Creative Labs SB0570 PCI Sound Blaster Audigy SE Sound Card
by Creative
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Our Price: $38.97 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $7.95 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Creative Labs SB0570 PCI Sound Blaster Audigy SE Sound Card
Customer Review: Great Value Card
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this card to get away from my onboard sound of my ASUS P5B motherboard. I was having issues with audio lag and crackling from my headphones and thought the problem would be solved if I bought a sound card. It was not. Installation was a breeze though.
However, I did figure out the problem with my mobo (PCIe x16 link settings stuck at x1) and considered returning to onboard sound until I started using this. The clarity and crispness of the sound is far beyond anything that can be provided by integrated sound. For those unfamiliar with how sound works:
**Most motherboards DON'T have dedicated hardware to process music or multi-channel sound and instead use software and custom drivers (aka a codec) and the cpu to supplement a sound card**
This method is not good for multiple reasons in that it takes away from system performance and it provides inferior sound quality in the process. While this is by no means the best sound card out there it has a dedicated chip and the sound has no trace of interferance from other components (i.e. vibrations from hard drives, dvd player, etc.) like I had from my integrated audio. And on the plus side I've gotten ~5-10% less CPU usage. Says it has EAX capabilities but I don't have any games that support EAX so can't test that out.
Details aside this card is perfect for anyone looking to have a notch above integrated sound. 24 bit/96khz is more than enough for non-audiophiles who just want a clean sound. Comes with an equalizer, but I think it only applies to the media player that is included as well because I can't tell a difference for the rest of my system. Can't say I mind since there are a number of free equalizers available online, google will guide you if interested. If you need to tweak every sound setting this card is not for you. If you've been thinking you want a hassle free way to have solid audio for less than $30 then this is the perfect card.
Customer Review: Quick and Easy
Summary: 5 Stars
There have been a few interesting reviews for this product here on Amazon. Some are evidently due to lack of experience with computers. I will just list a few things you might want to know.
1. The card was very easy to install and update. As stated in the instructions.. Install the card, then boot up. When it detects the card and wants to search for drivers.. hit cancel. Then when your desktop loads, insert the installation cd and install the software. This gets you the bonus material on the cd as well as the drivers. This includes an automated update system for driver and software updates. You can schedule it to check for (I recommend) once a month, but run it once when you first install. This automatically updates your drivers for you. Very easily done. No searching the net, no messing with anything. Just click the options you want.
2. Sound cards in general. Most computers packaged these days come with onboard (chipped directly to the motherboard) sound cards. This is a terrible idea. The onboard sound card
a. is using your system resources and will could be causing conflicts or bottlenecks that lessen gaming and other intensive cpu usage and
b. not a real sound card and therefore generally a real pain (usually impossible) to upgrade the drivers on.
I am a gamer from ancient history of computer gaming and can tell you this.. sound card drivers not being updated are the cause of just as many, if not more problems crashing other programs than anything else on your computer save the video drivers.
Finally.. as for the sound. The digital 7.1 is awesome. I really notice a difference and have enjoyed the performance of this card very much.
Customer Review: It'll Do
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased the Creative Sound blaster Audigy about 4 weeks ago. The day I receieved it in the mail I installed it. Here are my findings;
1) I received it very quickly in the mail with no dents and in great condition.
2) I installed it (PS- I have my CompTIA A+ Hardware Installers Certification) with a great deal of ease and no issues whatsoever. Most anyone who has any knowledge of the inner workings of a PC can install this card.
3) I am pleased with Amazon's service and the product as a whole. It recreates very accurate and clean sound on my 5.1 surround system. And it does not tax the system resources in order to do what it is made to do. (Less than 2% CPU usage at best)
4) As a side note, Creative labs products usually require some sort of software upgrade after you purchase them so if you have an internet connection, go to the MFG's homepage and download the latest version of soundcard drivers. I noticed certain sounds in my gaming worked better after the latest drivers were downloaded.
My Summary
5/5 on this product. Buy it if you are in need of a simple, high quality sound card. I would recommend it for gamers and music enthusiasts alike. I would not recommend it for MIDI inputs and extremely high end audio workstations as there are most likely better soundcards designed for that purpose.
Customer Review: Do not buy if you are a gamer!
Summary: 1 Stars
About 3 months ago, I upgraded an older PC to WinXPsp2. At the same time, I installed this card, with the latest web drivers.
The system was stable, audio functioned fine, but I started to have all kinds of what appeared to be audio slowdowns in my games. No lock-ups or anything, but I had to turn the audio settings + video settings down in most of my games to get an acceptable framerate. I investigated, and, guess what?
THIS CARD IS NOT HARDWARE ACCELERATED despite what they tell you. The EAX 3.0 is SOFTWARE supported not hardware.
This card was slower than my old SBLive! Value.
I just got a SB X-Fi ExtremeMusic - holy cow can you tell the difference!!
Check this out:
I went from stuttering frames at 800x600 in UT2004 with SB Audigy SE
to
Liquid smooth gameplay at 1280x1024 with SB X-Fi ExtremeMusic!! WOW!!
BTW use '3D Audio' setting over 'HW 3d +EAX' for best FPS.
Far Cry is smoother for sure, the SE would hitch during the opening demo, the X-Fi was smooth.
System:
Athlon XP1800+
Gigabyte GA-7DXR mobo
BFG Geforce 6800 GSOC
768 MB PC2100 RAM
HP DVD-RW
SoundBlaster X-Fi ExtremeMusic (formerly SB Audigy SE)
Customer Review: Does the job
Summary: 4 Stars
The sound card that came with my computer (now two years old) had developed a popping/crackling sound. I bought the Soundblaster Audigy SE from Amazon. It arrived within a week. Now, I'm not very experienced with computer hardware--I'd rather it left me alone, and I'd do the same, but this was very easy--just popped the side panel off the computer case--didn't even have to disconnect all the other wires from the case--just the speaker wire that came from the sound card--unscrewed the one screw holding the old sound card in place, and pulled it straight out. The new sound card went in the same way, then plugged the speaker wire back in (green to green), replaced the screw and the side panel of the computer case, plugged the power cord back in, and booted the computer up. Inserted the CD that came with the sound card--it installed the driver (along with some other sound software)--took about 20 minutes total. No more Snap/Crackle/Pop!