sound card question (1 Viewer)

[BradK]

I got a nice set of Harmon Kardon computer speakers for Christmas. They sound real nice, lack a little bass, but a very crisp sound compared to my 7 year old Son Labs.

Question is would a new sound card make my music sound that much nicer, or would it make much difference? Dont use pc for games, more into mp3's. Current card came with pc a couple years ago - creative sound blaster pci. If so what would you recommend?

 

[Andrew_A_Paul]

If you aren't trying for the top notch sound or trying to get every last drop of sound out of your system, you really don't need to go out and get 'nice' sound card. I would only suggest that for getting a 5.1 set. Most MOBO onboard sound is decent enough even for a 2.1 set. I have never bought a sound card but I have a nice set of yamaha 2.1 speakers that are great.

 

[Jonny K]

Well, I can't say for certain, but I do know that a more expensive sound card will get you a better Signal/Noise ratio. If you look at this chart, you'll see the cheaper card have S/N ratios of 100, while the higher end ones have 106. In fact, Creative offers cards with ratios of 108. Now the current card you have is a bare-bones type, so I'd guess that you'd have a ratio of about 98.

http://us.creative.com/products/prod...49&nav=compare