Ensoniq AudioPCI , great for the price
Written: Sep 27 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Inexpensive, not cheap and very reliable
Cons: No surround sound
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| WildBillm's Full Review: Creative Labs Sound Blaster PCI |
For those who are out there that are sound mixing buffs who do a lot of audio recording and mixing and so forth, I just want to let you know this is not an epinion by a sound card expert who knows a lot about that kind of stuff. I do have one stat you might want to look at. Look for the bold words below and you should see what I am talking about. Creative (once Creative Labs) is well known for their audio and home entertainment hardware. Especially their soundblaster product line. So I knew as long as I didn’t go the cheapest I would probably turn out ok.
What system did I put this in?
I am still in the process of completing my computer. And so far I have this in my box: AMD Athlon 800 MHz processor on a Microstar 6195 K7Pro, 128MB RAM, 10 GB Quantum IDE HD, ATI Xpert 99 8mb video card (just purchased Matrox G400 dual video adapter) Hauppauge WinTV card, and a Modemblaster Flash 56K modem. Running on Windows 98 SE.
How was the installation?
The installation was a breeze. I just popped the card in the slot, turned on the computer and Windows 98SE detected the card automatically and I placed the driver CD in the tray and it installed with no problems. Game port works great first go round, no incompatibility issues. No strange buzzing noises or anything like that. I was very happy with this purchase.
Why did I buy this card?
I bought this sound card for a few reasons, I was looking for a sound card that wasn’t too cheap, and had a game port and made by a company I have heard of before. And the price was $27.76.
What am I going to use it for?
Home computing. The speakers I have them on are Altec Lansing ACS 40s and the subwoofer that came with the set. I don’t do any mixing or sound recordings. I play mp3s and audio cds on my computer as well and they sound great with the Ensoniq AudioPCI sound card. I also use a Mako Gamepad controller plugged into the game port and only have problems when I forget to calibrate (better known as user error).
System Requirements:
Min. Intel Pentium or AMD K5, 100MHz or Higher Processor
Intel or 100% compatible chipset
16 MB RAM
Windows 95, Windows NT 4.0 or higher
CDROM drive needed for software installation (Unless you download it)
For you Sound People
Like I said… I don’t know all the sound lingo and so forth, but here is some information for you as well.
No it doesn’t come with surround sound support (come on it only costs $27.76)
The maximum sound recording sampling rate is 16 bits, 44kHz if the Full Installation option for IE 4.0 is not selected for installation. The sampling rate is 48kHz only when you have IE 4.0 installed and the full installation option is selected. Standard IE 4.0 installation option will give you 44kHz, 16-bit stereo. (All this information was obtained from the Creative website)
This card has 3D Audio Technology, MIDI/Joystick port and a TAD connector. For those who don’t know what TAD is, it stands for Telephone Answering Device. Basically this connector will connect to your modem (if supported) so that you can utilize mono-in connect to modem phone and mono-out to modem speaker.
Conclusion
Great card for the money. You get a more than decent card for under $30 bucks. And it is hard to go wrong when you choose a Creative product.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 27.76
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Epinions.com ID:
WildBillm
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Member: Bill Mounsey
Location: Slidell, LA
Reviews written: 57
Trusted by: 43 members
About Me:
Unix Administrator in Louisiana. Love college basketball, football, baseball and computers.
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