Why are Creative SoundCards so Unliked???

[Krazy]

hello all,

i've been slowly reading through many posts and if ever a recomendation for a sound card is asked, creative seems to be at the very bottom of peoples choices.

And i was just curious as to why it is so bad in may peoples veiw? i own the creatvie Audigy Platinum Ex, and personally i think it is great, no problems what so ever, and great sound, and i'd recomend it to others, but it would seem the majority is not in agreement.

So i put out the question, Why are creative cards not like other well know cards, and what makes them bad for most people, and why do the other cards (such as Santa Cruz, Game Theatre) better than creative. And maybe the question should be . . . what am i missing out on?

fire away

 

[TWC]

Because they're over priced and underperform and there driver support is crap. Did I LEAVE ANYTHING OUT?

"I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints."

 

[ritesh_laud]

what makes them bad for most people

Although I've used Creative products for many years now (mainly for compatibility reasons), I have to agree that their driver team is a lazy pos. Sometimes there are some glaring issues which they don't fix with new drivers for a year or more.

Anyway, on this forum many people own Athlon systems using VIA chipsets. Creative sound cards are well known to have potential conflicts with VIA chipsets. That's why this forum has a large percentage of people who hate Creative.

Personally I've only used Intel chipsets on my home machine and have had no major complaints with the many Creative cards I've owned.

Ritesh

 

[Oracle]

One of my system is using a Creative card with no problem whatsoever. Of course, it's not a VIA chipset but an Intel chipset. The other system uses the onboard nForce audio, which is also good enough for me.
I have assembled systems with VIA chipsets and SB Live Platinum (SB Live Value and SB Audigy X-Gamer too) and I have yet to receive any complaints.


<font color=red>If you feel like going to work today, just lie down and it'll go away.</font color=red>

 

[DaveP]

I bought a Live 5.1 and it didn't work in my VIA MoBo. I had to swap it for the sound card in my 5 year old pc that I don't use anymore. That's why I don't like creative anymore. Not long ago you couldn't sell me anything else. But now...

<font color=blue>GOD BLESS THE U.S.A.</font color=blue>

 

[Black_Cat]

Creative Labs' purchase of Aureal has soured many people on Creative's products and the company itself. To make a long story short, Aureal came out with the A3D 2.0 engine (still supported by many games today). Knowing EAX was crap compared to A3D 2.0, instead of competing with Aureal, they decided to burden them with a frivolous lawsuit which depleted Aureal's coffers. Aureal won the lawsuit, but went bankrupt. Creative vowed to outbid everyone by $100,000 for Aureal, bought them, and buried A3D 2.0 forever. Instead of competing fairly they strong-armed all of us consumers out of a terrific piece of technology.

Furthermore, I can no longer get any other sound card for any of my customers. Why? Creative bullied the 2 warehouses I do business with into no longer stocking competing products. Do you want to give your hard-earned dollars to a company like this?

To start press any key. Where's the "any" key? --Homer Simpson.<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Black_Cat on 08/28/02 09:07 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Krazy]

ok, i can understand that people who use non-intel chipsets may have problems and that is why they hate the cards, but that would only explain for half the population.

i also get that their past and probably present business practices may not be to good, i had no idea that is what happened by the way. But personaly i don't mind paying money for a product that i think is fairly decent . . . and so far no one has said to why, lets say, just intel users should go for another brand of sound card? And why sould i, in my next PC upgrade get a Santa Cruz card instead of a Creative card?

So I ask again, what am i then missing out on, or what problems am i meant to encounter if i have bought a Creative sound card and why another well known brand would be a better choice? (note, for the past couple of years i have alway stuck to creative, and have had no problems what so ever)

 

[Black_Cat]

Supposedly the 3D positioning is superior with a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz and Hercules Game Theater over the Audigy. I, however, cannot comment on that. I can only compare a Sound Blaster Live! with the Hercules Game Theater XP. What I have found is that music sounds a bit less tinny and the sound is far superior in games. Also, the 3D positioning is better. Look for old posts by Fatburger. IIRC, he started a thread comparing the Audigy to the GTXP and said the Audigy was good but the GTXP was better. I think the thread began "So I installed an Audigy" or something to that affect.

To start press any key. Where's the "any" key? --Homer Simpson.

 

[Black_Cat]

Ahh. Here it is:

<A HREF="http://forumz.tomshardware.com/hardware/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=49189#49189" target="_new">http://forumz.tomshardware.com/hardware/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=49189#49189</A>

To start press any key. Where's the "any" key? --Homer Simpson.

 

[Krazy]

thanks for that, that does show and explain a few things.

Though i'm basically begining to see that it all boils down to u'r preferance for brand, and mostly whether u've had a good encounter/experiance (or a bad one at that) with the product at an eariler or current date.

But forgetting about problems some, or i could say, most people have had with the cards . . . is there really a difference in quality and features?

<font color=blue> When is a pile of sand a pile of sand? one grain . . . two grains?</font color=blue>

 

[williamc]

No, it really doesnt boil to to experience brand preference...

I used creative exclusively after my first SC which was the TB Montego 1 back in 97. I used the SB Live 5.1 for a year and a half then the Audigy for 9 months and was convinced in my mind it was the best thing out there until Fatburger and AMD_Man convinced me to just give the GTXP or SC a try...so i got a GTXP, compared the 2, and i'll never go back to teh Audigy, its gone from my place now. I found the GTXP superior in every way for me. And i'eve explained how and why in other threads.

The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the empires state building, along came goblin, wiped the spider out