Soundstorm VS Audigy LS or Audigy 2 ZS

[E5150]

Hey all! I've been looking at some new sound cards ive seen come on the market. The SB Audigy LS that is like 69.99 and then the SB Audigy 2 ZS tha this 99.99. the audigy Ls seems like a nice card for the money but i haven't seen many reviews on it...

Right now im using the SoundStorm on my Nforce 1 mobo, i have the Abit NV7-133R it has the MCP-D chip and im getting full Soundstorm features..i think...

im using an Altec Lansing 251 5.1 Analog speaker set....

alot of the new sound cards seem to be more geared toward Digital speakers, I'm not planning on buying new digital speakers right now, so i was wondering what is the best sound card i could use with my set up?

thanks alot

[soupnazi]

If you do decide to upgrade your soundcard, make sure you get the A2 ZS. The Audigy LS is really an Audigy 1. Your soundstorm should be better than the A1 anyway.

As for digital speakers, those are all hype. They have not much practical use in the PC realm. If you do get an A2ZS, you might wanna upgrade those speakers too to get the most out of it. Eg. Megaworks 550THX

[mikeysg]

Originally posted by soupnazi
If you do decide to upgrade your soundcard, make sure you get the A2 ZS. The Audigy LS is really an Audigy 1. Your soundstorm should be better than the A1 anyway.

As for digital speakers, those are all hype. They have not much practical use in the PC realm. If you do get an A2ZS, you might wanna upgrade those speakers too to get the most out of it. Eg. Megaworks 550THX Listen to the audio man, dude! ;) I've upgraded to A2 ZS (plain vailla) and the MW THX 550 and I was blown away by the awesome sound. I'm listening to Linkin Park's 'Somewhere I belong' and the bass and clarity is just .....AWESOME!:cool: Of course, if you have the budget, you can always get PM5.1 or the Ultras.:p :D

[Ignitionator]

Originally posted by mikeysg
Listen to the audio man, dude! ;) I've upgraded to A2 ZS (plain vailla) and the MW THX 550 and I was blown away by the awesome sound. I'm listening to Linkin Park's 'Somewhere I belong' and the bass and clarity is just .....AWESOME!:cool: Of course, if you have the budget, you can always get PM5.1 or the Ultras.:p :D
Linken Park own :cool:

[mikeysg]

Originally posted by Ignitionator
Linken Park own :cool: Yeah, they're good, but it's from a CD of various artists like :

RHCP - By the way
Coldplay - In my place
Matchbox 20 - Unwell
Remy Zero - Save me (luv the TV series of 'Smallville')
5 for fighting - Superman
Oasis - little by little
The Calling - Wherever you will go

Not bad selection, I'm just about 40 and I like 'em.:o :D

[XP1800]

Originally posted by Ignitionator
Linken Park own :cool:

Hehe, I just popped in Meteora and made the switch from my Ultra's to 212's since my roomie hit the sack...wow there is a huge difference! 212's sound a little more "muddy".

To stay on topic, I agree with Soup. Get the ZS and later down the road if you upgrade your speakers, you'll be in for a treat! The Megaworks are really dropping in price, and are still an excellent set of speakers. Most would rank them 3rd or 4th in terms of MM speaker sets:)

[E5150]

wow...digital speakers not all that? heh didnt know that....lol i just always thought anything digital is gonna be better... but what do i know.. :D

well i dont have alot of money...so im not sure ill be able to afford the new speakers but thanks for the heads up...

now as far as the audigy 2 Zs versus the regular audigy 2 what is the diffrence? i mean for some reason the ZS is cheaper? heh why do they always have to come up with 10 diffrent products with the same name? what is next audigy 2 FX?


one thing i forgot to mention.. now i have the 6 speaker set...but like when i watch dvd's all the setting for 5.1 is all digital...now when it says dolby digital does that mean my sound card needs to be able to handle that or that my speakers also need to be digital speakers? cuz that is where i get confused...i always thought that if you want dolby digital sound you need digital speakers and your sound card needs to be able to support it etc...

[ewitte]

Originally posted by E5150
Hey all! I've been looking at some new sound cards ive seen come on the market. The SB Audigy LS that is like 69.99 and then the SB Audigy 2 ZS tha this 99.99. the audigy Ls seems like a nice card for the money but i haven't seen many reviews on it...


You can get an OEM Audigy 2 for about $75 or a retail Audigy 2 zs for about $89 on newegg.

Eric

[soupnazi]

Originally posted by E5150
1. now as far as the audigy 2 Zs versus the regular audigy 2 what is the diffrence? i mean for some reason the ZS is cheaper? heh why do they always have to come up with 10 diffrent products with the same name? what is next audigy 2 FX?


2. one thing i forgot to mention.. now i have the 6 speaker set...but like when i watch dvd's all the setting for 5.1 is all digital...now when it says dolby digital does that mean my sound card needs to be able to handle that or that my speakers also need to be digital speakers? cuz that is where i get confused...i always thought that if you want dolby digital sound you need digital speakers and your sound card needs to be able to support it etc...

1. Here are are some improvements that the A2ZS retail has over the A2 oem.
-7.1 output
-DTS software decoding in drivers
-higher Signal to noise ratio
-DVD-audio sampler dvd
-2 free games

Personally I think it's worth it to get the A2 ZS over the A2. (only $15 more)

2. If you wanna play DD/DTS with analog speakers, your soundcard can do the decoding in software. You can also do the decoding in Powerdvd. Digital speakers are not required for DD/DTS.
:)

[E5150]

thanks soupnazi...ya i was sure that dd/DTS should have been able to be decoded by my machine....maybe i need to fix a setting on my soundstorm.... :-/

now the audigy 1 doesn't have the DTS software decoding? just was wondering....

and that DVD-Sample audio well.....lets just say that isn't my thing...maybe if they had some hard rock or heavy metal tracks hehe.....heh ...but i agree the ZS does offer more than the oem...

thanks alot for the info i really appreciate it!


Now my problem is should i wait for prices to go down...because im kinda savingup for a new barebone rig....not sure if iw anna spend 89 towards the sound card...heh but the sound card is sounding better every minute!

[soupnazi]

Glad to help!:D

Nope, the A1 and A2 doesn't have software DTS decoding. Only the A2 ZS line has it in software. If you buy/download Powerdvd, it can do all the DD/DTS decoding for you for movies.

As for soundcard prices, I find that they usually stay the same till a new model comes out. If you're lucky, sometimes there are wicked sales.

Here's one.
http://www.3dss-forums.com/cgi-bin/wwwthreads/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=Forum1&Number=130175&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=14&fpart=1#Post130359

[mikeysg]

E5150, I hope you don't mind that I'm hijacking your thread with a question for soup.:o :) Hey soup, I was wondering, I bought Intervideo WinDVD Platinum over the net, it comes with DTS and DD 5.1 - 7.1 support (not sure about 7.1 but I'm quite sure about 5.1) My question is : Is the audio decoding, for both DTS and DD, done by the WinDVD software?:confused: TIA!:)

[soupnazi]

You can set the A2 ZS to do the decoding by setting Windvd to Spdif out and enabling decoding in Creative's panel.

Or

You can set Windvd to do the decoding in the options and then disabling decoding in Creative's panel.

Personally I'd try both and see which one you prefer. I think the Windvd one will be better though.:)

[xelaeel]

I'm a bit late for the speakers but trust me, Megaworks with A2ZS can do quite an amount of damage. Crank it up and your neighbour will call the cops on you :D Strongly recommended. Good price too!

[Vodka]

I got the Audigy 2 ZS and I could not be happier. you will definitely not regret it.

[mikeysg]

Get the A2 ZS! That's an order mate!:p But seriously, get the Zs now or a lil later, when its prce has dropped a lil, and save up for the MW THX 550. Trust me, you won't regret it, that combo makes for killa fidelity!;) Of course, there's always GW7.1, PM5.1 and the Ultras *sighs*:p :D

[E5150]

heh...you sure you guys dont work for creative or something lol... btw what is the max watts on the megaworks i forget...cuz my speakers...have 95 Max wattage...


and while i have your attention... soup nazi i need your help on a problem im having with my DvD player. Okay first off im running an ati 9500pro...and i just upgraded to the new drivers and the new Multimedia Center 8.8 ...and im using that on board Sound Storm...

for some damn reason, both my Dvd Player and my Windows Media Player will not reconize that I have 6 speakers setup....even when i set in the SoundStorm Control panel 6 speakers and the control panel will play music through all speakers... TIA

:D

[soupnazi]

I believe the 550THX has 500watts of burst power.:eek: :D

I think windows media player only outputs stereo sound. Does stereo sound work for you?

Are you talking about a software dvd-player or a hardware one. What brand of software/hardware is it?

[E5150]

this is a software dvd player ...that came with my video card...

as for windows media player... i downloaded the new windows media 9 encoder...and under the DVD tab in the preferences in the advanced settings you can choose your speaker set up...

what is wierd..is before i upgraded to version 8.8, i recall i was able to pick between 2 speakers - 6 speakers....but when i downgraded to the old 8.5 version i still got the problem of only being able to select 2speaker output..

wow 500 wattz!! that is a spicy meatball... :eek:

[xelaeel]

500W and it hits hard and cold. Anyone willing to donate yer ears, mine's almost worn off? :p Jokes aside. What's the difference between RMS and Burst power anyway?

[soupnazi]

Hmmm...what's the brand and version of the software dvd player?

I'm not too sure about the WM stuff though and I usually only watch things in stereo.

RMS is the max wattage the speaker system can sustain over an extended period of time. Burst power is how much it can put out in peaks/very brief periods.

[E5150]

im using the dvd player that is in the Multimedia Center that came with my graphics card which is an ATI 9500 pro

basically i just want to get my dvd player and i guess the rest of my computer to realize i have a 6 speaker set up...only my sound storm control panel shows it..

btw i checked out thos thx speakers...nice ...though they are 200+ ..heh im a budget gamer to say the least but they are very awesome.... what is the RMS on those speakers if its not 500 watts

[soupnazi]

Unfortunately I don't own an ATI card so I'm not familiar with the software player.

Creative only gives the "BURST" rating so their probably lower in RMS, but wattage is not the only thing when choosing quality speakers. Eg. There's sensivity, clarity, distortion, etc.:)

[E5150]

ofcourse...

but if you do have the thx..and use Window media player i suggest you get the window media encoder 9

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/9series/encoder/default.aspx


and thanks for the help and stuff i think im gonna try fixin my speaker problem if i cant i might just break down and buy the Audigy 2 ZS it looks like a card that will last me...

[soupnazi]

Cool, thanks for the heads up. Let us know if you ever fix it or get an A2 ZS.:)