Turtle Beach Santa Cruz PCI Sound Card
by TURTLE BEACH SYSTEMS
|
List Price: Category: CE See more product details |
|---|
(Click here)
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Turtle Beach Santa Cruz PCI Sound Card
Customer Review: Excellent audio card - great sound and smooth setup.
Summary: 4 Stars
Though being 5.1. surround, the onboard sound card in my new Dell XPS 400, a.k.a. Dimension 9150, was much too low quality to serve my Altec Lansing GT 5051 5.1.loudspeakers right: The sound was flat, with little or no bass, ambience or sense of depth (Although very happy with my Dells in general, you would think that a dedicated gaming system such as the XPS would have an audio card already in it!)
When doing my audio card research to complement my GT5051 speakers, I concluded that it was between a Creative Soundblaster Live! or a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz (or similar). I went with the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz as other reviewers had suggested that the setup was pretty straightforward and were complementary about the sound.
I can recommend it, too: The card slipped right into one of my empty PCI slots and the color coding of the card outputs matched the inputs of my Altec Lansing 5.1 speakers for quick and easy hookup. Upon restart, my XP immediately recognized the card (make sure to "Cancel" XP's offer to install the drivers itself - instead, install the drivers from the CD-ROM that comes with the card once the computer booted up).
Software installation went without a hitch. The associated software is excellent, with plenty of adjustments and settings, so you can set it up exactly for your hardware requirements, taste and applications. If you are replacing an onboard sound card (as opposed to a dedicated sound card), PLEASE note that you will need to turn off the onboard sound card in the computer BIOS (F2 or F11 on startup) - if you don't, you will get NO sound off your new Turtle Beach card. This is NOT explained in the Quick Guide that comes with the card AT ALL.
Customer Review: Just what I needed: good price, great value
Summary: 5 Stars
I recently upgraded from basic speakers to a 5:1 speaker set and discovered a hardware problem with my old sound card, a Creative Labs card that was a standard component with my system. The documentation that came with the card wasn't great, and it took a while to identify the problem, so I was looking outside the Creative family for my next sound card. I'd read several good reviews of the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz card, so I figured I'd take a shot on it. That shot definitely paid off. I have nothing but good things to say about my new sound card: installation was easy (I only had to unhook the microphone connector from my old card and snap it onto this one), the drivers installed quickly and easily, and the accompanying software was far superior to the software that I had from Creative. There are a host of sound options available: your standard volume-by-source controls, a graphic equalizer that can be turned on and off with several presets, options for multiple speaker setups with an accompanying image showing where your speakers should be connected (2 speakers, 4 speakers, 5:1, and so on), and additional applications if you want to get more involved.
I haven't had a chance to put the card through its paces with a decent game, but the difference in listening to my iTunes files is amazing, and the control I have over the music is great. I'd definitely recommend this card to anyone looking for a reasonably-priced, fairly high-powered sound card, and with Amazon's newly-lowered price, it's an even better deal than when I got it. Buy it and enjoy!
Customer Review: Who needs SoundBlaster?!
Summary: 5 Stars
Way back in the day, when SB 8-bit was the coolest thing around.. everyone had one, cause thats what was out. Then a few years back there was some good compition in the sound card market. Creative Labs, and Aureal to be specific. I went Aureal (rip)when I built my last system... and it has lasted me for these last few years. I was never a fan of SB or SB Live! price vs performace, or features for that matter. A3D (i think, and most will agree) kicked EAX right in the pants. My last card, Aureals Vortex SQ2500, I absolutly loved. Music, 3d gaming, all rocked. Matched with Klipsch ProMedia 4.1 I have been totally happy until I upgraded my system (2.4 P4) and to Win XP Pro. Since Aureal went belly up, support for XP just isn't there. I lost quad sound, the great Aureal control panel. Time to upgrade, and i figured SB was going to be the only choice. But I searched around, and found the Santa Cruz. Familiar with the Turtle Beach name, and what info I gathered, seemed wise to purchase one. Awesome. Easy to install, new XP drivers right off the webpage. Music sounds even better to me now. I really like the control panel layout, and a real EQ, like my old Aureal card. Effects sound great, and none of that system hogging, useless software that SB crams on your computer. I reccomend this card for anyone, music lover, gamer.. doesn't matter. Solid card, lots of features, can't go wrong. To top it off, cheaper than SB cards. Only gripe: no games bundled :) Haha, but i can't live with that for sure.Customer Review: "Clearly The Best"
Summary: 5 Stars
Well, I now make a partial living from building high end to Mid end cpmputer gaming systems. On the motherboards that do not have the C-Media 8738 onboard sound, or the N-Force Dolby (c) sound, I always use the Turtle Beach Santa Cruise, never a Soundblaster of any kind. The SB series do work great on Intel chipset motherboards, and they sound nice, but not as nice as this TB Santa Cruise, and the TB card works on so many more game titles and motherboard chipsets -- Via, SIS, ...and gives hardly any problems---if any at all. Mostly I build with Soyo, Biostar, And Epox motherboards for thr AMD XP 1600-2800. On ther Soyo boards, the C-Media is fairly nice, but on Epox and Biostar, they usually have the AC97 onboard sound, which I replace with the Santa Cruise. Fistly, the interface is simple and has many options--but not TOO many, like the SB series---so many that you are overwhelmed, and most of them you will never use, but on the Santa Cruise---you will use most of them, and it's a true digital card, and you can create so many cool sound effects, like using the "sewer pipe" effect while playing Half Life. The SB Audidy cards would be nice if they actually worked on all chipsets, and did not have so much "bloatware" that you will never use. You want clean-clear-crisp--no skipping--no popping, and want it to work on all your game titles? -- and you want it to be perfect for music? Look no < This is the card to get> :)Customer Review: One of the Best Out There
Summary: 5 Stars
Having heard a SB Audigy Platinum Sound Card in action, I have to tell you that this thing is the real deal for ALOT less. It's got support for EVERY speaker combination you can think of, from 2, to 4, and then the 5.1 6 Speaker setup. I've got the Promedia 5.1 System, and this is the PERFECT card for it. I didn't think I needed to go any further than the Turtle Beach to get top quality sound, and I guessed right. If you buy a Sound Blaster, you'll probably get the same quality, with a few extra features, and a more recognized brand name. However, if your into performance and bang for the buck, rather than brand names, look no further.The installation was simple, pull out the old card, plug this one in. The diagram on the back of the box is plenty detailed enough to help you find where your speaker plugs go. The installaion disk installed itself in about 1 minute, and I was rolling with REAL 5.1 Surround Sound.
The control panel is great, plenty of detail to adjust the card to perform to your specifications. It's a fancy card for a discounted price, but your not paying for it by getting less quality. This is a GREAT sound card. Dell sells these with the 8200 series line, and they rarely make mistakes.
If you've got a 5.1 System, I ESPECIALLY reccomend this, because you need the 6 speaker support. If your just looking to upgrade, look no further.
Good luck and take care.