Audigy 2 ZS or Audiophile 2496 Sounds Card? What is better just for HTPC.

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › Audigy 2 ZS or Audiophile 2496 Sounds Card? What is better just for HTPC.

GamerOC

439 posts

Ultimate Geek

#100510 12-Apr-2012 16:48

Hi there Im currently running a Audigy 2 ZS running 5.1 dolby sound for my HTPC and sounds brilliant however a mate of mine that has finally finished building his HTPC with my help of course...he wants me to swap my Audigy 2 ZS for his Audiophile 24/96 sound card suggesting that it is a better sound than the Audigy however he wants my card because of the real 3d in game sound features as he said that Audiophile is not too good for games.

I dont play games using my tv as I could not adjust to the 40inches screen and find a lcd hd monitor better so i play games using my pc not my htpc. However he does both gaming and HDTV using his HTPC so do you guys reckon is worth swaping it. I read a few reviews but seemed to focus on music recording...

your opinions are important,

thanks,

Andy

stevenz

2802 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 125

#608359 12-Apr-2012 17:01

I doubt you'd notice the difference either way. Ideally you should be using a digital output from the HTPC to a receiver anyway rather than using multi-channel output from a soundcard, and if it's digital then even a cheap motherboard soundchip should produce good output as it's the DSP/DAC and preamp circuitry that introduces the signal noise.

The 2 ZS is a good, albeit old card, I wouldn't swap it out if it's working for you, tell your mate not to be such a cheap guy. :)

@KnightNZ

GamerOC

439 posts

Ultimate Geek

#608466 12-Apr-2012 20:46

Stevenz thanks for the reply and I agree with you that my card works fine in windows 7 64bit with WMC running the tv so I will tell my mate to buy a new sound card.

thanks,

Andy