Sound Card Problems

[TX-ScubaSteve]

10 years ago, I got myself a top-of the line Gateway with a screaming fast Pentium Pro 200Mhz processor for $3,000.  At last I was going to be able to enjoy playing Wing Commander III, F-15 and EF-2000.

It also came with a Sound Blaster Live!, and Boston Acoustics 4.1 dolby digital speaker system.  I've held on to both these items through the years to use with 3 different computer systems I've bought since then.

My current desktop has that AC '97 onboard sound which only produces an analog signal, so, the first day I got this machine, I had put my 10 year old SB Live! card in there to support my 4.1 speakers.  I've had no problems, other than occassional stuttering when playing IL-2 or BattleField 2... which has been an "attribute" of this card.

However, after wanting to look for something to blame (other than myself and my poor piloting skills) when it came to actually being able to hear another plane nearby or someone walking up behind me, I decided it was high time I get a new card.  So, I got a used Sound Blaster Audigy 2 from e-bay.  Sound was much better, and no stuttering... but when I tried dropping bombs in IL-2 or was around any large explosions, my computer would crash.  Same thing would happen on Battlefield 2 and other games I've played--usually a little more randomly.   (Yes, I disabled my onboard sound to make sure there wasn't some kind of conflict--but that made no difference).  So, I disabled my Audigy 2 card, and re-enabled my onboard sound.  I've played since then with absolutely no crashes.  However, I'm limited to hearing all audio though my cheap headphones, as they're the only analog speakers I have.

I noticed Battlefield 2 has an audio setting for SB X-Fi... so, I figured that would be a cool card to buy.  So, I bought one yesterday.  I read the documention before I bothered to install it, and realized that just ONE jack boasts "3-in1" capabilities...  Digital in/out and microphone.  The other four jacks were all analog and support 7.1 speakers.  You can't get an adapter to use the digital out and microphone at the same time, as that's a switch that must be set via the software.  I also noticed that the digital out only streams stereo (uncompressed) which would seem to defeat the purpose of having a 4.1 speaker system hooked up to it anyway...

I thought about keeping my onboard sound enabled, and use that for Teamspeak... but I would be unable to use such features as BattleField's built in voip... plus, keeping onboard sound enabled probably slows my system down too... I dunno.

Anyway, it made me wonder if digital output really isn't all that great--I mean, why would an apparently top-of-the-line sound card combine digital (stereo only--unless ACS compressed like from a DVD movie) output with a microphone jack, while leaving 4 other jacks for analog output?

Anyone have any tips or recommendations?  Are my speakers just too old fashioned?  Should I invest in some modern analog speakers?  Or, should I just buy myself a new (un-used) Audigy 2 card (which at least has a seperate jack for microphone) and hope it doesn't crash my system; and mourn the loss of potential ability to select "X-Fi" on the sound setup on BattleField 2?

I'd greatly appreciate any of you guy's opinion...

TX-ScubaSteve
White 4

[TX-EcoDragon]

Hmm. . .I'm still running an SB Live! Actually it's not even that cool. . .it's an SB Live! Value!So I guess I'm of no help. . .just testing out my keyboard and adding to my post count I guess.I wonder how much of my stuttering is due to the SB Live. I have noticed a lot of audio related stutters, but just figured that would happen with anyhting plugged into my machine.S!TX-EcoDragonBlack 1TX-Squadron XO

[TX-ScubaSteve]

With the Audigy 2 card, I don't get any stutters at all--until it locks up my computer or spontaneously reboots it.  Actually Eco, I've just recently learned that sometimes stuttering occurs when the card's PCI latency is set too low, and/or the graphic's card (assuming it's PCI or even AGP, but not PCI-Express) latency is set too high.I read that setting the PCI latency to 64 would help keep the audigy 2 from crashing my computer, but then I found out that it was already set at 64...Anyway, another option I thought about, was getting an analog to digital converter, so I could use the analog jacks on say the X-Fi, with my digital speakers.  However, I haven't found anything cheaper than $600 and even then, they're just 2 channels...  Anyone have any ideas about that?  I guess games stream in EAX which is an analog signal (which in a way doesn't make much sense... ie... surely the original signal is digital--after all, we're talking binary aren't we)?Oh well, looks like if I really want true surround sound, I'll have to invest in some analog speakers?  Anyone have recommendations on a good 5.1 system?TX-ScubaSteveWhite 4

[TX-Rahman]

Steve,              Man.....it sucks that those jacks are multi use!!  It's a ploy to make you buy the external box they have.                I can suggest some killer 5.1 speakers....  I have the Logitech Z-5500's.  They accept 6 analog (5.1) or coaxial and optical digital.  500Watts nominal 1000 watts max!  I own these...they're simply awesome.  I'm not currently using them for the computer...am stuck using the headphones there.  However, they work so well that I'm using them hooked up to HDTV and my XBOX/DVD.  Using them for home theatre.  You can pick up a set for around $240-300.  You will not be disappointed!Regards,TX-Rahman"BLACK 4"

[TX-ScubaSteve]

Thanks Rah for the recomendation.  The Z-5500 is a little out of my price range, but maybe I'll pucker up and order it.  I had been looking at the Logitech Z-5300e (about $199) which got a CNET rating of only 6.0, and the Creative Gigaworks ProGamer G500 ($170) which got a rating of 8.0 on CNET.  I was leaning towards the G500, as reviews seemed to indicate it had better sound quality than the Z-5300e, the sub-woofer was "tight", etc... has more wattage (although I really have no real desire to make the windows rattle); and I could get it cheaper than the Z-5300e.  Neither of them are digital, but the Z-5500 is (which got a rating of 8.1 btw).  Although I've learned that having a digital output on my sound card is pointless for all things PC oriented (other than watching DVD's); would you say that the Z-5500 would still be the better option (despite the extra cost) because of the digital posibilites say for other non-pc appliations?TX-ScubaSteveWhite 4

[TX-Rahman]

Steve,            For the sake of purely using the system for non-pc use...I would buy them again.  I haven't used them with the PC at all....wife has me stuck using headphones.  The time I usually play, my son is sleeping so...must be quiet.  I would like to hook it up that way sometime and see how hard it rocks though!!  I was faced with the decision of either buying a true home theatre setup or going with a high end PC speaker setup.  I had owned their 4.1 system and knew how great they were.  Sold them to a friend here at work and used the proceeds to help fund the new 5500's.           I'm sure the lesser Logitechs will rock also!  I haven't had bad luck with their products at all!Regards,TX-Rahman"BLACK 4"

[TX-ScubaSteve]

I put the X-Fi card in last night.  What a difference that thing makes!  So far, no crashes... and I'm hearing things I never heard before (despite the fact that only two of my speakers are functioning).  Playing BattleField 2 is even more fun... I can actually tell the general direction of where a shot came from... Before, I could tell someone was shooting at me, but couldn't tell from which direciton.  I also hear a lot more bass while playing IL-2 now as well... The engines of the B-25 really sound nice.  I can also bomb without crashing (the system).I think I'll go ahead and get the Z-5500--after all, it's really not that much more than those other ones I was thinking of getting... and seeing how you're impressed with them Rah, is good enough for me! ;)The only thing I don't like about this x-fi card (like I said before) is the lack of a seperate mic and headphone jack.  I figure though, that with the Z-5500, I could use the headphone jack it has, and use the digital out jack on the card for my mic.In any case, now that I have the x-fi card in place, it seems that battlefield 2 and IL-2's frame rates have increased...  Maybe it's just my imagination; as I didn't actually measure them before hand...Thanks for your input.TX-ScubaSteveWhite 4

[TX-EcoDragon]

. . . must. . .win. . . lotteryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!Too many expensive things in my poor life!S!TX-EcoDragonBlack 1TX-Squadron XO

[TX-ScubaSteve]

Yeah Eco... my goal for the next 3 years of my life is to win the highly esteemed Texas lottery... now if I could just figure out how to play...  At least you get to fly REAL planes with REAL surround sound... Hey Rah, thanks for the recommendation on the speakers!  I got them from buy.com and they only took a day to show up at my house w/ free shipping!  They're awesome speakers!  Can't get over how big that subwoofer is!  (Can barely get it under my desk). Flying IL-2 has a whole new dimension now... as I can feel my butt vibrating in my chair from the low frequencies coming out of that thing--as though I can feel the power of the engine...  Probably don't have the settings set right, but not much surround sound experience.  However, Battlefield 2 is absolutely amazing now!  I can pinpoint exactly how many feet behind me someone dropped a medipak... ok... just kidding... but wow... I played one round so far, and got the most points ever in one round than ever before--not sure if it was coincidence or just being able to be more spatially aware...  Anyway, thanks again Rah for referring me to the Logitech Z-5500.  Very impressive!Oh, in case anyone cares what I learned about why the x-fi and pretty much any other sound card only outputs digital UNCOMPRESSED sound in 2 channels, is because currently, they don't have the technology to encode/compress into DTS or AC3 "live"--kind of like the same reason why we can't play IL-2 with graphics that look like the movie "sky captain" (or pilots that look like Angelina).  Hence the reason why you won't get digital surround from a game, but can from a DVD... as the AC3 signal (codec) has been previously "rendered".  Supposedly there is a card out there that does live encoding... but they limit the frequency range, thus reducing the sound quality anyway.  The only thing I'm dissapointed about with the X-Fi is that it won't allow digital surround from DVDs... because what's their faces (DVD/CD people)... are afraid it helps piracy... Oh well, at least analog signals have come a long way.TX-ScubaSteveWhite 4

[TX-EcoDragon]

I've been hearing good things about this sound card over the X-Fihttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829127002and in other sound card related news, some Vista gossip:http://www.overclock.net/sound-cards-computer-audio/145791-directsound-3d-not-supported-vista.htmlS!TX-EcoDragonBlack 1TX-Squadron XO