Looking for an entry level soundcard?

  • Thread starter Thread starter drstawl
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drstawl

drstawl

Banned
http://www.americas.creative.com/products/product.asp?Product=251&Nav=B

Sound Blaster steps up to the plate with a new product.

The Extigy, an external sound card that connects to your PC or notebook via USB. 24/96 capable.

The MSRP is $149!!!

The only drawback I can see is:

Setup under Windows 98SE requires the original Microsoft Windows 98SE Installation CD. That might leave me out, because I have the upgrade to SE.
 
It sort of sickens me to see soundblaster trying to jump in on the homerecording market. Oh well.

Doc, your upgrade disk will work just fine. In fact the only difference between the upgrade disk and the full disk is the setup program. In fact, if you have a Win95 disc, you can install the Win98 upgrade without even installing Win95 first (it just verifies the Win95 media once during setup).

Slackmaster 2000
 
I was talking about the upgrade to SE from first edition 98.

Last time I tried to reinstall- I noticed that I had to install 98 FE and then run the upgrade. Too much of a pain so I shined it on.

From what I've heard about this card (from someone that actually tested one), the converters are a BIG step up from anything Creative has foisted on the public. At the very least it's got to get the other makers to sharpen their pencils when coming up with pricing on their products.

That's GOOD for homerecording.
 
That's like saying Microsoft coming out with a multitracker would be good for homerecording.

Slackmaster 2000
 
The PC soundcard and the recording soundcard are different markets. And MS probably wouldn't get involved in a market they don't already monopolize.

Although in some sense you're right. They could throw a few billion at the problem, make exclusive deals with the major SW players as to bundled SW (gotta buy the MS card if you wanna run ProTools hahahahhaha) drive all the little guys out of the biz and then sell nothing but crap at inflated prices.
 
Yeah, that's my concern. With players like m-Audio producing at least adequate products at what I consider fair prices, I'm not sure we want or need a big "machine" to get involved in the market. We've all seen what that can lead to....Microsoft, Compaq, HP....ugh, it just really makes me sick. I'd much rather buy from a smaller company that is required to at least care a little bit.

Of course I'm always the pessimist. It could turn out to be a good thing. Sorry for jumping in on the thread, I'll bow out and take my negativity with me! :)

Slackmaster 2000
 
One more thing....when you consider what it costs in parts and manufacturnig alone to combine several decent DACs and ADC's, SPDIF, a mic pre, a headphone amp, MIDI, USB, and a fast processor with DSP, sample rate, and mixing algorithms all into a box complete with knobs, lights, and jacks all for $149 is probably something that only a company like Creative Labs could pull off. So the danger might already be there. Oh, and it has a remote control too....

Slackmaster 2000
 
I've known the guy that reported these results for >30 years.

He knows his shit about audio products high and low end.

Believe me- when he first told me about this I was as skeptical as you. I still don't like the choice of connectors for the analog signals, but cripes- for $149, I wish they had been around when I bought my AWE32. Of course- 350MHz PCs were unknown at that time. :)
 
I'm not so skeptical about the sound quality as much as I am about what it will do to the industry if they keep at it. Blah blah blah. :)

Slackmaster 2000
 
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