[Spit-wad]

Newegg.com - DIAMOND XtremeSound XS51 5.1 Channels 16-bit 48KHz PCI Interface Sound Card - Sound Cards
This was recommended to me by Baez, but I figure I'd come and see if anyone else has a suggestion since I probably won't be ordering for a day or two.

1. I bought a set of speakers, and they kept changing volume by themselves... getting really loud, then really quiet. I exchanged them for new ones, same model... had the same problem. Sent them in to manufacturer and just got them back... problem still there. Could it be that this is just a terrible model, or might the problem be on my end? (My headphones have never had any problems). Soundcard fix it?

2. Need it for folding so my microphone doesn't screech.
Really looking to keep this cheap... I wouldn't know good sound when I heard it... just would like 5.1 capability for the future.

Was the one I linked good, or is there another one that's the same price, or better yet, cheaper, that will do the job?

Thanks a bunch

[Hefemeister]

Have you uninstalled and reinstalled the newest sound drivers?

[Spit-wad]

yep./

[Oreo]

Soundcards notoriously have compatability problems. The more well known they are, the less problems they have. Try get pretty much any Creative card, X-Fi..Audigy.. any, it should solve your problem.

[Apokalipse]

the Asus Xonar sound cards are quite good in terms of drivers and compatibility, and have pretty descent sound quality in general (usually better than Creative)

I recently bought a Xonar D2X, which is a pretty good sound card (a good mix of high sound quality, and support for 3D surround/gaming. And I needed to move to PCI-E)

[saltynay]

Apokalipse if you use the preset modes I personally find hi-fi much better then music mode on the D2X. It is my first soundcard and once you get a decent soundcard you will never go back to being a knaive everything just sounds so much better it really completes the computer and worth imo a large investment.

If your running vista then you may not want to go creative as they are notorious for problems on the new OS. Auzentech have much better support imo the choice is between an Auzentech and a Asus. Creative have gotten sloppy as they have such a good market reputation.

[Apokalipse]

Originally Posted by saltynay

Apokalipse if you use the preset modes I personally find hi-fi much better then music mode on the D2X.

That's because Hi-Fi mode doesn't do any post-processing of the sound. It just leaves it as it should be.

[saltynay]

Then surely it should sound better with post processing...... Not as pure but enhanced rather then sounding less bassy

[Apokalipse]

Originally Posted by saltynay

Then surely it should sound better with post processing...... Not as pure but enhanced rather then sounding less bassy

no, post-processing causes it to be less like the original, and it loses detail
you yourself said hi-fi mode (which doesn't use post processing) sounds better

[Spit-wad]

Don't mean to hijack my own thread, but is this one ok?
Newegg.com - Creative Sound Blaster SB0570 Audigy SE 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card - Sound Cards