which sound card

[Graham]

okay so I just got the logitech z 5500 digital THX speakers and HOLY SHIT!

however, i used them at a friend's house with a digital cable and a better sound card and the difference was clear: i must have.

currently i own a sound blaster live x-gamer 5.1 yet it doesn't support 24-bit dolby digital, dts, thx, etc, etc

anywho here is the question:

Should I get the Audigy 2 ZS or the Audigy 4? It is not really clear to me what the difference is so I thought I would ask the techs...

 

[Sport1031]

Sound Blaster X-Fi

http://www.soundblaster.com/products/x-fi/technology/

 

[DoomUK]

Yup, if you're in the market for a sound card right now, look no further than the X-Fi series. It's actually Creative's first real step away/genuine improvement from the Audigy 2 series, with which they continually regenerated virtually the same product (inc. the Audigy 4) from what I hear.

 

[Graham]

mmm i doubt ill spend $150 on a sound card when the z 5500 speakers will not support most of the new featues. audigy 2 or 4 should be plenty good for me. the speakers themselves ran about $250 and the digital coaxial/optical cables were $20 and ahhhhh

too much for now

 

[SamLee0519]

Audigy 4 Pro is a complete waste of money. It's basically an Audigy2 just more "advanced."

X-Fi, however, retails for only $130, yet kicks both the audigy's asses. Besides, the master control system looks SEXY. =D

 

[Tro1086]

do the 5500's have a special optical input jack? I dont think my 5300's can use optical wires.

 

[Graham]

the z 5300e speakers are not digital

the z 5500s, which cost a ton more, are

 

[Syphanx]

Definetly go with the X-Fi, that card will take full potential of your speakers, or vice versa! I too am thinking of getting the Logitech Z-5500's soon, what do you think of them? Pro's and cons?
Yeah as said before in this post, don't got for the Audigy 4, that was a complete waste of time for creative to release something like that.
If you are on a budget go with the X-Fi Standard card, which has no external devices etc and retails at about $130US. However if you are extreme and want to take full advantage of your system go with either the elite pro or the extreme fidel1ty. As they both have the "X-Ram" which is a dedicated 64mb of ram inbuilt to the soundcard (Which absolutely should kick ass). But if all your into is listening to mp3's on ur comp and watching movies then go with the Standard one.

Hope this helps.

 

[Graham]

Lol damn it I have to admit I can barely resist getting the X-Fi even though truthfully Half-Life 2 and etc sound incredible with a regular Sound Blaster Live! I just want something that will support all the digital enhancements.

Syphanx, the Z 5500 set is INCREDIBLE. I got the pleasure of borrowing a friend's who was on vacation and it outperformed our home theatre system. The digital decoder station has all the Dolby Digital, DTS, THX-certified, PCM-DVD, DVD digital, PL2 something something, and just about any other super audio codes you can think of. It will NOT disappoint you. My old Creative Labs 4.1 set with only 50W of power just died and 505 W with 1000 W peak digital is WHOAH!

Unfortunately I can go no where near the full power in my dorm room or I will get kicked out.

 

[Syphanx]

Unfortunately I can go no where near the full power in my dorm room or I will get kicked out.

Well lol sucks to be you then! lol

Yeah I'm going to set up my own little cinema in my room, nice 19" LCD, Soundblaster X-Fi Card, Logitech Z 5500's. Going to be shweet. Just the only thing is that I might need to add some more audio cable because the standard stuff wont reach to where I want it. That's no problem though, just add a few couplers in and there we go.

However I doubt it will outperform the home thearte system lol, with a 2000W+ system and all.

However I'm thinking about keeping a log of my upgrade and informing all of you guys of how it's going along etc, Like Harper is doing with his case thing.