dawlane: I chose to put a Creative Audigy 1 in my desktop machine because the sound quality output was a lot better than cheaper cards available at the time.
I have my PC hooked up to an not-too-expensive amp and some fairly expensive speakers (nothing one of those geeky audiophiles would consider brilliant, but you get the picture). On-board sound via 3.5mm jack was rubbish. Sound from the Audigy via 3.5mm jack brings a whole lot of clarity.
My copy of Hotel California by The Eagles mastered at 192Khz 24-bit sounds supremely nice. Most on-board audio interfaces either can't play 192KHz, or use very cheap DAC's which don't do the audio any justice.
The DAC's in Creative cards may not be the best available, but they are good enough for my ears.
I'm never going to buy another Creative card because they are damn overpriced and the advertised features are aimed at gamers and average users who need something with a few more interface options (midi, optical ins etc). EAX doesn't interest me. Low-latency, high quality audio interests me.
There are a number of competing cards available which tick all my boxes. Most are the same money as an 'equivalent' Creative card, but the quality of components is superior.
I have my PC hooked up to an not-too-expensive amp and some fairly expensive speakers (nothing one of those geeky audiophiles would consider brilliant, but you get the picture). On-board sound via 3.5mm jack was rubbish. Sound from the Audigy via 3.5mm jack brings a whole lot of clarity.
My copy of Hotel California by The Eagles mastered at 192Khz 24-bit sounds supremely nice. Most on-board audio interfaces either can't play 192KHz, or use very cheap DAC's which don't do the audio any justice.
The DAC's in Creative cards may not be the best available, but they are good enough for my ears.
I'm never going to buy another Creative card because they are damn overpriced and the advertised features are aimed at gamers and average users who need something with a few more interface options (midi, optical ins etc). EAX doesn't interest me. Low-latency, high quality audio interests me.
There are a number of competing cards available which tick all my boxes. Most are the same money as an 'equivalent' Creative card, but the quality of components is superior.