42 replies to this topic

[LordNothing]

Meep Meep, on 10 May 2022 - 08:06 PM, said:

Yep, soundblasters are still a thing and they are super sweet nowadays sporting audiophile quality sound and a high powered dedicated headphone amp. You can still pick up soundblaster z for cheapish nowadays and they are just as good as the newest stuff creative labs is putting out. It's like night and day over even a supposedly good onboard audio setup.

seems it would still be inferior to an external dac. id want that clean error corrected digital signal as far away from my computer as possible before it goes to the dac. especially with modern trends in computer construction reneging on emi shielding for glass panels and blinkinlights (the logic in those addressable led strips are low enough frequency and runs firmly in the audible range, fiy).

also, unrelated, i want my damn full range quadrophonic back. 4 cables, full range. 3d. a long time ago i had a 7.1 system and i hated it because of all the cable i had to run. and the individual speakers left a lot to be desired.

Edited by LordNothing, 11 May 2022 - 03:46 PM.

[Meep Meep]

Creative also makes external dacs but those really are pro level and are priced as such but you get what you pay for. But the current gen of blasters from Z forward all have heavily isolated circuits and are enclosed in an emi shield. I have yet to get even a whiff of emi buzz from my own Z. However as far as I can tell no one supports true quadrophonic anymore on any type of mobo or card. The only thing I found was a custom workaround hack from 2011 for certain realtek dacs.

[LordNothing]

Meep Meep, on 11 May 2022 - 04:24 PM, said:

Creative also makes external dacs but those really are pro level and are priced as such but you get what you pay for. But the current gen of blasters from Z forward all have heavily isolated circuits and are enclosed in an emi shield. I have yet to get even a whiff of emi buzz from my own Z. However as far as I can tell no one supports true quadrophonic anymore on any type of mobo or card. The only thing I found was a custom workaround hack from 2011 for certain realtek dacs.

i had one at one point. an extigy or whatever. it had usb connectivity but i just ended up using the optical port because i didnt need a cumbersome driver install. it sounded really good. i regret selling it. after that i used a receiver from the '70s. thats how i developed my love for quadrophonic. being 70s tech all the slide potentiometers were starting to fail and i was unable to source replacements. it was sad to see it go. if i had this problem today id have just printed a new front panel and replace all the pots and buttons with modern equivalents. the lostech is real.

Edited by LordNothing, 11 May 2022 - 04:45 PM.