It's All in the Cards North Las Vegas NV

Posted by : Chuck Miller

If your PC serves as a venue for casual music listening, viewing an occasional movie, or for low-end gaming, integrated audio may suffice, especially if your motherboard features the nVIDIA nForce2 chipset (no other integrated solution comes close). However, if you're zealous about your audio experience, you'll want to invest in a quality sound card as well as speakers to match.

When considering an audio adapter, a gamut of cards is available, especially in the budget category. However, I recommend steering clear of low-end audio alternatives. They lack the quality and features that elevate audio above on-board implementations, and usually place extra strain on the CPU. If you're considering a budget-class audio expansion card, save your money.

Where does that leave you? Several good options exist at the mid-to-high levels. As with video adapters, sound cards are based on different chipsets made by the card manufacturer or licensed from another vendor. Features differ among chipsets, too. All current sound cards are compatible with Microsoft's DirectX Audio API (Application Program Interface), but that's not the only API to consider. Creative's EAX (Environmental Audio eXtensions) is another strong contender offering audio features beyond those in DirectX. Other APIs include A3D, Sensaura, and QSound. Currently, though, the most significant APIs are DirectX Audio and EAX. Whatever card you buy, it should support the former with the...

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