good soundcard?

Hey Folks, I see a lot of video card questions and reccomendations here, but I rarely see anything about soundcards. I'm interested in upgrading... I seem to remember a while ago some people giving the TurtleBeach SantaCruz great reviews, while trashing a SoundBlaster Live card, but I'm having trouble finding anything that talks pros/cons of any soundcards that are out there. I found one site (http://www.pcavtech.com/soundcards/compare/index.htm) (no SBplatinum included...) that gives the SantaCruz better sound ratings than any of the SoundBlasters, but how does it perform in Racing Sims? Do either (or any other cards) allow better framerates? I run mostly GPL, occasionally N4 and will be running F12001 when I get a new videocard (probably GF3Ti200) but I'm also interested in its music sound quality, outside of the sim :-0 Can anyone give reccomendations or tell me their experiences with these or other soundcards? I'm running: Tbird800 AsusA7V Voodoo3 3000 256meg Ram USB wheel/pedals Thanks! Brook

Hi Brook, I can speak from experience. I owned an SBlive in my old system: PIII 600 256 MB Ram V5 5500 SB Live When building a new system (AMD 1600+, 512MB Ram, GF3 Ti 500) I switched to a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz to avoid potential problems with my new AMD system (a friend built a new rig and found the SBlive was a major problem so he switched to a Hercules Gametheater XP - which has the same chip as the Santa Cruz - and this solved his stability issues). After switching to TBSC, I could not be happier. When I connected my Monsoon 5.1 speakers, I couldn't believe these were the same speakers. They literally never sounded so good before. Games, music and movies all sounded better than ever. I never knew the SBlive was holding back my speakers from sounding their best. Regarding cpu utilization, most reviews I've seen indicate the TBSC is better than the SBlive. Finally, there seems to be little question the Santa Cruz is a more stable/compatible product especially for AMD/VIA rigs. For me it has the 3 S's: sound, stability and speed. Here's 2 sites for you: www.3dsoundsurge.com www.neoseeker.com -- Joe Marques "Brook Halvorson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:79jf8.6841$[email hidden]... > Hey Folks, > > I see a lot of video card questions and reccomendations here, but I rarely > see anything about soundcards. I'm interested in upgrading... > > I seem to remember a while ago some people giving the TurtleBeach SantaCruz > great reviews, while trashing a SoundBlaster Live card, but I'm having > trouble finding anything that talks pros/cons of any soundcards that are out > there. > > I found one site (http://www.pcavtech.com/soundcards/compare/index.htm) (no > SBplatinum included...) that gives the SantaCruz better sound ratings than > any of the SoundBlasters, but how does it perform in Racing Sims? Do either > (or any other cards) allow better framerates? > > I run mostly GPL, occasionally N4 and will be running F12001 when I get a > new videocard (probably GF3Ti200) but I'm also interested in its music sound > quality, outside of the sim :-0 > > Can anyone give reccomendations or tell me their experiences with these or > other soundcards? > > I'm running: > Tbird800 > AsusA7V > Voodoo3 3000 > 256meg Ram > USB wheel/pedals > > Thanks! > > Brook > >

Hey Joe, We have practically the same system! I just built my AMD 1600+, 512Mb RAM, GF3 Ti200, Hercules Gaming Theatre XP (with Monsoon 5.1s) system in November. I'm using Win98SE and an Abit KG7-Raid. Overall, the system is solid. I too bought the Hercules to avoid all of the SB woes. I do have an occassional freeze problem that I haven't been able to isolate. After I added the modem, it became unstable. I suppose it could be an incompatibility. I want to blame the Abit, because the modem has served me flawlessly in another system. But then again, maybe the modem doesn't like AMD. For GPL, N4, etc, it's been a great system. I can race for hours without a hiccup. And the sound is fantastic. No troubles there. "Joe Marques" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:r2Ef8.62498$[email hidden]...

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> Hi Brook, > > I can speak from experience. I owned an SBlive in my old system: > > PIII 600 > 256 MB Ram > V5 5500 > SB Live > > When building a new system (AMD 1600+, 512MB Ram, GF3 Ti 500) I switched

to > a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz to avoid potential problems with my new AMDsystem > (a friend built a new rig and found the SBlive was a major problem so he > switched to a Hercules Gametheater XP - which has the same chip as the > Santa Cruz - and this solved his stability issues).

I have a Hercules GTXP running with a Gigabyte GA-7DXR and an Athlon 1.4 TBird. Windows98SE. The first one I had died early (1 month), but was replaced under warranty. The new one has performed flawlessly for about 8 months now. The Cirrus Logic soundchips in this card (and the TBSC) do sound much better than the Creative chipsets. Very noticeable improvements in clarity and headspace. Part of the reason I went with the GTXP is Creative's notorious problems coexisting with VIA chipsets. Aside from the reliability issue, I have no qualms recommending the GTXP. I happened to have a backup sound card, so no biggie for me. To Hercules' credit, the issue was resolved promptly with a phone call to tech support. The other thing, which may or may not still be an issue, had to do with WindowsXP driver availability for the card. The SB Audigy is also supposed to sound better than the LIVE cards. I haven't heard one to compare it to the GTXP. HTH, Gerald "Brook Halvorson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<79jf8.6841$[email hidden]>...

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> Hey Folks, > > I see a lot of video card questions and reccomendations here, but I rarely > see anything about soundcards. I'm interested in upgrading... > > I seem to remember a while ago some people giving the TurtleBeach SantaCruz > great reviews, while trashing a SoundBlaster Live card, but I'm having > trouble finding anything that talks pros/cons of any soundcards that are out > there. > > I found one site (http://www.pcavtech.com/soundcards/compare/index.htm) (no > SBplatinum included...) that gives the SantaCruz better sound ratings than > any of the SoundBlasters, but how does it perform in Racing Sims? Do either > (or any other cards) allow better framerates? > > I run mostly GPL, occasionally N4 and will be running F12001 when I get a > new videocard (probably GF3Ti200) but I'm also interested in its music sound > quality, outside of the sim :-0 > > Can anyone give reccomendations or tell me their experiences with these or > other soundcards? > > I'm running: > Tbird800 > AsusA7V > Voodoo3 3000 > 256meg Ram > USB wheel/pedals > > Thanks! > > Brook

I've been very happy with my Hercules Game Theatre XP. Don't use most of the fancy extras that it has but I noticed a big sound quality difference from my old Monster Sound MX400. -Tim "Brook Halvorson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:79jf8.6841$[email hidden]... > Hey Folks, > > I see a lot of video card questions and reccomendations here, but I rarely > see anything about soundcards. I'm interested in upgrading... > > I seem to remember a while ago some people giving the TurtleBeachSantaCruz > great reviews, while trashing a SoundBlaster Live card, but I'm having > trouble finding anything that talks pros/cons of any soundcards that areout > there. > > I found one site (http://www.pcavtech.com/soundcards/compare/index.htm)(no > SBplatinum included...) that gives the SantaCruz better sound ratings than > any of the SoundBlasters, but how does it perform in Racing Sims? Doeither > (or any other cards) allow better framerates? > > I run mostly GPL, occasionally N4 and will be running F12001 when I get a > new videocard (probably GF3Ti200) but I'm also interested in its musicsound

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> quality, outside of the sim :-0 > > Can anyone give reccomendations or tell me their experiences with these or > other soundcards? > > I'm running: > Tbird800 > AsusA7V > Voodoo3 3000 > 256meg Ram > USB wheel/pedals > > Thanks! > > Brook > >