The State of PC Audio

jonesy writes "The Tech Report has put together a pretty decent six-card sound round-up that covers the most popular audio controller chips around. DACs, ADCs, DSPs, and the other important acroymns are explained. One interesting revelation: Creative's Audigy card doesn't do 24-bit/96KHz sound, despite Creative's claims. Gaming benchmarks are provided, and the authors even take a crack at the subjective side of audio, although they seem aware of the difficulties in doing so."

Comments

Sound Blaster 16

[JohnHegarty]

I use a sound blaster 16 on machine. It cost 12. Its grand , plays mp3's ... and games...

Am I the only one who doesn't have an orchestra in the back of my pc , or are most people on this type of older card ?

What's the big deal?

[billnapier]

My computer goes "BEEP" when I hit Ctrl-g. What else do I need?

Re:What's the big deal?

[unicron]

You need those fast repetive beeps for a victory dance after your banana takes our your opponent or the building he's standing on.

the real measure of hardware.

[herrd0kt0r]

omg, evreyuone knows teh REAL BEST sound cards r the ones that overcl0kc teh BERST.

like, i oc'd my mediavision proaduiuospectrum16 (don't laff its teh BEST) and now i can hear sounds b 4 they happen!

like, omg. this guy was gonan shoot me with rocket launcher but i heard it before hje shooted then i was gonna shoot him first but tehn i heared my shotgun fire b 4 i even press the button!!1!!

HE WAS DEADRESTATED B 4 I EVEN SHOOTED HIM!

I R TEH S0 GLAD I READED THIS REVIEWS.
MY SHOTGUN SOUNDS SO CLEAN AND CRISP AND CLEAR AND BECAUSE I R TEH AUDIOPHILz0RZ I KNOW IT SOUNDS AS BEST AS REALISTIC YES IS.

seriously, sound card reviews like this are a crock, providing little information above the specifications provided by the manufacturers themselves. as evidenced by the previous story about the s00per c00l vacuum t00b sound card, people can't be fooled into thinking these things will provide "audiophilez0rz" quality.

Re:the real measure of hardware.

[herrd0kt0r]

one more thing, for those who think i didn't read the review and think that i'm off my rocker: read the review yourself.

for those who think the listening tests add any useful information to the review: read the article.

for chrissakes, it's written like a horoscope! every card sounds crisp/clean/warm/deep but also might be harsh/tinny/poopy/balls. even _I_ could write a review like that:

"a friend of mine can play the star spangled banner with his armpit. while it may be unconventional, this reviewer believes that the rendition was warm, with good deep tones. while it wasn't able to reproduce frequencies above 120hz, i do not believe this is of significant detriment, as most farts fall in the sub-120hz range. just for your information, bass tones that low are nearly 'omnidirectional.' that is why it is so difficult to determine who cut the cheese, and why it is best to go with the rule 'whoever smelt it, dealt it.'"

Re:Parallel Port/PCMCIA sound?

[YourMissionForToday]

How about USB, fruity whip? Looking for sound out from a parallel port is like looking for a ham sammich up a hog's ass, ya dig?