Soundcard upgrade

Hi all, Having upgraded to WinXP I have been getting the problem of dreadfull sound from my SBLive card in GPL. I have tried all the workarounds and fixes and can "improve" the sound but it is still very annoying. Therefore, I have decided the time has come to upgrade my soundcard to something that won't have this problem. I have tried a cheap soundcard based on the C-Media 8738 chip but was not impressed with it at all. So I am now thinking of going the whole hog and getting a SB Audigy 2. The problem is that I don't want to spen �80 (uk pounds) on one only to find that it hasn't cured the problem. So can anyone let me know if they are using a SB Audigy 2 with WinXP and GPL and if they get sound distortion or not. Many thanks

I don't know about GPL and XP specifically, since I didn't want to bother reinstalling GPL after I formatted to XP. But, I do have the audigy 2. I got the OEM version for $102CDN, which I think is quite a good price. The OEM version doesn't include that 'break out box', which is cool, but nothing I'd really use. You can always purchase it separately later.. It's a good card, no doubt. Mike "Russell Spearing" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:bhelur$h58$[email hidden]... > Hi all, > > Having upgraded to WinXP I have been getting the problem of dreadfullsound > from my SBLive card in GPL. I have tried all the workarounds and fixes and > can "improve" the sound but it is still very annoying. > > Therefore, I have decided the time has come to upgrade my soundcard to > something that won't have this problem. I have tried a cheap soundcardbased > on the C-Media 8738 chip but was not impressed with it at all. So I am now > thinking of going the whole hog and getting a SB Audigy 2. The problem is > that I don't want to spen �80 (uk pounds) on one only to find that ithasn't > cured the problem. > > So can anyone let me know if they are using a SB Audigy 2 with WinXP andGPL > and if they get sound distortion or not. > > > Many thanks > >

I've ran SB products for years. But when I built my new XP rig a few months back, I decided to upgrade to a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz. IMO, the sound quality is superior to the Live card I was using, and it supports reflections for the Sierra Nascar sims. According to pricewatch, you can get it for about $50 with shipping. On Thu, 14 Aug 2003 00:43:07 +0000 (UTC), "Russell Spearing" <[email hidden]> wrote:

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>Hi all, > >Having upgraded to WinXP I have been getting the problem of dreadfull sound >from my SBLive card in GPL. I have tried all the workarounds and fixes and >can "improve" the sound but it is still very annoying. > >Therefore, I have decided the time has come to upgrade my soundcard to >something that won't have this problem. I have tried a cheap soundcard based >on the C-Media 8738 chip but was not impressed with it at all. So I am now >thinking of going the whole hog and getting a SB Audigy 2. The problem is >that I don't want to spen £80 (uk pounds) on one only to find that it hasn't >cured the problem. > >So can anyone let me know if they are using a SB Audigy 2 with WinXP and GPL >and if they get sound distortion or not. > > >Many thanks >

On Thu, 14 Aug 2003 00:43:07 +0000 (UTC), "Russell Spearing" <[email hidden]> wrote:

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>Having upgraded to WinXP I have been getting the problem of dreadfull sound >from my SBLive card in GPL. I have tried all the workarounds and fixes and >can "improve" the sound but it is still very annoying. >Therefore, I have decided the time has come to upgrade my soundcard to >something that won't have this problem. I have tried a cheap soundcard based >on the C-Media 8738 chip but was not impressed with it at all. So I am now >thinking of going the whole hog and getting a SB Audigy 2. The problem is >that I don't want to spen �80 (uk pounds) on one only to find that it hasn't >cured the problem. >So can anyone let me know if they are using a SB Audigy 2 with WinXP and GPL >and if they get sound distortion or not.

I'm using XP Pro SP1 and was using SB Live with those horrible sound problems with GPL. Then changed the soundcard to Hercules Fortissimo III 7.1, and while the distortion problems were gone, new problems with the volume level arrived (for example after a collision the engine volume dropped about 10 dB). Then I bought SB Audigy 2 (bulk) and all the problems were history - almost: there is still a small amount of crackling now and then, nothing serious though. Generally, I'm happy with the overall gaming performance of Audigy 2, even though I miss some aspects of Hercules drivers and software. ************************************** Tuomas Koskela e-mail: teejiikoo@EISP�MMI�hotmail.com **************************************

Hi Tuomas, Thanks for the reply. Can you tell me if you are using the Audigy 2 with the Hardware acceleration set at maximum or has it had to be lowered for GPL the same as SBLive. Thanks "Tuomas Koskela" <Tuomas.Koskela@EISP�MMI�oulu.fi> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > On Thu, 14 Aug 2003 00:43:07 +0000 (UTC), "Russell Spearing" > <[email hidden]> wrote: > >Having upgraded to WinXP I have been getting the problem of dreadfullsound > >from my SBLive card in GPL. I have tried all the workarounds and fixesand > >can "improve" the sound but it is still very annoying. > >Therefore, I have decided the time has come to upgrade my soundcard to > >something that won't have this problem. I have tried a cheap soundcardbased > >on the C-Media 8738 chip but was not impressed with it at all. So I amnow > >thinking of going the whole hog and getting a SB Audigy 2. The problem is > >that I don't want to spen �80 (uk pounds) on one only to find that ithasn't > >cured the problem. > >So can anyone let me know if they are using a SB Audigy 2 with WinXP andGPL

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> >and if they get sound distortion or not. > > I'm using XP Pro SP1 and was using SB Live with those horrible sound > problems with GPL. Then changed the soundcard to Hercules Fortissimo > III 7.1, and while the distortion problems were gone, new problems > with the volume level arrived (for example after a collision the > engine volume dropped about 10 dB). Then I bought SB Audigy 2 (bulk) > and all the problems were history - almost: there is still a small > amount of crackling now and then, nothing serious though. Generally, > I'm happy with the overall gaming performance of Audigy 2, even though > I miss some aspects of Hercules drivers and software. > > > ************************************** > Tuomas Koskela > e-mail: teejiikoo@EISP�MMI�hotmail.com > **************************************

I believe the "small amount of crackling" to be a Papyrus problem, something to do with their sound code. I have XP Pro and had the GPL problems when I was using an SBLive. Changed to a new mobo recently and with the onboard sound the distortion is all gone, but I still get occasional crackling from all Papy games. Turning down the in-game and windows volume sliders reduces it a lot but it seems to be impossible to eliminate it entirely. All other games are fine. There is something about the way Papy does the sound code that is aggravating this. "Tuomas Koskela" <Tuomas.Koskela@EISP�MMI�oulu.fi> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > On Thu, 14 Aug 2003 00:43:07 +0000 (UTC), "Russell Spearing" > <[email hidden]> wrote: > >Having upgraded to WinXP I have been getting the problem of dreadfullsound > >from my SBLive card in GPL. I have tried all the workarounds and fixesand > >can "improve" the sound but it is still very annoying. > >Therefore, I have decided the time has come to upgrade my soundcard to > >something that won't have this problem. I have tried a cheap soundcardbased > >on the C-Media 8738 chip but was not impressed with it at all. So I amnow > >thinking of going the whole hog and getting a SB Audigy 2. The problem is > >that I don't want to spen �80 (uk pounds) on one only to find that ithasn't > >cured the problem. > >So can anyone let me know if they are using a SB Audigy 2 with WinXP andGPL

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> >and if they get sound distortion or not. > > I'm using XP Pro SP1 and was using SB Live with those horrible sound > problems with GPL. Then changed the soundcard to Hercules Fortissimo > III 7.1, and while the distortion problems were gone, new problems > with the volume level arrived (for example after a collision the > engine volume dropped about 10 dB). Then I bought SB Audigy 2 (bulk) > and all the problems were history - almost: there is still a small > amount of crackling now and then, nothing serious though. Generally, > I'm happy with the overall gaming performance of Audigy 2, even though > I miss some aspects of Hercules drivers and software. > > > ************************************** > Tuomas Koskela > e-mail: teejiikoo@EISP�MMI�hotmail.com > **************************************

I agree about the Santa Cruz. I also switched to it after upgrading to XP and experiencing lousy souind in GPL. Every 4 to 6 weeks, Circuit City has the Santa Cruz on special. I got mine for $40 after rebate. ($80 purchase less $40 rebate). "T. Wortman" wrote:

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> I've ran SB products for years. But when I built my new XP rig a few > months back, I decided to upgrade to a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz. IMO, > the sound quality is superior to the Live card I was using, and it > supports reflections for the Sierra Nascar sims. According to > pricewatch, you can get it for about $50 with shipping. > > On Thu, 14 Aug 2003 00:43:07 +0000 (UTC), "Russell Spearing" > <[email hidden]> wrote: > > >Hi all, > > > >Having upgraded to WinXP I have been getting the problem of dreadfull sound > >from my SBLive card in GPL. I have tried all the workarounds and fixes and > >can "improve" the sound but it is still very annoying. > > > >Therefore, I have decided the time has come to upgrade my soundcard to > >something that won't have this problem. I have tried a cheap soundcard based > >on the C-Media 8738 chip but was not impressed with it at all. So I am now > >thinking of going the whole hog and getting a SB Audigy 2. The problem is > >that I don't want to spen £80 (uk pounds) on one only to find that it hasn't > >cured the problem. > > > >So can anyone let me know if they are using a SB Audigy 2 with WinXP and GPL > >and if they get sound distortion or not. > > > > > >Many thanks > >

I agree about the Santa Cruz. I also switched to it after upgrading to XP and experiencing lousy souind in GPL. Every 4 to 6 weeks, Circuit City has the Santa Cruz on special. I got mine for $40 after rebate. ($80 purchase less $40 rebate).

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> I've ran SB products for years. But when I built my new XP rig a few > months back, I decided to upgrade to a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz. IMO, > the sound quality is superior to the Live card I was using, and it > supports reflections for the Sierra Nascar sims. According to > pricewatch, you can get it for about $50 with shipping. > On Thu, 14 Aug 2003 00:43:07 +0000 (UTC), "Russell Spearing" > >Hi all, > >Having upgraded to WinXP I have been getting the problem of dreadfull sound > >from my SBLive card in GPL. I have tried all the workarounds and fixes and > >can "improve" the sound but it is still very annoying. > >Therefore, I have decided the time has come to upgrade my soundcard to > >something that won't have this problem. I have tried a cheap soundcard based > >on the C-Media 8738 chip but was not impressed with it at all. So I am now > >thinking of going the whole hog and getting a SB Audigy 2. The problem is > >that I don't want to spen 80 (uk pounds) on one only to find that it hasn't > >cured the problem. > >So can anyone let me know if they are using a SB Audigy 2 with WinXP and GPL > >and if they get sound distortion or not. > >Many thanks

I'll agree with that as well. I changed from a SBlive to a Turtle beach SC card and the improvement was night and day as far as background noise levels. I'll stick with it as long as I can get drivers. "BRH @comcast.net>" <"bertrh<no-spam> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > I agree about the Santa Cruz. I also switched to it after upgrading to XPand > experiencing lousy souind in GPL. Every 4 to 6 weeks, Circuit City hasthe Santa

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> Cruz on special. I got mine for $40 after rebate. ($80 purchase less $40 > rebate). > > > > "T. Wortman" wrote: > > > I've ran SB products for years. But when I built my new XP rig a few > > months back, I decided to upgrade to a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz. IMO, > > the sound quality is superior to the Live card I was using, and it > > supports reflections for the Sierra Nascar sims. According to > > pricewatch, you can get it for about $50 with shipping. > > > > On Thu, 14 Aug 2003 00:43:07 +0000 (UTC), "Russell Spearing" > > <[email hidden]> wrote: > > > > >Hi all, > > > > > >Having upgraded to WinXP I have been getting the problem of dreadfull

sound > > >from my SBLive card in GPL. I have tried all the workarounds and fixesand > > >can "improve" the sound but it is still very annoying. > > > > > >Therefore, I have decided the time has come to upgrade my soundcard to > > >something that won't have this problem. I have tried a cheap soundcardbased > > >on the C-Media 8738 chip but was not impressed with it at all. So I amnow > > >thinking of going the whole hog and getting a SB Audigy 2. The problemis > > >that I don't want to spen £80 (uk pounds) on one only to find that ithasn't > > >cured the problem. > > > > > >So can anyone let me know if they are using a SB Audigy 2 with WinXPand GPL > > >and if they get sound distortion or not. > > > > > > > > >Many thanks > > > >

I agree. The TBSC is great. However, their latest beta drivers have some anomolies with NR2003. If you use NR2003, stick with the 4161s rev drivers until the finals come out. This is the first driver issue I've ever had with the TBSC. -Larry "T. Wortman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

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> I've ran SB products for years. But when I built my new XP rig a few > months back, I decided to upgrade to a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz. IMO, > the sound quality is superior to the Live card I was using, and it > supports reflections for the Sierra Nascar sims. According to > pricewatch, you can get it for about $50 with shipping. > > On Thu, 14 Aug 2003 00:43:07 +0000 (UTC), "Russell Spearing" > <[email hidden]> wrote: > > >Hi all, > > > >Having upgraded to WinXP I have been getting the problem of dreadfull

sound > >from my SBLive card in GPL. I have tried all the workarounds and fixesand > >can "improve" the sound but it is still very annoying. > > > >Therefore, I have decided the time has come to upgrade my soundcard to > >something that won't have this problem. I have tried a cheap soundcardbased > >on the C-Media 8738 chip but was not impressed with it at all. So I amnow > >thinking of going the whole hog and getting a SB Audigy 2. The problem is > >that I don't want to spen �80 (uk pounds) on one only to find that ithasn't > >cured the problem. > > > >So can anyone let me know if they are using a SB Audigy 2 with WinXP andGPL > >and if they get sound distortion or not. > > > > > >Many thanks > > >

On Thu, 14 Aug 2003 14:17:12 +0000 (UTC), "Russell Spearing" <[email hidden]> wrote: >Thanks for the reply. Can you tell me if you are using the Audigy 2 with the >Hardware acceleration set at maximum or has it had to be lowered for GPL the >same as SBLive. HW acceleration is set at maximum (for me, SBLive didn't work with GPL even if HW acc. was lowered). I haven't done any experiments whether it has any affect on slight "crackling" in GPL. Anyway, it is not a serious problem. ************************************** Tuomas Koskela e-mail: teejiikoo@EISP�MMI�hotmail.com **************************************