inquiry about sound cards.. how to update audio driver?

[whoopz]

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mga peeps, i got a question...

dako jud kaayo ang difference sa quality of the sound if i-compare ang built in soundcard sa mobo and a separate sound card?

my mobo has built-in 5.1 sound card

i'm considering:
* creative sound blaster ectiva 5.1
* or creative sound blaster live 24bit 5.1

ky basin unya mupalit ko ani unya dili radiay maila ang difference. pls. give advice.Â* thanks.


---mga bro, taga-i lang sa ko ninyo ug link anang mag download ug updated driver please. ----

sige ko search gahapon, wala mankoy makit-an. basin dili pud mao ako keyword gigamit. sulay lang sa ko download updated driver before i decide to buy sound card.

ako mobo asus p4s800-mx, mura soundmax man dagoy audio driver ani.

[alucard_x]

Naa gyud difference...kung sound fanatic ka madungog gyud nmo ang difference. Pero kung average lang imo hilig sa sound murag dli nmo kaayo ma-dungog ang difference, kay and mga built in kay na-set na ilang bit output. Pero you can compensate sa software or speakers.

In my point of view I'd go for SB 24bit kung hilig ka ug sound editing kay usually mga mp3 and CD audio are running on 16bit audio so 24bit are more finer to edit.

[EarlZ]

Depends on your speakers also, I used an onboard 7.1 sounchip on my motherboard and when i upgraded to Creative X-Fi theres a HUGE improvment in sound quality.Make sure those choices are Audigy or X-fi series already

[EarlZ]

In my point of view I'd go for SB 24bit kung hilig ka ug sound editing kay usually mga mp3 and CD audio are running on 16bit audio so 24bit are more finer to edit.

I would go out and say that 24bit is more "finer" to edit compared with 16bit.

[alucard_x]

There's a HUGE difference gyud kay X-fi man imo gipuli EarlZ ...and ang price sad ya-yay gyud, dako ghapon difference sa price.

[whoopz]

hmm.. yup, i can say nga tig listen jud ko sa fine details sa music.. i listen to music a lot. Â*pero i don't do a lot of editing. Â*the music i listen to sa ako pc are mostly mp3 (some downloaded, some converted from cds) d man kaayo ko swito unsa ang 24 bit nya wala ko kbalo asa na cya mkit-an nga settings. Â*ako ra nhibal-an is when i convert cds to mp3 and when i download mp3s, i usually choose at least 128 kbps setting. ako speakers altec lansing 251.

actually, i got a situation with my pc. Â*i recently changed my mobo to upgrade from ddr333 to ddr400. Â*both my old and new mobos have 5.1 sound card, but what i noticed is that mura bungol or basag ang sound karon sa ako new mobo compared to my old one. Â*could it be i need to update the sound driver of my new mobo?

[whoopz]

bitaw, mura dili ko ka afford anang audigy or x-fi coz mahal man kaayo. ako maaford 2k below ra. heheh..

[Envy 64Ht]

Drivers play a major role in helping your sound card perform better.. specially when using Direct3D.

As you posted, u have 2 choices, the Ectiva 5.1 & the SB Live! 24bit, (it's 7.1 not 5.1). You should get the SB Live! 24bit, the Ectiva only has 16bit capability, good as an onboard audio. If your only up to listening music, the SB Live! could meet your ears, 7.1 capabilty, 24bit/96khz Audio response, Supports EAX3.0 in gaming, although it doesn't have hardware acceleration & DACS like the Audigy/X-Fi series..

You could also try Via's Envy24 series sound cards, they also have exeptional audio capabilites..

[EarlZ]

bitaw, mura dili ko ka afford anang audigy or x-fi coz mahal man kaayo. ako maaford 2k below ra. heheh..

I have no idea how much the X-fi costs here in cebu. i got mine sa gawas a few months after it was released. Pila diay diri ?

[whoopz]

@envy, 7.1 diay na bai? heheh.. sorry, sa pcx nga products ky 5.1 mangud gibutang. nya tingala pud bitaw ko coz pag lantaw nako sa site sa creative ky 7.1 man ila gibutang. so i thought naa 5.1 nya naa pud 7.1.

@earlz, ako nalantaw sa pcx site nga prices:

CMI 8738 3D 4-channel P 300.00
CMI 8738 3D PCI 6 channel P 400.00
Creative SB 5.1 SB0680 P 1,400.00
Creative SB Audigy 2 Value 7.1 P 3,900.00
Creative SB Audigy 2 ZS 7.1 P 5,750.00
Creative SB Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro P 12,600.00
Creative SB Audigy 4 Pro P 17,500.00
Creative SB Audigy Value P 2,250.00
Creative SB Digital LX USB External P 2,550.00
Creative SB Ectiva SE 5.1 P 1,150.00
Creative SB Live! 24-bit 5.1 P 1,950.00
Creative SB Live! 24-bit USB External P 3,400.00
Creative Vibra 4D 128 PCI P 650.00

wala diay ko kakita sa prices sa x-fi. pero galantaw ko sa creative.com mura man mas high end ang x-fi so i guess mas mahal jud.