Tek-Tips is the largest IT community on the Internet today!
Members share and learn making Tek-Tips Forums the best source of peer-reviewed technical information on the Internet!
-
Congratulations Rhinorhino on being selected by the Tek-Tips community for having the most helpful posts in the forums last week. Way to Go!
low profile sond card
- Thread starter oren
- Start date
- Status
The original Sound Blaster 16 ISA is probably the best bet. Cheers,
Jim
reboot@pcmech.com
Moderator at Staff at Windows 9x/ME instructor.
Jim's Modems:
Jim
reboot@pcmech.com
Moderator at Staff at Windows 9x/ME instructor.
Jim's Modems:
CitrixEngineer
Technical User
...but possibly not as easily available as the Soundblaster 16 PCI?
Also, the PCI card will do more sound processing for you, taking load off the CPU.
The Live 1024 PCI seems to be the most readily available, and certainly offers excellent "bang for the buck". This is what I would recommend.
Soundblaster are industry standard and the quality is good enough for all but audiophiles.
If you're looking for real high quality sound, though, go for a Turtle Beach Montego.
I hope this information is useful
Merry Christmas!
Also, the PCI card will do more sound processing for you, taking load off the CPU.
The Live 1024 PCI seems to be the most readily available, and certainly offers excellent "bang for the buck". This is what I would recommend.
Soundblaster are industry standard and the quality is good enough for all but audiophiles.
If you're looking for real high quality sound, though, go for a Turtle Beach Montego.
I hope this information is useful
Merry Christmas!
The PCI card is as good as the ISA card. CPU usage is nominal with either. Buy whatever you feel you need the most, and whatever is available in your area.
The Creative Ensoniq card is a reasonable budget sound card as well. Retail versions have the Creative mixer software included.
The Turtle Beach seems a little out of your range (not cheap!), but a very nice card. Cheers,
Jim
reboot@pcmech.com
Moderator at Staff at Windows 9x/ME instructor.
Jim's Modems:
The Creative Ensoniq card is a reasonable budget sound card as well. Retail versions have the Creative mixer software included.
The Turtle Beach seems a little out of your range (not cheap!), but a very nice card. Cheers,
Jim
reboot@pcmech.com
Moderator at Staff at Windows 9x/ME instructor.
Jim's Modems:
CitrixEngineer
Technical User
Comtech, you have me confused again! 
The whole point of PCI soundcards, as I perceive them, is that they can handle more of the audio processing because of the higher data transfer rates of this bus. I use an SB Live!, and there is many worlds of difference between this and my old ISA AWE32, good though it is.
I do a lot of audio work, and there is no way an SB 16 can cope with the full-duplex multi-channel loads I throw at it, so presumably there's something in the theory. Even the Live struggles with latency problems. If you have technical data that supports your assertion that PCI=ISA, I'd be extremely interested - maybe there's something I've been getting wrong all this time! :
Also, the Turtle Beach Montego is $50! how can you say that's not cheap? Especially for such a high-quality card - It's only $20 more than the Ensoniq, and $100 less than the SB Live!, which is its nearest competitor, in terms of quality.
Oren was looking for a high-quality low-profile card, and the Montego is probably the best in its class. I don't see a price-range stated, but I'd think $50 about right for a soundcard. I'd consider something like the Event Gina, or anything from DigiDesign to be expensive! ;-)
If all you want to do is games, then the Ensoniq is fine. If you're a little more serious and want high quality audio capabilities, the Montego is the only budget choice, IMO.
Many Regards
The whole point of PCI soundcards, as I perceive them, is that they can handle more of the audio processing because of the higher data transfer rates of this bus. I use an SB Live!, and there is many worlds of difference between this and my old ISA AWE32, good though it is.
I do a lot of audio work, and there is no way an SB 16 can cope with the full-duplex multi-channel loads I throw at it, so presumably there's something in the theory. Even the Live struggles with latency problems. If you have technical data that supports your assertion that PCI=ISA, I'd be extremely interested - maybe there's something I've been getting wrong all this time! :
Also, the Turtle Beach Montego is $50! how can you say that's not cheap? Especially for such a high-quality card - It's only $20 more than the Ensoniq, and $100 less than the SB Live!, which is its nearest competitor, in terms of quality.
Oren was looking for a high-quality low-profile card, and the Montego is probably the best in its class. I don't see a price-range stated, but I'd think $50 about right for a soundcard. I'd consider something like the Event Gina, or anything from DigiDesign to be expensive! ;-)
If all you want to do is games, then the Ensoniq is fine. If you're a little more serious and want high quality audio capabilities, the Montego is the only budget choice, IMO.
Many Regards
Well, things have changed as far as pricing goes. I didn't realize the Turtle was so cheap now (I'm going out to get one today! Anyone want to buy an Ensoniq? LOL ).
For most people an SB16 (ISA or PCI) will suffice, after all, the most it might ever do is play the odd MP3 and windows sounds. CPU drain doing this kind of stuff (nothing really) is nominal.
A serious audiophile will obviously want something better, and thus the Turtle montego jumps to mind. A Live! Platinum would be nice, but not at the current price. X-) Cheers,
Jim
reboot@pcmech.com
Moderator at Staff at Windows 9x/ME instructor.
Jim's Modems:
For most people an SB16 (ISA or PCI) will suffice, after all, the most it might ever do is play the odd MP3 and windows sounds. CPU drain doing this kind of stuff (nothing really) is nominal.
A serious audiophile will obviously want something better, and thus the Turtle montego jumps to mind. A Live! Platinum would be nice, but not at the current price. X-) Cheers,
Jim
reboot@pcmech.com
Moderator at Staff at Windows 9x/ME instructor.
Jim's Modems:
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked
- Question
- Locked
- Question