However, they all talk about first-person shooters, and 4-speaker systems.
All I really want to know is which SOUNDS better, primarily for sims, on a
2-speaker system? (Cambridge PC Works - 2 cubes and a subwoofer...)
Also, I understand that the MX300 has a digital gameport, which I like, but
does it really make enough of a difference to outway any sound differences?
Thanks for any input,
Keith
Neil M.
I have the value version, the one without the daughter card, they can be had
for $80-100 US.
Good luck,
Michael J. Kaspar
ICQ 3025001
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>However, they all talk about first-person shooters, and 4-speaker systems.
>All I really want to know is which SOUNDS better, primarily for sims, on a
>2-speaker system? (Cambridge PC Works - 2 cubes and a subwoofer...)
>Also, I understand that the MX300 has a digital gameport, which I like, but
>does it really make enough of a difference to outway any sound differences?
>Thanks for any input,
>Keith
I understand your question, but look at it this way, in a flight sim
you're stuck in a confined***pit. The sounds around you are bouncing
off the canopy. How much outside stimuli are you going to get? I wouldn't
expect much. So, with that said I think a SB-16 or AWE is good enough!
Why waste your money on 3D sound stuff if you're not going to use it?
Unless you're going to play 1st person shooters, forget it the high
priced cards.
Personally I bought a SBLIVE! for Trespasser and though it sounds great,
I really could have been happy with my SB-16. In fact, after a lot of
trial and error attempting to get ATP and Fleet Defender to work with my
Live! I ended up throwing my hands up and putting my SB16 back in the
machine! Legacy DOS games are not the SBLive!'s biggest attribute. Silent
Hunter worked fine though.
As for the digital port, the Live! also has a digital game port. I found
it works well.
Nathan
The joystick port on the LIVE is analog.
- Most (not all) reviews say that it has better game sound than the
live when using 2 or 4 speakers or headphones, music seemed to be a
much closer decision.
- It is significantly cheaper than the live value here in Australia.
-Digital game port, live has not - less joysick polling by the CPU
- Supports A3d and EAX (with the new drivers) APIs whereas live only
supports EAX
- Promised lower CPU usage in forthcoming driver updates (I'll believe
it when I see it)
One thing is clear, they are both excellent cards capable of pumping
great sound and whichever you choose I doubt that you will be unhappy.
Just my 2c - but based on a lot of reading
Chris
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Think he hit the right spot there. The latest issue of Maximum PC takes a
look at 3D sound acceleration and CPU usage. The Live used the least
resources by far (under 3%) MX300 was up around 15%. This may prove
crucial in high end sims.
For the record I do own the Live Value card and bought it before the MX300
was available for comparison, but after reading that article and a few
others on the web, I think I made the right choice.
As far as sound quality, it seems that both cards are superb. I use a 4
speaker setup but have heard that both cards simulate 3D well on 2 speakers
but PC Gamer gave the edge here to the Live. If you are satisfied with your
current speaker setup, you can purchase a cheap pair of speakers for the
rear channels. Both cards have 2 jacks (one for front and one for rear).
BTW, that article in Maximum PC also tested the Phillips USB speakers w/o
any soundcard and found 75% CPU usage!!!
Marc
CombatSim.com just put a review of MX300. It seems that with the release
version of the driver, the CPU usuage is at worst 6%.
Foxbat
>Marc
>>Don't know if this will influence you, but the Live! uses less of your
>>system / CPU resources than the SB16. I pulled out an AWE64 (ISA) and put
>>in a Live! (PCI) and it was a noticable improvement...both in sound and
>>performance.
I'm not sure if EAW or WW2 Fighters has EAX or Aureal encoding in them,
but if they don't then you're just hearing the usual stereo stuff. If
it's the usual stereo stuff then a regular sound card would have sufficed.
Nathan
Neil M.
>I'm not sure if EAW or WW2 Fighters has EAX or Aureal encoding in them,
>but if they don't then you're just hearing the usual stereo stuff. If
>it's the usual stereo stuff then a regular sound card would have sufficed.
>Nathan
Follow this link... www.pcarena.com/tech
Regards!
Bob
The chances of a card that has to emulate an API in software sounding better
than one that natively supports it in hardware are _very_ slim.
>Follow this link... www.pcarena.com/tech
>Regards!
>Bob
>>There is one very crucial thing EVERYONE has overlooked: the
>>acoustics of the room they will be used in. As with anything - it
>>doesn't matter *what* soundcard you are using if your speakers are
>>junk or the room acoustics make it sound awful.
