What type of sound card should I get?

[Guest]

I have a THX-certified Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD sound card. One of the RCA ports on the card came loose when I disconnected the RCA cables, along with all of the other cables, while replacing my GPU on my gaming PC. I am currently waiting to hear from Creative about whether or not they would either be able to repair or replace the card. I have a THX-certified Sound Blaster X-Fi Go Pro USB sound card that I am considering using as an interim solution, but when this summer comes around, I will look at a replacement card if Creative is either unable or unwilling to repair or replace my card. I previously had my Titanium HD card hooked up to a Panasonic home theater system via RCA cables, but I had to deactivate most of the features on the card to get rid of audio distortion. I have come to realize that I may not need the THX features if I am going to hook up my computer to another home theater system. It is possible I may get another home theater audio system this summer. Now, even though I may get another home theater system and control the audio through the home theater system, I would still like to find a suitable replacement sound card, that is either internal or external, provides surround sound capability for movies and games and immersive sound quality for music, and costs around $100 or less, in case I have to switch to computer speakers or headphones. Also, I am uncertain if I should stick with RCA cables or switch to either headphone jack-type audio cables or digital optical audio cables. As far as I am aware, there is no sound card with HDMI capability. Which audio cable would work best?

Two external sound cards from Creative that have caught my attention are:
1. Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro USB Audio System with SBX SB1095
2. Creative Sound Blaster Omni Surround 5.1 USB Sound Card with High Performance Headphone Amp and Integrated Beam Forming Microphone

However, I am open to suggestions for internal or external audio cards from Asus, Creative, or some other reliable brand that I could use as a replacement for my current sound card.

Thanks in advance.

 

[USAFRet]

Question 1. Why do you need a sound card? What are you doing with this?

 

[Guest]

I built a gaming PC. I also use the computer to listen to music and stream shows and movies from Netflix, Hulu, CBS, and Amazon. I need an internal or external sound card that works well with gaming, music, and movies. I want it to have the capability to provide surround sound with games and movies. I also want it to provide music with high quality sound at various equalizer and environmental settings. All this for around $100 or less.

 

[USAFRet]

The audio built into current motherboards does not meet your needs?

 

[Guest]

I have an ASUS Maximus VI Hero motherboard. My experience with motherboards in general is that they don't do as well in terms of sound quality as a dedicated sound card. Not only that but motherboard sound cards tend to drain more resources from the CPU than a dedicated sound card. I want to keep the stress level on the CPU to a minimum when I do gaming, listen to music, and watch movies.

 

[xapoc]

I'm using Asus Xonar 5.1, sounds great with modded drivers. Helps me with sound immersion and various audio tweaks with right settings.

From the 2 you listed I would go with Creative Sound Blaster Omni Surround 5.1. It has way more features/ functionality. As far as recommendation for specific model, its a tough call, you would need to hear them all.

 

[Guest]

I'm using Asus Xonar 5.1, sounds great with modded drivers. Helps me with sound immersion and various audio tweaks with right settings.

From the 2 you listed I would go with Creative Sound Blaster Omni Surround 5.1. It has way more features/ functionality. As far as recommendation for specific model, its a tough call, you would need to hear them all.

I am not super tech savvy, but does your Xonar card have a built-in cpu? I am trying to keep the audio processing stress on my main CPU to a minimum or eliminate the audio processing tasks on the CPU if possible. Does your sound card come with audio enhancement software for surround sound and EQ settings? Also, would external sound cards have built-in CPUs to reduce stress on the main cpu?

 

[xapoc]

Its does have its own processor, I have the early model DG series 5.1, 96hz. Here is a very good article that explains all you need to know about it. I also had a friend buy the newer model DSX 7.1, 192kHz, which he likes a lot.

http://techreport.com/review/23358/asus-budget-xonar-dgx-and-dsx-sound-cards-reviewed