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ark_angel · Mon May 03, 2004 5:52 pm

I just bought http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.a ... 166&DEPA=0 (to go with a new m-xp2500) which comes with nVIDIA SoundStorm APU(Dolby 5.1) + 6-Channel AC97 CODEC. Right now I am using SBlive 5.1 would it be worth it to move the Creative card over or will I receive better sound with the SoundStorm? In case it matters I use a 5.1 speaker setup.

firerules16 · Mon May 03, 2004 6:01 pm

If you had an Audigy 2, I'd say use that... but since you have an SBLive, I would say go with the Soundstorm. I've worked with the Abit NF7-S 2.0, and it really has *awesome* sound. Soundstorm is by far the best integrated sound setup out there.

pez-king · Mon May 03, 2004 6:05 pm

The soundstorm rocks, if you have it there is no reason not to use it unless you have an Audigy 2 or something better.

Tue May 04, 2004 2:38 am

pez-king wrote:
The soundstorm rocks, if you have it there is no reason not to use it unless you have an Audigy 2 or something better.

No reason not to use soundstorm as it will give a much better sound than the 5 year old SB live. Keep the card in your old system and enjoy your new one.

Austin · Tue May 04, 2004 5:31 am

Soundstorm is easily better than the buggy SB Live and in many cases the Audigy too (esp when it comes to CPU usage). When you factor in costs the Soundstorm easily wins the battle ... a BIG shame nVidia haven't put it in Athlon64's nForce3 chipset as it would outsell the others easily. Honestly, nVidia apparently conducted research and found users didn't look for / buy due to Soundstorm ... who did they ask, Creative employees?

LicketySplit · Tue May 04, 2004 5:37 am

Whomever they asked/polled....they dropped the ball big time...and have lost customers because of it.... :lol:

ALIAS · Mon May 10, 2004 12:05 am

DONT GET A LIVE! Choppy, spits and spats. OLD GENERATION TECHNOLOGY. Stick with the Sandstorm unless you are going for an Audigy 2. Audigy 2 is NICE!

Radick_Please · Sun May 30, 2004 6:50 am

I know this is rezzing,but my Soundstorm seems to be having problems with 5.1 speakers.

Ma10n3 · Sun May 30, 2004 7:04 am

Well, if you can't get the Soundstorm working right...

Go with an Audigy 2 if you game mostly.

But, if you do other things than just game, the M-Audio Revolution 7.1 is an option. It used to be about the best all-around consumer-level card for audio work and playing some games every now and then, mostly because of the ASIO drivers. However, with the introduction of the Audigy 2 series, Creative Labs answered the call of competition and included ASIO support in their drivers.

With this in mind, stability of the drivers is the only thing that comes to mind to differentiate between the cards, other than the obvious lead CL has in the gaming arena (because of the EAX advances). M-Audio's drivers are rock-solid. I don't know about the new generation of Creative Lab's cards, but I haven't had a very good experience with them in the past, and I haven't heard anything but negative comments about the stability of their drivers for even the Audigy 2 series. Of course, those experiencing problems are usually the most vocal, so...

Sun May 30, 2004 9:15 am

Austin wrote:
Soundstorm is easily better than the buggy SB Live....a BIG shame nVidia haven't put it in Athlon64's nForce3 chipset as it would outsell the others easily. Honestly, nVidia apparently conducted research and found users didn't look for / buy due to Soundstorm ... who did they ask, Creative employees?

LicketySplit wrote:
Whomever they asked/polled....they dropped the ball big time...and have lost customers because of it....

My guess is that they asked the folks building motherboards for HP/Compaq and Gateway/E-Machines. The volume of the OEM business is huge compared to the retail market. That's why NVidia makes much more money on crappy video cards like the MX series than they do on serious gaming cards. If HP and Gateway looked at SoundStorm and said that it added too much cost, then the motherboard suppliers and NVidia would respond.

Austin · Sun May 30, 2004 9:50 am

I guess but I doubt the likes of Gateway and HP would ever go for the 'Deluxe' type models, there were plenty of nForce2 with and without Soundstorm. I can see that these big companies would have something 'better' to shout about to consumers with a hw firewall over Soundstorm audio but I still remain firmly the 'wrong decision nVidia' camp. I would be VERY unwilling to move to nForce3 until it has Soundstorm. If nForce3 gets Soundstorm it would easily be my top choice when I next upgrade.

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sb live or soundstorm?

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