help with Soundcard buying advice...

[jonesy]

Had enough of that onboard nonsense, and it's time for a card.

I was told that an Aureal Vortex SQ1500 Quad PCI was a tasty card to get, yet I can't seem to find it in the UK.

All I can find is an 'Aureal Vortex 2 SuperQuad Sound Card (OEM)' an 'Aureal 3D Vortex Advantage PCI (AU8810)' & an 'Aureal Vortex 2 Sound Card (OEM)'.

Firstly, forgive my ignorance if they are one and the same!

Any comments re the above choice and any UK residents steer in the direction of an Aureal SQ1500?

Many thanks in advance.

I await your top advice :-)

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[Echo|Fox]

Personally, i prefer the SB Live to the Aureal chipset based boards, but thats a matter of taste I guess.
To answer you question, the Aureal Vortex 2 SuperQuad Sound Card (OEM) would be what you want. I.E. Aureal Vortex SQ (SuperQuad) in what you were told to seek =)
The Vortex advantage and the plain vanilla vortex 2 are different cards.

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P3-450@558mhz@2.1v, ABit BE6, 128megs 7.3125ns PC133 SDRAM, SB Live! Value, G400 32meg Dualhead (@120%), Acer ALN-201 PCI 10bT NIC, 6.5gig Seagate Medalist Pro 7200rpm, 13gig Quantum Fireball CR, Yamaha 4416e Burner, Pioneer 10x DVD-ROM, Panasonic e70 17" Monitor, Antec KS-188 24" Tower, 6 year old Honeywell-SUH 101key Keyboard, Logitech Trackman Marble+

[Petter]

Buy the SB LIVE!
It´s rather cheap, very nice sound and supported by many games.
I have it, I love it!

///Petter

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PII 350
64 SDRAM PC100
G400 32 DH MAX
SB LIVE PLAYER 1024
TAXAN 17"
GRAVIS Xterminator (buy it, the best gamepad in the world)

[Brent]

Sensational sound quality from the Live but the drivers are vicious and the card is DMA and IRQ hungry. If you can get it functioning, it is well worth it. Be wary if you have a "busy" system though-you could be in for much card slot juggling and do yourself a favour and do a custom install and deselect DOS support.

[Mark F]

jonesy
The Aureal Vortex SQ1500 Quad PCI is a VORTEX based card. If the small price difference isn't a issue go with one based on the VORTEX2 (AU8830), such as the SQ2500, or one of the OEM cards you mentioned with the VORTEX 2 in there name. The SQ2500 (retail) uses a newer vesion of the chip than the SuperQuad, and the SPDIF is coaxle (SQ2500) instead of optical (SuperQuad). If the SPDIF isn't important to you you might even save a few dollars (well pounds? OK) by going with a DIAMOND MX300 and useing the AUREAL drivers.

Mark F.

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OH NO, my retractable cup holder swallowed a CD



[This message has been edited by Mark F (edited 11 November 1999).]

[jerryka6bwz]

Sound Blaster Live Value here. This card uses less resorses than the Vortex based cards. You can disable the SB 16 emulation if you don't use it thus freeing up a couple of IRQs. The main thing is to get the Live Ware 3.0 drivers, these corrected a lot of probs that were present with the v1.0 and 2.0 drivers. I assume that the new Sound Blaster Live cards come with the version 3 drivers and programs. Good luck!
BTW it does not fight with my G400 MAX, solid all the way.

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No dummy, its rape, pilage, and THEN burn.

[This message has been edited by jerryka6bwz (edited 11 November 1999).]

[jonesy]

Thanks for the replies!
I was told that the MX300 (which I originaly was after) had very poor driver support - it would seem that I could use it with an Aureal driver - yes?
Having reread my nonsense I meant to say the SQ2500(!) So the question ought to have been anyone know the difference between the 'Aureal V2 SQ OEM' and the 'Aureal V2 OEM [ie _non_ SQ]?
Geez, this gets tough!
I'm only running a PII-266 (plan a slocket Celeron 500) and I don't wan't any soundcard to be a hog.
Again, thanks for the superb advice, I knew I'd get good replies in here.
(I'll keep quiet about having a G200 in case you all laugh :-) )

[Zwisch]

I have just traded my MX300 for a SBLIVE and frankly, the sound was better on the MX300. Because of driver support, I would go with Aureal Quad card, even if yes, the aureal drivers will work with the MX300... I was using them... Downside to all this is that the Aureal card looks like shit compared to the live and MX300... it really does look cheap... but then again, it's the quality that's important and not the look... at least when you have you case closed

Z

[kelin]

I have had both...just sold my SB LIve Value, and while the Quality of the Sound from the Live was great, I have alot of compatability probs...especially when I was running 98, NT, and Linux on my system...The "Expendable" version that came with my Max WOULD NOT RUN with the SB Live Value...I was trying to get my new K7 600 up and running and took all the PCI cards out of my system, except for my Adaptec 2940U2W, and the game ran fine!!! I ended up with the Aureal Vortex 2 Super Quad...and love it!!! Not a single problem, and I have noticed that more games seem to be A3D then EAX...
If you are planning to do any kind of music on your comp, then you probably want the live...
Kelin