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Well folks, as many of you know I've been hunting for quite some time for just the right sound card.
I'm pretty picky, since I have the following setup:
SMP
Win2k and WinXP exclusively
Digital speakers
VIA Chipset
1GB of RAM
Ok, so let's run down the list.
Aureal: I started with a couple different Aureal cards. Of course, then they got bought out. Darn it! These were pretty good cards, reasonable in SMP, reasonable in Win2k. But no more support (yes, I know Videologic is still writing drivers for their card, but those won't work on my Montego2 Quadzilla with digital out, now will they?) so these had to go...
Creative: Well, a year and a half after Win2k was released, Creative still hasn't written stable Win2k drivers. Oh, their most recent offerings work well in Win2k and WinXP... unless you have SMP and VIA. Oops! (Actually, the VIA problems have largely been fixed, but it looks as though they may NEVER fix the SMP problems).
Hercules: I bought a Game Theater XP with high hopes. All the reviews had said this was a kickass card, especially in Win2k. Well, after much wailing and gnashing of teeth, it has come out of my machine... but not left the house. It's on the shelf, waiting for Hercules to pull their collective heads out of their collective asses. Problems with the Hercules are as follows:
1. Lots of RAM (read: more than 256MB) causes problems - apparently Hercules picked a verboten (according to MS) memory range for their offboard amp and filters (that live in the breakout box). As a result, miscellaneous problems crop up in Win2k (see next points). In WinXP the card just doesn't run. Nothing but squeals and crackles.
2. Problems with lots of games. Many games and even some apps require that you leave media player open (not running, just open) in the background in order for sound to work. This is WEIRD, and has persisted across three driver revisions.
3. Skipping in Media Player - sound jumps around, media slows down and speeds up sporadically. Not good. Not good at all.
4. Breakout Box is inconsistent - sometimes the headphones work, sometimes they don't. Sometimes the USB works, sometimes it don't. Urk!
Philips (Acoustic Edge, et al): This was promising. Sounded GREAT. Worked fine in WIn2k. Worked on in WinXP... until I tried SMP mode. Oops! Blue screens galore, just when running the speaker test! Not to mention the inconsistent digital output (sometimes it works, sometimes it don't work... sometimes loud, sometimes soft... sometimes crackly, sometimes clean). This one went back to the store. Not worth my $100.
Turtle Beach Santa Cruz: Why do I ever bother buying anything but a Turtle Beach card? *sigh* This is the PERFECT next-gen card. There are already WinXP drivers (although the Win2k drivers work flawlessly in WinXP), it works without a glitch no matter which chipset it's on, SMP doesn't faze it, and all my games work. Digital out is flawless. And it was $75. SOLD!
I'm pretty picky, since I have the following setup:
SMP
Win2k and WinXP exclusively
Digital speakers
VIA Chipset
1GB of RAM
Ok, so let's run down the list.
Aureal: I started with a couple different Aureal cards. Of course, then they got bought out. Darn it! These were pretty good cards, reasonable in SMP, reasonable in Win2k. But no more support (yes, I know Videologic is still writing drivers for their card, but those won't work on my Montego2 Quadzilla with digital out, now will they?) so these had to go...
Creative: Well, a year and a half after Win2k was released, Creative still hasn't written stable Win2k drivers. Oh, their most recent offerings work well in Win2k and WinXP... unless you have SMP and VIA. Oops! (Actually, the VIA problems have largely been fixed, but it looks as though they may NEVER fix the SMP problems).
Hercules: I bought a Game Theater XP with high hopes. All the reviews had said this was a kickass card, especially in Win2k. Well, after much wailing and gnashing of teeth, it has come out of my machine... but not left the house. It's on the shelf, waiting for Hercules to pull their collective heads out of their collective asses. Problems with the Hercules are as follows:
1. Lots of RAM (read: more than 256MB) causes problems - apparently Hercules picked a verboten (according to MS) memory range for their offboard amp and filters (that live in the breakout box). As a result, miscellaneous problems crop up in Win2k (see next points). In WinXP the card just doesn't run. Nothing but squeals and crackles.
2. Problems with lots of games. Many games and even some apps require that you leave media player open (not running, just open) in the background in order for sound to work. This is WEIRD, and has persisted across three driver revisions.
3. Skipping in Media Player - sound jumps around, media slows down and speeds up sporadically. Not good. Not good at all.
4. Breakout Box is inconsistent - sometimes the headphones work, sometimes they don't. Sometimes the USB works, sometimes it don't. Urk!
Philips (Acoustic Edge, et al): This was promising. Sounded GREAT. Worked fine in WIn2k. Worked on in WinXP... until I tried SMP mode. Oops! Blue screens galore, just when running the speaker test! Not to mention the inconsistent digital output (sometimes it works, sometimes it don't work... sometimes loud, sometimes soft... sometimes crackly, sometimes clean). This one went back to the store. Not worth my $100.
Turtle Beach Santa Cruz: Why do I ever bother buying anything but a Turtle Beach card? *sigh* This is the PERFECT next-gen card. There are already WinXP drivers (although the Win2k drivers work flawlessly in WinXP), it works without a glitch no matter which chipset it's on, SMP doesn't faze it, and all my games work. Digital out is flawless. And it was $75. SOLD!
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