# Worst mainstream sound card manufacturer? (In your opinion)



## The_Ish (Aug 4, 2011)

My vote goes to Razer, hands down. My AC-1 haven't done anything right since the day I got it like three years ago. And the the first headphones they released stopped working after about six months. Can't say they about my Sennheiser's which I've dropped in the floor about fifty times (PC360).

Oh, and did I mention my on board card performs better when it comes to quality than Razer


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## hellrazor (Aug 4, 2011)

I think he just wants to bring out the Creative hateboys.....


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## human_error (Aug 4, 2011)

Creative. Their driver debacle in the vista days still leaves a bad taste in my mouth.


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## Sir B. Fannybottom (Aug 4, 2011)

I have a IBM sound card.... I would have to say that takes the cake. It has drivers for Windows 95... It's that giant black port that I don't know the name of.


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## JATownes (Aug 4, 2011)

The_Ish said:


> My vote goes to Razer, hands down. My AC-1 haven't done anything right since the day I got it like three years ago. And the the first headphones they released stopped working after about six months. Can't say they about my Sennheiser's which I've dropped in the floor about fifty times (PC360).
> 
> Oh, and did I mention my on board card performs better when it comes to quality than Razer



Really?  I love my AC-1, and have never had any real issue with it, even running under 64-bit.  What type of problem are you having?


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## RejZoR (Aug 4, 2011)

In my case, ASUS. Xonar STX never really worked right and even though it had very good sound quality, its GX mode never worked right, in most cases sound started stuttering or i just got BSOD. So EAX and hardware acceleration emulation on modern OS never really worked. Their software was rather disapointing and buggy as well and they never officially supported it as soundcards aren't even listed on their tech support (gfx cards and mobos are, soundcards, not even there). Rare driver updates that usually made things worse, their horrific trey icon that i had to hack with my own to make my taskbar nicer.

Creative soundscards, they all worked fine. Few quirks here and there but they solved everything with driver updates. Somewhat rare updates but they exist and for me they always worked fine. Crystalizer and Bass Boost with EQ tweaks made sound quite good for gaming and movies. ADI Soundmax that i'm currently using with BlackHawk is also incredible. Probably the best integrated sound ever. With SonicFocus enhancements, the sound makes my skin crawl. Incredibly deep bass, rich highs etc. Realtek has a very regular updates but they don't provide any enhancements. I also never had problems with their stuff, though i only use it on my netbook.


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## Frederik S (Aug 4, 2011)

I think all the major brands have had a bad card or two or drivers by now. Creative are from my experience the ones that cause the most nuisance, especially the slightly older entry level models.


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## The_Ish (Aug 5, 2011)

Frederik S said:


> I think all the major brands have had a bad card or two or drivers by now. Creative are from my experience the ones that cause the most nuisance, especially the slightly older entry level models.


Creative had a lot of problems with 64bit, and still don't support everything fully.




JATownes said:


> Really?  I love my AC-1, and have never had any real issue with it, even running under 64-bit.  What type of problem are you having?


Well the sound quality Is not worth the cost, since my on board sounds better. Especially on TS3.


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## TIGR (Aug 5, 2011)

Frederik S said:


> I think all the major brands have had a bad card or two or drivers by now....



^^ Every company has its good and bad. The best way to select components is to *evaluate each model on its own individual merits* first, and consider the brand secondarily. The company history matters more for some products than for others. Look at all the brand fanboys/girls and brand haters—when their favorite brand decides to cash in on its name by putting out a line of cheaply produced junk, or the brand they hate comes out with the greatest product in its category yet, ignorance causes these people to miss out. Companies get new CEOs, management, employees, suppliers, manufacturing plants, etc. all the time. In the fast-moving tech industry, no major company is the same today as it was five years ago. A company's history of quality and support can be significant, but good decisions ultimately come down to the product itself.

Hard drives seem to be one of the worst segments for ignorant fanboys/girls and haters.

My worst sound card experience was with Creative, but that has little bearing on my current and future purchases.


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## The_Ish (Aug 5, 2011)

Nothing I've ever bought from Razer has worked to the standards I expected for the price I paid.
Now, my Sennheiser headphones for example. Twice the price. But they have never quit working, glitched or anything. In fact I can find maybe 2 tiny scratches on them. And I must have dropped them more times than i can remember. The only imperfection they have are a few smudges from crisp fat perhaps, and dust and skin cells in the ear pieces. They can get a bit hot. but the new 360 model are open as opposed to the 350. When the time comes I'll probably look into the 360's or something similar. If these ever break or malfunction that is.

Razer for me is all problems. Lack of drivers (in the early history of 64bit). Jumping mouse (the first lachesis). Mic's that stop working.. The list is endless. I'd rather pay well for something that works than less for something that is bound to break or malfunction within a year. That's my take.
Always go for quality.


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## Wile E (Aug 5, 2011)

The_Ish said:


> *Nothing I've ever bought from Razer has worked to the standards I expected for the price I paid.*
> Now, my Sennheiser headphones for example. Twice the price. But they have never quit working, glitched or anything. In fact I can find maybe 2 tiny scratches on them. And I must have dropped them more times than i can remember. The only imperfection they have are a few smudges from crisp fat perhaps, and dust and skin cells in the ear pieces. They can get a bit hot. but the new 360 model are open as opposed to the 350. When the time comes I'll probably look into the 360's or something similar. If these ever break or malfunction that is.
> 
> Razer for me is all problems. Lack of drivers (in the early history of 64bit). Jumping mouse (the first lachesis). Mic's that stop working.. The list is endless. I'd rather pay well for something that works than less for something that is bound to break or malfunction within a year. That's my take.
> Always go for quality.


I have had the same experience with every Razer product I have tried. I really don't see why people like them so much.


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## The_Ish (Aug 5, 2011)

Well.. I think i bought into the hype  In the future I'll stick with Sennheiser and Logitech (or better) for PC peripherals.
The general rule of thumb for me is it's better to be bad with money and get the good stuff, than being "good" with money and buy crap.


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## majestic12 (Aug 5, 2011)

Would any sound card (aside from onboard) be considered mainstream these days?  It's a niche market now, appealing almost exclusively to gamers or audiophiles.  I only know two people where I live who have sound cards in their computers; one of them is my last build.  

If I had to choose one though, I'd probably agree with the OP.  I enjoy my Razer mouse and keyboard, but I've been unimpressed with their speaker/headphone offerings, not to mention that POS barracuda they released a few years ago.  *

Sound on computers has gotten infinitely better over the years.  Compared to the old AdLib, Covox sound master, Disney sound source, and other cards/peripherals, things are nice.  No IRQ/DMA conflicts as well.

*This is probably more because of a lack of support (it sounds fine -just worth nowhere near what the initial asking price was)


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## Easy Rhino (Aug 5, 2011)

hands down Texas Instruments!


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## Yukikaze (Aug 5, 2011)

Creative.


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## The_Ish (Aug 5, 2011)

majestic12 said:


> Would any sound card (aside from onboard) be considered mainstream these days?  It's a niche market now, appealing almost exclusively to gamers or audiophiles.  I only know two people where I live who have sound cards in their computers; one of them is my last build.
> 
> If I had to choose one though, I'd probably agree with the OP.  I enjoy my Razer mouse and keyboard, but I've been unimpressed with their speaker/headphone offerings, not to mention that POS barracuda they released a few years ago.  *
> 
> ...



This is pretty much the problem with Razer sound.  When i bought my AC-1 card I gave around 250 bucks for it, give or take. And the on board sound on my mobo that cost maybe 300 is better. Now, I have really shitty speakers. But I got excellent headphones, but no amount of tweaking can get them to sound as good as the on board.


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## majestic12 (Aug 5, 2011)

Easy Rhino said:


> hands down Texas Instruments!



It seems that every soundcard in existence has components from Texas Instruments inside -have they actually made a full/complete soundcard?  If they're that bad, I guess I'm fortunate to be unfamiliar with 'em.  Some of the best stuff (in audio components at least) is manufactured by TI ---some of the worst too though probably.


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## Easy Rhino (Aug 5, 2011)

majestic12 said:


> It seems that every soundcard in existence has components from Texas Instruments inside -have they actually made a full/complete soundcard?  If they're that bad, I guess I'm fortunate to be unfamiliar with 'em.  Some of the best stuff (in audio components at least) is manufactured by TI ---some of the worst too though probably.



lol wow somebody got my joke. your next beer is on me, sir.


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## arnoo1 (Aug 5, 2011)

creative
never work the way they should,  crappy drivers, crappy hardware


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## burtram (Aug 5, 2011)

I had a Turtle Beach sound card ages ago, it was alright for a while, but as new games and such came out, there were never any driver updates, it was such a waste of money in the long run. Then I had picked up a Creative Xfi Xtreme Gamer card, and it was great too for a long time, until I got vista, then it was a pain in the ass and I sold it and have been using onboard sound ever since; Now the only problem I have had with the onboard sound, was an overheating sound chip, so I stuck one of those gpu memory heatsinks onto it, and now, no more issues.


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## WhiteNoise (Aug 5, 2011)

The worst card I have owned would be an old Turtle Beach Montego 2 something or other. It was total crap. Bought it back when it was competing against the Creative Live SB.

Since then I have owned quite a few sound cards but none as bad thankfully.


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## majestic12 (Aug 6, 2011)

Easy Rhino said:


> lol wow somebody got my joke. your next beer is on me, sir.



I'll hold you to that!


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