I want to buy a new soundcard.
I dont need any fancy stuff, a stereo-out with fairly nice linear frequency is enough, no need for loads of out-channels, and the card should support asio, I dont care if natively or with any tools (like these kv (?) drivers for the creative cards).
If you just want a cheap card you wontbe able to use to very much things, buy a SoundBlaster Live and use the menationed kx-drivers…
IF you want a good and professional audiocard but still a cheap one, buy a M-Audio Audiophile 2496 or a Terratec EWX 2496.
cheapest multi in out asio card at the moment is inca 88 and its derivates…but I`d rather recommend a more expensive one, since the cheaper ones all have got some driver issues.
…And even if you get an expensive soundcard like I did, it doesn’t mean there won’t be driver issues. (Avoid Terratec at all costs). I ended up buying a second soundcard for normal use. I made it a cheap one, but it’s still an unnecessary expense. The Terratec was simply unusable for things like watching DVDs and playing games. And at times, even Renoise had problems.
I would not recommend following cards:
Sound Blaster live, Audigy1 (my brother has this) and Terratecs XL64 was so incredible bad (software wise) that i will never have anything to do with them again. The others just has bad audio quality, no matter what their PR department states. Maybe Audigy2 has progressed, i dont know…
I had enough, went out and bought a kinda pro sound card (delta44 from m-audio 300$) i was suprised how much better sound it produce, you can instantly hear the difference, I was amazed.
M-audio has recently introduced a budget/gamer sound card, you might want to check it out, it costs 120$: M-Audio Revolution 7.1 or read a review of it at firingsquad
oh crud … I know that terratec sucks badly … and 300 or 120 $ is not exactly what I consider cheap … Heck, I mean, I made my music with an AWE64Gold (ISA-Slot) all the years, and my tracks did sound good, and if it really mattered I got it mixed elsewhere … So I guess I will go for that SB live. or what about an SB 128 ? I can get that one really cheap.
SB PCI 128 (the only SB card which at least worths its price ) does not support ASIO.
I had it for years, it costed me 25€, then it just ceased to function, so I recently got an ESS Solo clone by Terratec for 13€ (!!!):
Terratec Sound 128T Bulk
It has a MIDI port and the standard mic+lineIn jack-in stuff, a MIDI XG Wavetable (128 voices) so it’s a very good back-up soundcard for the everyday use.
I’ve tried most of their cards (Aureon fun/sky, DMX 6fire…) and they all sucked…
For a simple card I’d go for a SBLive 5.1 … I sell that baby for 40 EUR and it does its job well.
I’ll have to check out but I also have a Qware soundcard somewhere at around 40 EUR with digital optical in/out and 5.1 sound, that could be a nice card.
Currently I’m using my nForce2 sound chipset and it’s definitely enough for me
since i discovered the kx-drivers delivering ASIO functionality, i’m quite happy with my 4 years old soundblaster live classic. the analog outputs have ceased to work meanwhile, but as i’m using the digital coax-outs that doesn’t really bother me, and quality-wise the digital outs of that card still deliver a pretty decent sound - at least for my ears.
you should be able to get a live! for around 40€, which is an ok prize for the hardware-value, imo.