Soundcard Needed! :)

I'm looking for some recommendations for a new soundcard in the same ballpark as the Creative Sound Blaster Recon3D. I can't seem to find the Recon anywhere in the US anymore.

Here’s what I’m specifically looking for: (The Recon had all this, and it cost me about $40 $167).

- Somewhere in that same price range
- I absolutely need an optical SPDIF port
- Must support DDL (Dolby Digital Live)

Any ideas? Where should I look? (Ideally somewhere that ships easily within the States). 😁

Look, you've got all that Asus gear right there—roughly 520 bucks if I recall correctly—$177: http://www.asus.com/Sound_Cards_and_...specifications

Benjamin King2 said:Look, you've got all that Asus gear right there—roughly 520 bucks if I recall correctly—$177: http://www.asus.com/Sound_Cards_and_...specifications

The thing about those Asus cards that’s tripping me up is whether it uses a combo cable or what. I'm looking at the photo and I don't see a dedicated optical input.

1 x S/PDIF out (1 x Optical (Toslink)/(combo with analog in))

Yeah, it’s probably just a connector issue—likely they didn't want to deal with the headache of a larger PCB just to squeeze in one extra port. You can just grab an adapter like this to plug in your TOS-link cable:

Benjamin King2 said:Yeah, it’s probably just a connector issue—likely they didn't want to deal with the headache of a larger PCB just to squeeze in one extra port. You can just grab an adapter like this to plug in your TOS-link cable:

So, you're saying this black TOS-link combo plugs right into one of the slots, and then the optical cable goes into that?

Thanks a ton.

Just dropping this here so I don't clutter things up with a new thread...
I’m hunting for some solid recommendations for a new soundcard.

Motherboard: Gigabyte B75-D3V
Speakers: G51 Logitech 5.1

I really want to squeeze every bit of potential out of these speakers. Honestly, the audio coming through my integrated sound is just totally washed out.

Does anyone here actually know their stuff when it comes to sound cards?

You might want to grab this—it’ll give you a way better audio experience than that crappy onboard sound you're stuck with right now:

So, I was rocking this Delock 7.1 card for a while, but honestly? I tossed it. The audio quality was pretty trash—almost sounded worse than my motherboard's built-in sound. Fingers crossed this ASUS one actually delivers, especially since the price is actually decent.

Delock is just cheap junk, honestly. If you want a decent sound card, Creative Technology is the way to go. Back in the day, Guillemot was absolutely killing it—they were the kings. Now they’re just peddling brands like Hercules and Thrustmaster. Who knows if their audio quality is even worth anything anymore.
ASUS is definitely a step up from Delock.

So, I’ve been reading all over the place about these two cards, one from Creative Technology and one from ASUS, and honestly? People can't make up their minds. Half the crowd swears by one, while the other half is obsessed with the other. To be totally blunt, I’m pretty lost when it comes to decoding all those technical specs on the boxes, so I figured I’d just ask you guys here instead.

The Creative Sound Blaster is definitely a beast, but let’s be real—it’s also about three times the price. If you're trying to stick to a budget, it's probably not the smartest move for your wallet.