Best Sound Cards Overall

Analyzing reviews from 59 Sites…

53 out of 162 products found

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5.1 Adjustability Creative Ease Of Set Up Gaming Performance Price Size Sound Quality Surround Work

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Xonar D1 7.1 Audio Card Pci Low Profile

$106.00 Est. at Amazon

from www.amazon.com
I just did a massive overhaul of my computer and I decided to throw this in.
from www.amazon.com
This is a great sound card for the price.
from pancakelizard, www.newegg.com
Pros: Card works flawlessly in XP.
from Lou, www.newegg.com
Pros: sound better than on-board HD audio, nice card for music
from gumbypoky, www.newegg.com
I reviewed just about every sound card in stock and this one was a sure winner!

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Positives: Card Interface: PCI, Output Mode: 7.1 Channel Surround, Form Factor: Plug-In Card, Compatible Audio Standards: DTS

2 RECOMMENDED by 31 people for OVERALL

Champion International Sound Blaster X-Fi

$162.00 Est. at Amazon

from www.bestbuy.com
next to the titanium fatal1ty champion, this is the top sound card you can buy.okay, i'll spell it out for you all so you don't run circles around yourselves installing drivers.
from www.bestbuy.com
what's great about it:?the clarity of the sound, the price i got it at, fits in pcie x16 slot what's not so great:?bit of a pain updating drivers "i got this card for under $50, due to it being on
from bvrev.compusa.com
highly recommend this card to anyone that is looking to get a better than average audio experience with their computer, especially those who have high-end speaker systems.
from bvrev.compusa.com
i have had mine for a few months now and i get nothing but the best quality sound out of my games, movies, and music.
from bvrev.compusa.com
overall, music and games sound great with excellent clarity and bass tones!

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Positives: Compact, Easy Installation, Good Sound Quality, Card Interface: PCI

3 RECOMMENDED by 5 people for OVERALL

Voyetra Turtle Beach 1131-01 Audio Advantage SRM

Voyetra Turtle Beach Turtle Beach 1131-01 Audio Advantage SRM External USB Sound Card

$87.00 Est. at Amazon

from www.amazon.com
and it is soooooo easy to transfer digital sound from your minidisc to your pc.....
from www.amazon.com
the creative card, and i assume the new one too, but i don't know for sure, came with tons and tons of useful software: fast rippers and converters and mp3 players and on and on.
from www.amazon.com
it can also be removed really easy without harming the system or, just as important, the vista settings.
from www.amazon.com
first, it installed seamlessly on my vista 64bit laptop.
from www.amazon.com
i wasn't really able to tell the difference in sound quality vs.

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Positives: Nice Performance, Easy To Use, Easy Installation, Card Interface: USB

4 RECOMMENDED by 17 people for OVERALL

ASUS Xonar HDAV1.3 7.1 Channel PCI-E

$234.00 Est. at Amazon

from www.amazon.com
so this wasn't what i would have called an easy install, but after some tinkering in various audio based configuration screens, it's all working now and it sounds fantastic.
from www.amazon.com
it's best to start with a fresh install of os.
from www.amazon.com
i have a windows 7 media center set-up that this card runs smoothly on with no problems for full blu-ray audio.
from www.amazon.com
the total sound experience is just clean, clear and crisp sounding.
from www.amazon.com
if you're like me you bought a video card that supported hdcp for your htpc that also supported 8 channel audio, bought your bluray drive, setup your htpc and then found out you were watching great

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Positives: Easy To Use, Compact, Nice Sound Quality, Card Interface: PCI

5 RECOMMENDED by 0 people for OVERALL

Auzentech Inc. AZT-XFHTHD 24-bit 192KHz PCI

Auzentech Inc. AuzenTech AZT-XFHTHD 24-bit 192KHz PCI Express X-Fi HOMETHEATER HD Audio Card Sound Card

$250.00 Est. at Amazon

Creative Technology X-Fi Xtreme Fidelity Souind card

Creative Technology Creative X-Fi Xtreme Fidelity Souind card - USB Sound Card

$59.00 Est. at Amazon

Positives: Card Interface: USB, Surround Mode, Form Factor: External, Package Content: I/O Console,3.5 mm (1/8-inch) to 6.35 mm (1/4-inch) plug adapter

Creative Technology 70SB088000000 SOUNDBLASTER

$106.00 Est. at Amazon

Positives: Card Interface: PCI, Output Mode: 7.1 Channel Surround, Compatible Audio Standards: DTS,ASIO 2,EAX,ASIO

Universal Audio UAD-2

$1,799.00 Est. at Amazon

Creative Technology X-Fi Xtreme Gamer

$77.00 Est. at Amazon

Positives: Card Interface: PCI, Output Mode: 7.1 Channel Surround, Form Factor: Plug-In Card, Package Content: PCI Card

RME Intelligent Audio Solutions HDSP9652

$697.00 Est. at Amazon

Positives: Card Interface: PCI, Form Factor: Plug-In Card, Compatible Audio Standards: ASIO 2,ASIO

SIIG USB SoundWave 7.1 Pro RoHS

$45.00 Est. at Amazon

from www.amazon.com
I wanted optical out and didn't want to spend the cash for a low profile PCI card.
from www.amazon.com
Installed this on a desktop computer that I downgraded to XP and on a notebook upgraded to Vista.

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Positives: Card Interface: USB, Output Mode: 7.1 Channel Surround, Form Factor: External Device and Plug-In Card, Compatible Audio Standards: DirectSound,A3D,EAX

StarTech.com PCISOUND5CH

$19.00 Est. at Amazon

Positives: Card Interface: PCI, Output Mode: 5.1 Channel Surround, Form Factor: Plug-In Card, Compatible Audio Standards: DirectSound,A3D,EAX

ST-Lab CMedia 4 Channel PCI

$8.00 Est. at Amazon

Positives: Card Interface: PCI, Form Factor: Plug-In Card

Auzentech Inc. X-Raider 7.1

$60.00 Est. at Amazon

from ratbuddy, www.newegg.com
I hear Auzentech support can be sketchy but haven't needed them yet.
from riz, www.newegg.com
Pros: optical spdif in/out, 24-bit crystal clear sound, swappable opamps is a plus i can confirm it works as-is in Vista64, and Ubuntu Hardy using OSS4 with a bit of fiddling around.
from dskill, www.newegg.com
The reason your sound card shows only 2 speakers when you go to S/PDIF is your sound card is only sending a "single signal" via the S/PDIF out and your AMP has the DTS decorder in it to make that signal into surround sound.
from steelian, www.newegg.com
Pros: This card doesn't sound bad, on regular speakers