Soundcard for non pro

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sax

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Hi all
I'm at a loss, so many soundcards and so little budget :)
I currently have an old soundblaster live 4.1 and want to upgrade to 5.1 so i can get the max use out of the 5.1 speakers i have.I use the soundcard intensively for mp3 and audio cd's, watching dvd's and gaming but i'd like to do some recording too.Nothing fancy, just me and my saxophone so no multitrack recording.
I was looking at audigy 2 cards wich supposedly have 24 bit recording but after browsing around a bit it seems that most of them only record 16 bit except for +$200 cards but i'd like to keep it under $100.Is 16 bit enough?
What do you guys suggest?I'm not looking for a pro studio sound but it has to be descent so i can play some stuff and burn it on cd without getting to much hiss and such.I've tried recording with my current card but it sounds awfull, thin sound and lots of background hiss.
So to sum it up i want a soundcard that has 5.1 surround and is good in recording for an amateur.Midi would be a plus but as long as i can record my sax and get a fairly clean result i'm a happy man.
tia
sax
 
...

if you really want the card more for music, games, dvd's i would go with a soundblaster or even maybe a santa cruz turtle beach, the santa cruz card offers many good options at a lower price, its about 50 dollars i think, probably less. if you only want to record yourself playing the sax for fun, and get a decent sound 16bit should be fine

peace
LB
 
suggestions

the sblive is good for budget recording, though you're limited to 16 / 48

the maudio revolution should be better than an audigy 2 (no internal re-sampling at 48khz) and has a street price of $~90 and can do 24/96 (24/48 would be a good improvement over 16 / anything), also the maudio does 88khz, 176khz, while the audigy does not. maudio rev 7.1 has no midi.

The audigy 2 zs platinum has the above limitations, but it may do home theatre better, it plays DVD-A, has MIDI, and can be bought at $100 (go to techbargains.com for details)

So if your main goal is better recording go maudio revolution.

If it is home theatre, go audigy 2zs plat.

If you can spend $200, and recording is your main consideration, consider the EMU 1220m
 
Thanks for the advice people
I'll think for now i'll go with the audigy 2 so i have an all round good card, for the money anyway.I think it's better that for serious recording i save up a bit ( a lot) and build me a second pc or mac just for that.
 
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