rec.autos.simulators

by **Paul Jage** » Fri, 11 Jan 2002 10:27:51

Although I spend far too much time in this NG for my own good, I do value
the opinions of those who also inhabit RAS. Hence my slightly OT question.

I play almost solely driving sims, and would like to replace my present SB
card (as I have noticed some stuttering issues in a few games ie F12001,
which could confirm the thoughts of some that SB may in a few circumstances
have a conflict problem with Geforce cards, or take up far too many CPU
resources). I have an Athlon 1.4, 512mb ram, and Geforce 2 Ultra (soon to
be replaced with a Geforce 3 Ti 500). I wanted to buy a Hercules Game
Theatre card, but the company told me that it would not be compatible with
my speakers (Creative Sound Works 4.1). So what other choices do I have?

Any advice appreciated.

PJ

by **Joe Marque** » Fri, 11 Jan 2002 03:22:20

Good choice replacing the SBlive. I owned one for several years and didn't
realize how bad it was until I built a new machine with a Turtle Beach Santa
Cruz (after reading about issues with SBlive and AMD mobos) and was
astonished by the difference in sound quality. My pre-purchase research
indicated TBSC was the best choice for compatibility, stability and overall
quality so I gave it a shot. Keep in mind this is selective research using
only reviewers I consider knowledgeable so your mileage may vary.

Switching from a live, I don't think you'll be disappointed. The board
simply produces better sound, takes less cpu cycles, and is more
stable/compatible. I'm currently using Monsoon 505's (5.1 speakers) after
ditching seriously overrated and over priced Klipsch 4.1's (my satellite
mini-plugs ALL crapped out after only 2 1/2 years and Klipsch could care
less).

One of my output choices is digital 4.1 so I assume this board works with
your speakers but I'm sure you'll check to be safe. ;0) I bought it at
www.newegg.com for $65 (oem). I've seen the retail version for $79.

BTW, I'm running an AMD 1600+ and GF3 Ti 500. You're going to love the
upgrade to a Ti 500.

--
Joe Marques

by **MadDAW** » Fri, 11 Jan 2002 04:31:00

I switched from a SB Live to a Philips Acoustic Edge sound card and picked
up 10 fps in N4. I have heard of simular stories with the Santa Cruz card
from Turtle beach as well. Any idea why your speakers won't wok? Do they
have some specail connector. It seems like if you used a 4.1 speaker set on
a 5.1 sound card it just seems like you wouldn't have the center channel
which is basicly just a mix of the right and left speakers anyway.

Another nice thing about the Philips AE card (and Santa Cruz so I have been
told) is that they will simulate 5.1 on software titles that don't have it
built in.

MadDAWG

by **Paul Jage** » Fri, 11 Jan 2002 12:50:19

Thanks for the help. Both cards sound interesting, but I'm now wondering who
sells them here in the UK?

PJ

by **Iain Mackenzi** » Fri, 11 Jan 2002 05:32:05

The Turtle beach was renamed the Sonic Fury I think, and you can get that
anywhere in the UK.
Iain

> Thanks for the help. Both cards sound interesting, but I'm now wondering
who
> sells them here in the UK?

> PJ

> > Although I spend far too much time in this NG for my own good, I do
value
> > the opinions of those who also inhabit RAS. Hence my slightly OT
question.

> > I play almost solely driving sims, and would like to replace my present
SB
> > card (as I have noticed some stuttering issues in a few games ie
F12001,
> > which could confirm the thoughts of some that SB may in a few
> circumstances
> > have a conflict problem with Geforce cards, or take up far too many CPU
> > resources). I have an Athlon 1.4, 512mb ram, and Geforce 2 Ultra (soon
to
> > be replaced with a Geforce 3 Ti 500). I wanted to buy a Hercules Game
> > Theatre card, but the company told me that it would not be compatible
with
> > my speakers (Creative Sound Works 4.1). So what other choices do I have?

> > Any advice appreciated.

> > PJ

by **Michael Enrigh** » Fri, 11 Jan 2002 06:43:58

> The Turtle beach was renamed the Sonic Fury I think, and you can get that
> anywhere in the UK.
> Iain

What about in Australia?? TIA

Mike

by **SimRace** » Fri, 11 Jan 2002 06:29:12

I was in a similar boat, had a SB Live! 5.1+MP3 on a home built Via-based
mobo with a GF3 and have continually had issues with the setup.

I dropped in a SB Audigy Gamer before Christmas and to be honest, have had
no problems with it. So long EMU10k crappola, hehe.

Using an Abit KT7A RAID, AMD 1.2 Ghz T-bird, 512MB RAM, under WinXP Pro
(which was the final straw, the SB Live XP drivers are crap, Audigy has been
flawless with the OS)

by **David Ciemn** » Fri, 11 Jan 2002 08:52:08

I didn't realize the sblive cards were that inferior...mmm..

Might be time for a little research. I do use the gameport on my soundcard.
How do the gameports rate on some of these other cards?

DC

by **Stephen Smit** » Fri, 11 Jan 2002 11:47:40

Sounds like a 60s muscle car. Then again, "Turtle Beach" sounds like a) a
"Baywatch" clone, or b) a Saturday morning kids show.

> The Turtle beach was renamed the Sonic Fury I think, and you can get that
> anywhere in the UK.
> Iain

> > Thanks for the help. Both cards sound interesting, but I'm now wondering
> who
> > sells them here in the UK?

> > PJ

> > > Although I spend far too much time in this NG for my own good, I do
> value
> > > the opinions of those who also inhabit RAS. Hence my slightly OT
> question.

> > > I play almost solely driving sims, and would like to replace my
present
> SB
> > > card (as I have noticed some stuttering issues in a few games ie
> F12001,
> > > which could confirm the thoughts of some that SB may in a few
> > circumstances
> > > have a conflict problem with Geforce cards, or take up far too many
CPU
> > > resources). I have an Athlon 1.4, 512mb ram, and Geforce 2 Ultra
(soon
> to
> > > be replaced with a Geforce 3 Ti 500). I wanted to buy a Hercules Game
> > > Theatre card, but the company told me that it would not be compatible
> with
> > > my speakers (Creative Sound Works 4.1). So what other choices do I
have?

> > > Any advice appreciated.

> > > PJ

by **Philip For** » Fri, 11 Jan 2002 15:44:48

> > The Turtle beach was renamed the Sonic Fury I think, and you can get
that
> > anywhere in the UK.
> > Iain

> What about in Australia?? TIA

> Mike

Hi Mike,

Goto this link and checkout the soundcard soundoff tests
http://apcstart.com/

The VideoLogic sonic fury is the Turtle beach.

Regards Phil.

by **Alan Gauto** » Fri, 11 Jan 2002 19:02:13

I know Comet used to sell Turtle Beach cards - don't know if they still do
though.

--
AG

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Never for me the lowered banner, never the last endeavour!
(Damon Hill - 16th June 1999)

by **Chri** » Fri, 11 Jan 2002 21:12:58

I have been using the SBLive for ages now and am quite happy with it. But
then again, I am a musician and probably use all of it's features and I have
it linked up into my Technics amp (which is only old fashioned stereo). If
it's just noise to play games to won't any soundcard do? As for conflicts
with the Geforce, I have the same card and if you disable the SB16 emulation
(like you're ever gonna play a DOS game again) on the SBLive and reinstall
the Geforce, the IRQ conflicts are solved. I have to confess that the IRQ
conflict was a huge problem when I first installed the cards.

Chris

by **SimRace** » Sat, 12 Jan 2002 01:03:56

I don't know about inferior when they were working, but every 'blue screen
of death' I got in Win98SE for the past 2 years was based around emu10k.vxd
and that is the driver for the chip onboard on SB Live cards. I updated
drivers everytime they released them and nothing really helped.

After upgrading to WinXpPro and installing the accompanying drivers for SB
Live things just sounded worse. The sounds were ok before and I would not
have upgraded had I found a workaround, but the card has given me problems
as stated above and the sound quality in XP went downhill so I decided to
try an upgrade and it worked.

I had also tired of hearing about SB Live issues with Via motherboards which
I use and to date, have had no problems with the Audigy.

> I didn't realize the sblive cards were that inferior...mmm..

> Might be time for a little research. I do use the gameport on my
soundcard.
> How do the gameports rate on some of these other cards?

> DC

by **Sven** » Sat, 12 Jan 2002 06:13:22

I also had a SB Live Player 1024 and Cambridge Digital FPS 2000 4.1
speakers. Problem with clicks in WinXP and with unstability in WinME forced
me to look for another card. Changed to Hercules Game Theatre, but the sound
(with this card and the FPS 2000 only analog sound) was so bad, that I took
this card back to the store and replaced it with a SB Audigy. Now the sound
is digital again, and the clicks and pops are all history. The sound is
better and more "clear" than the SB Live was.
Not a single BSOD in either winme or WinXP after the Audigy has arrived :o)

--

Mvh
Sven

by **The Hardy Boy** » Sat, 12 Jan 2002 21:35:30

No, Sonic Fury is European version of Santa Cruz made by Videologic. Santa
Cruz is made by Turtle Beach/Voyetra. These cards are good, but if you are
running Win98 you will find the driver support is worse than if running XP
and under Win98 a few games crash if you use hardware acceleration, not
under XP though.

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