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#1 December 14 2011

exhaler
Member

Sound card or Amp

Hi fellow geeks,

recently i bought a razer headset so i can enjoy my music/games without annoying anyone.
only to discover that my front jack has static/buzzing noises and the rear jack has a lower volume compared to the front one, with the volume set to high.

my dilemma is what to do now? some people say buy an audio amplifier for the PC others are telling me to get a new sound card something like Creative SB X-FI.

any ideas?

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#2 December 14 2011

AvoK95
Member

Re: Sound card or Amp

Sound card DUH!
A sound card can give you better sound and louder sound.
It's like having a dedicated and shared video card.

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#3 December 14 2011

exhaler
Member

Re: Sound card or Amp

What kind of sound card would you advise me to get Avo?

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#4 December 14 2011

MrClass
Member

Re: Sound card or Amp

Get a Creative SB X-FI Professional. Best audio you'll ever get. I have one and it powers my stereo headset and 5.1 headset like a b!tch.

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#5 December 14 2011

exhaler
Member

Re: Sound card or Amp

apparently pcandparts don't have it :( they have this: Creative SB X-FI Titanium PCIe and this Creative SB X-FI Xtreme Audio PCIe

where where did you get yours MrClass?

also these components are PCIe, sadly on my gigabyte motherboard i have installed a piece for cooling that covers the two slots that i have :(

Last edited by exhaler (December 14 2011)

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#6 December 14 2011

AvoK95
Member

Re: Sound card or Amp

exhaler wrote:

apparently pcandparts don't have it :( they have this: Creative SB X-FI Titanium PCIe and this Creative SB X-FI Xtreme Audio PCIe

where where did you get yours MrClass?

also these components are PCIe, sadly on my gigabyte motherboard i have installed a piece for cooling that covers the two slots that i have :(

Than forget about a sound card.
You can get a USB sound card at any PC shop/store it will cost ~10$ will give you an epic boost on sound

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#7 December 14 2011

exhaler
Member

Re: Sound card or Amp

after some research i found that the component that covers the PCIe slots allows for one to be free, but the sound card should be no longer than 3 inches or it won't fit.

are the creative x-fi usually long?!

i have this motherboard http://www.gigabyte.com/products/produc … x?pid=3251 and its comes with an excellent realtek HD audio, i just cant figure out why the volume is low while using the headset

Last edited by exhaler (December 14 2011)

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#8 December 14 2011

MrClass
Member

Re: Sound card or Amp

Huh? You can use any of those 8x/16x PCI-Express slots for the Creative X-Fi. A peripheral that uses 1x can be used on an 8x/16x slot.

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#9 December 14 2011

eurybaric
Member

Re: Sound card or Amp

You could get an external interface, as Avok mentionned. Pus you'll be able to use it with a notebook too..

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#10 December 15 2011

exhaler
Member

Re: Sound card or Amp

Also regarding the sound card, would it improve that much just by getting a new one?
Im just being a little skeptic bare with me please

And thanks for the tip MrClass.

Could someone tell me where i could find an audio amplifier for a PC, i tried radioshack and virgin but they have nothing :(

<admin edit: stick to the topic please>

Last edited by exhaler (December 16 2011)

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#11 December 21 2011

exhaler
Member

Re: Sound card or Amp

sorry for the double post, but after a weeks search i was finally able to find a re-seller for creative.
Turns out they only have sound blaster x-fi titanium (not the HD version) and sound blaster xtreme audio.

also i tried Avo's advice for a USB card but i wasn't able to find one either :(

Should i wait till they restock, or just get one of the cards??

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#12 February 1 2012

m_zeid
Member

Re: Sound card or Amp

before buying any thing new, did you try upgrading you drivers? raising every volume slide control that you have? which OS you are using? and what mobo?

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#13 February 1 2012

m_zeid
Member

Re: Sound card or Amp

If you want an amp for the headphones, check these:

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdet … r=248-6232

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdet … r=248-4410

parts-express.com is a very respected store for the audiophiles.
they ship only to US i think, but you can get those via amazon.com

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#14 February 1 2012

exhaler
Member

Re: Sound card or Amp

thx for the help m_zeid, i went along with the crowd and bought a sound blaster Titanium. my sound is awesome

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#15 February 1 2012

shant
Member

Re: Sound card or Amp

where is the creative reseller located?

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#16 February 2 2012

exhaler
Member

Re: Sound card or Amp

the shop is called saudi micro-tech they are the official reseller for creative Phone  +9611800142

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#17 February 2 2012

shant
Member

Re: Sound card or Amp

phone? do they sell pci-e sound cards also ?

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#18 February 2 2012

exhaler
Member

Re: Sound card or Amp

hahahah not creative phone, i meant phone number (telephone)  and yes i bought my pci-e sound card from them for $127 free delivery

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#19 February 2 2012

shant
Member

Re: Sound card or Amp

oh i see, and what about a website ?
and where is the store located exactly? can you detail me?

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#20 February 3 2012

exhaler
Member

Re: Sound card or Amp

for some reason the website is down www.saudi-microtech.com
its located in Ras Beirut St. - Kalaa Bldg. - Kalaa Flr. Ground
Phone           +9611800142
Cellular           +9613638450

Last edited by exhaler (February 3 2012)

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#21 February 3 2012

m_zeid
Member

Re: Sound card or Amp

exhaler wrote:

thx for the help m_zeid, i went along with the crowd and bought a sound blaster Titanium. my sound is awesome

and that's even better 

but how many PCIe slots your mobo have?

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#22 February 3 2012

shant
Member

Re: Sound card or Amp

awesome, thank you for the directions

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#23 February 3 2012

exhaler
Member

Re: Sound card or Amp

m_zeid wrote:
exhaler wrote:

thx for the help m_zeid, i went along with the crowd and bought a sound blaster Titanium. my sound is awesome

and that's even better 

but how many PCIe slots your mobo have?

well my mobo has two PCIe slots but they are being covered by a cooling system for the processor :(
so i went along with MrClass's advice and used a 16x PCI slot and it worked perfectly

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