Fion wrote on Apr 9, 2012, 15:39:

bhcompy wrote on Apr 9, 2012, 14:53:
I so miss my Aureal A3D sound card. In my mind, Creative has yet to catch up, even if they did buy the tech. If I could find supported drivers I'd use it to this day.

I finally ended it with Creative cards.
I brought an M-Audio Delta Audiophile 2496. It's an entry level pro audio card.
And while it's only a stereo output card (no fancy home cinema for you), the sound quality you'll be getting it's amazing.
Especially the low end. My theory is that noise levels in consumer cards (read Creative and co.) is so high that they erase some low end harmonics which you will hear with this sort of card. Even with a bunch of shitty speakers like my Cambridge 2.1. I mean I listen to a Cypress Hill record after 10 years and I'm hearing samples that I never heard before

I'm really not trying to go the "audiophile meme" bullshit route (even tho' the card is called Audiophile but the tone difference between htis and even the Fatal1ty card is so noticeable that I'm never going back to consumer Hi-Fi Home Theater bullshit ever.

Oh, and not to mention that the ability to rip "what you hear" at pro recording standards :))

This comment was edited on Apr 9, 2012, 16:44.