Sound card question

Um this is a sound card question, shouldn't it be in soundcards :P

Anyway, sound wise, they would probably both be the same. However, USB requires many more resorces than PCI. Personally, I'd never even consider a USB sound card unless there were no other options.
 
I wouldn't say usb cards are the only ones heavy on resources. Sound Blasters are particularly noted for pulling on power while during intense gaming or full bore multimedia playback. And that's with the pci models there.
 
Pulling on power? I thought the Sound Blasters make the computer do less work because it handles the audio playback.

Do USB or PCI have better sound quality? (GENERALLY SPEAKING)...
 
Creative software is what has the EAX great for effects in gaming. I certainly give the Audigy 4 line the edge over the Audigy 2 series. Both are pci type cards there. The speakers you run along will have far more to do with the actual quality of sound as far as hearing it while the filtering of the signal sent to them has to do with the cards's software and hardware.

The Sound Blaster line is known for pulling on resources when gaming or pushing multimedia. The idea of using a pci type over the onboard is the larger capability and features they can offer. Between usb and pci which one has better sound quality is debatable there. A usb device wouldn't have the same power needs and would more likely be used on a laptop. I have never tried the usb type to be able to make a comparison on that.
 
As usual PC eye didn't answer the question. Just a bunch of nonsense to see himself type I guess??

A Sound Blaster PCI card will do most the work on board the card. Both PCI and USB do the decoding on the device, so there shouldn't be a whole lot of difference. Neither one uses anywhere near the CPU resources of an onboard sound chip.
 
I dont think there will be a difference in sound quality between an USB and a PCI soundcard.. however.. i do think there is a performance difference..
Since USB is plug-and-pray hardware.. i think its more intensive for the pc to get it up and running (and keep it running ofc) than it would be for a PCI card.
also.. USB soundcards are merely ment for people who cant fit in a PCI one due to the lack of space, or because they use a laptop or so. :)

Like i said... I'm not sure about that.. i havnt found actual numbers yet.. but if im wrong, you'll see in the next posts i gues :D
 
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liquidshadow said:
Pulling on power?

Do USB or PCI have better sound quality?
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SirKenin said:
As usual PC eye didn't answer the question. Just a bunch of nonsense to see himself type I guess??

A Sound Blaster PCI card will do most the work on board the card. Both PCI and USB do the decoding on the device, so there shouldn't be a whole lot of difference. Neither one uses anywhere near the CPU resources of an onboard sound chip.
Click to expand...

As usual you didn't answer the "questions" that were actually asked. :rolleyes:
 
SirKenin said:
You're welcome. We don't mind PC eye.. It's easier to just ignore his ramblings.
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I thought that was your nickname. hhmm... :P

chrisalviola said:
compared to USB isnt PCI faster?
Click to expand...

Actually usb provides the faster bus. But the current it runs on is far less then seen on the pci bus. When you start gaming and a device like a sound card starts pulling on power that's where you may see problems with a usb model.
 
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