Looking for sound card 5.1/7.1 what to buy?

GazCBG · 22-05-2015, 12:48

Hi,

I am looking to buy a mid-range sound card for my PC, as I only have the onboard one.

It can be either PCI or PCIe x1 or x4.

Must support 5.1 at minimum but 7.1 would be nice.
Work with Windows 7 64 bit and newer Windows.

What can you recommended?

Kymmy · 22-05-2015, 18:22

There's usually a lot of (SB0880) Sound Blaster X-fi titanium PCI-e x1 boards on ebay, I use one for digital signal processing for amateur radio as the bandwidth is higher than most standard cards.

I paid £20 2nd hand for the one I bought and that was over a year ago

GazCBG · 23-05-2015, 12:50

Thanks for the reply.
I managed to find an SB0880 on eBay, which I have just ordered.

alanbjames · 24-05-2015, 17:27

When my onboard started getting problematic i got hold of an Asus DSX 7.1 PCI-E. Great card and has some cool features.

The only downside to it is when u plugin headphones to front panel, when u unplug u have to manually reset in the settings back from headphones to 5.1 speakers as for some reason it doesnt change back automatically.

GazCBG · 27-05-2015, 12:31

Got the SB0880 today and fitted it.
I needed it for my new headset mainly as it real 5.1 and so are my speakers, but only been using 2.1 on the speakers.

So what I have done it bought 3 Y splitters, so I can plug my speakers and headset in.

tweetiepooh · 28-05-2015, 12:22

I have the Asus D2X 5.1. For me the main downside is there is no hardware MIDI synth on it like the older SB cards and at time I was having PC built the newer SB cards didn't work fully with Linux.

I remember the days when gamers had 2 soundcards installed, Adlib for effects and a Roland for "music" (MIDI).

To find a card with a synth on and good sound for vidoe/games and works fully in Linux. Without spending a fortune.