Upgrading sound card - well yes!

[AngelicCore]

Well kinda...
first post here..heya!

Anyways, i was thinking about upgrading my Audigy 2 ZS to something a little more up to date.
Have a small budget though, ~50$, so i am puzzled.

Reason of wanting to upgrade:
1) Creative drivers are ****, and so is their customer service as well.
even using the ones from nomoregoatsoup
2) EAX and that kind of thing is out since vista and alchemy just doesn't cut it.
3) That in turn makes me play all of my games using software for sound - which kind of defeats the purpose
4) Seriously thinking of trying out my onboard realtek HD instead of using the audigy

Anyways, what am i looking for?
Cheap - as aforementioned.
Quality - well atleast better than the Audigy 2 ZS and better drivers | Customer Support

No need for 7.1 etc i got myself a 350$ quality headphones so no need for that.
Nor optical connections and such.

Is it possible or do i have to stick to my audigy for a few more years?

Cheers and thanks in advance.

 

[Abstract Hero]

Honestly, without going through an actual receiver, a Creative card is the way to go.

IMHO, I would either keep the card or use the onboard and buy a nice receiver. Unless you're going to be recording that is, and you didn't say you were.

If you're determined for a new card this is the best non pro audio card for the money. Newegg.com - Creative 70SB088000004 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Express 1x Interface PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium

Yes it's 7.1 but most decent cards are.

 

[AngelicCore]

Honestly, without going through an actual receiver, a Creative card is the way to go.

IMHO, I would either keep the card or use the onboard and buy a nice receiver. Unless you're going to be recording that is, and you didn't say you were.

If you're determined for a new card this is the best non pro audio card for the money. Newegg.com - Creative 70SB088000004 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Express 1x Interface PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium

Yes it's 7.1 but most decent cards are.

Thank you very much hero.

Yep, i did forget to say what am going to do with it. Just Gaming/Movies/Music. No recording, no professional work.

Although am not so clear about what you mean with a receiver. You mean discrete speakers right?

Either way the X-fi was also my first choice but it is neither cheap nor a non-creative solution

I was thinking more of an Asus card or something. I am not very good in choosing Sound cards.

 

[Abstract Hero]

Asus is only worth the money in the $100+ range which is why I avoided them. Really, onboard has gotten so good that anything cheaper than $75 usually isn't worth it.

For receiver I'll use mine as an example. I use my onboard Realtek HD but I don't use pc speakers or onboard equalizers. I run it through a 250+W Sony stereo. It does a better job equalizing and the speakers aren't cheapos. I honestly think this would be a good solution for you as well.

What kind of headphones are you using? Obviously if you use predominantly headphones, you don't need 250W.

EDIT: To clear up any confusion I still recommend receivers if you are using headphones. Just not as much power.

This is little cheaper than an X-Fi but very nice and has a USB input which makes it capable of studio quality sound.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882184507

 

[KASCOM]

i would be sure to look at the asus range of sound cards, they have great build quality and the drivers arent a problem see the below link for further info

http://uk.asus.com/ProductGroup2.aspx?PG_ID=deBXUzMkKnQuGLGK

 

[AngelicCore]

Oh alright, thanks again guys.
Well am currently using 4.0 - was 5.1 but i destroyed sub and front center
But i bought a Sennheiser RS 170 - Sennheiser Worldwide - digital wireless headphone RS 170 - dynamic bass, surround stereo sound - Private Audio
which is wireless so i have no need for a super sound card. Just one that has good drivers when it comes to 7 64 bit. That will save me a lot of frustration with dealing with creative alchemy to try and convince games to use hardware processing.

Anyways, thanks you again.