solution The Soundstorm is a good solution (nice & clear sound,maybe not the very best bass ) . You can buy an Audigy if you have the money . If I would have to choose between the 2 ones , I would preffer my Soundstorm (Abit NF7-S 2.0) ... (very very good price )
Also for arguments sake - try the drivers at http://kxproject.lugosoft.com/index.php?skip=1 on your SBLive. You may notice an improvement in quality over the standard Creative ones - I did, although YMMV. They also seem to be updated a bit more frequently then creative.... although there hasn't been a KX update in a while.... Hope this helps
I heard of some problems with Audigy 1, I'd stay away from that, Audigy 2 supposedly fixed those problems. But, he already has his soundcard... Since you already have it, why not try both and compare, see which one YOU like better. I heard the SBLive card slows down Windows XP a little bit (more than with previous OS).
Re: solution "not the very best bass" ~ what do you mean by best? Most? You can always use the equalizer...
Soundstorm sounds a lot 'flatter' than SB Live, but SB Live has overbloated and muffled bass. Equalizer can only balance the sound. Any software equalization is going to do more harm than helping.
just a thought, feeding out digital signals via optical cables to a pre-amp for decoding and equalization and eventually an amp to amplify the sound to speakers SHOULD be the ultimate solution right? So if using Digital signals... any soundcard will then be the same for sound quality right, if we use the same pre-amp for decoding for this comparison? leaving only cpu utilization as the difference. ?
OT, but... Suggest you use DOSBox! Works with all modern sound cards. No more 'set blaster = a220 i7 d1 t3' manually.
My NForce 2 - Optical out sounds really good through an ONKYO 797 6.1 system..... Maybe I can take pics of the setup!
do you guys actually use equalizers? for me. i usually up my trebel to 80% - 90% range while bass to 50% - 60% range. i'm not the bass kinda guy, but of course i have a decent bass level to meet. which reminds me, i've not yet test out my NF2 sound (Epox 8RDA+). i was using my NF7-S sound but then it's sound system had problem, even after i RMAed.
i use the bass & trebel setting on my Altec Lansing speakers.. using the realtek AC97 chip + intel i865 chipset bass will be normal while treble will be higher i dont like too heavy bass at low volume .. hehe hehhee.. but this older PC with SB Live... i never up the bass... coz using lousy speakers.. uping the bass will ruin the sound quality but treble is OK ..
