and yes im only trying to go for 5.1

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rpgman1

· #9 · Nov 28, 2009

The Auzentech X-Fi HomeTheater HD is a pretty high-end sound card for its price and cheaper than the Asus Xonar HDAV1.3 Deluxe. I was thinking about replacing my onboard sound with a discrete sound card for playing Blu-ray movies and gaming. Through my Promedia 5.1 speakers, it sounds really quiet through onboard sound and I maxed out the volume on Windows Vista.

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sccr64472

· #10 · Nov 28, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by dizzyscure1

nope its a new card thats not out yet but im kinda thinking about asus b/c i see a lot of issues with ppl and there AuzenTech cards

You can find complaints about every PC product if you do some digging. Keep in mind that Creative is by far the most popular sound card manufacturer, so take the complaints to products sold ratio in mind. For instance, if Creative outsells Asus sound cards by 10 to 1, you should find 10 times more complaints if the cards are equally reliable. I, personally, own 4 X-Fis and have installed somewhere around 30 without any compatibility problems. I'm sure problems exist, but I'd be willing to bet that a large chunge of them are user created. Good luck in your hunt!

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Enigma8750

· #11 · Nov 28, 2009

HT | OMEGA CLARO 7.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail
$159.99

Quote:

As a digital HD sound card, the Claro features 8 discrete outputs in a well arranged layout. How does 24-bit sound and 192 kHz sample rate sound to you? Hardware decoding of Dolby Digital Live, DTS Interactive and others takes loads off your CPU. An up-mix matrix technology turns any 2 channel audio into 7.1 surround sound. That means you can turn your sound files like WMA, MP3, CD and other audio files into multi channels, for a true-to-life audio.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829271002

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