Best £150 PC souncard / speakers for CD playback only

[PeteInEssex]

My mate has recently got himself a PC (XP op sys.) and wants a soundcard and speakers just to playback CD's.
I hesitate to mention the word in these forums, but in this case might an Audigy 2 card fit the bill as there is no MIDI need?
I do still own a set of Creative speakers that I bought with my old Audigy 2 card(I'm now enlightened with and EMU 1820/Event TR8 combo.), and though I thought the Audigy card was OK the speakers are crap.

So any suggestions you may have will be much appreciated by me and me mate Keith.

Thanks
Pete

[splattabreakz]

hi peteinessex

your mate doesnt need an audigy at all

he can buy a 15 quid bottom of the range soundblaster and spend 100+ on some decent speakers, richer sounds do the chepest deals, he'll be able to find something substantial for 100 quid easily.

the audigy is a waste of money for someone just wanting to play cds, seriously, don't let him spend more than 35 quid on a soundcard cos he doesn't need any more than that for cd playback.

also try to find out if he has onboard audio on his motherboard cos this will be fine too...

this soundblaster live looks just fine http://www.savastore.com/products/produ ... d=45&tid=2

[C00kie]

Ehrmmm... Doesn't this new PC already have a (builtin) soundcard, and isn't it already able to play CDs? Unless Keith is an audiophile the builtin soundcard will fit this type of all-purpose usage.

I'd suggest to hook the line out of the PC to the line/tape/cd in of a hifi set, maybe Keith already has one that will do the job... Or visit some garage sales.

[rsmus7]

Ehrmmm... Doesn't this new PC already have a (builtin) soundcard, and isn't it already able to play CDs? Unless Keith is an audiophile the builtin soundcard will fit this type of all-purpose usage.

I'd suggest to hook the line out of the PC to the line/tape/cd in of a hifi set, maybe Keith already has one that will do the job... Or visit some garage sales.

yep, I´d suggest the same.
Just buy a cable to hook up to a hifi set.
otherwise if you have no hifi ( and dont want to buy a hifi, which from my point would be the best solution), have a look for decent active monitors. I know there are some from JBL, that are extreme cheap and good VFM.

[PeteInEssex]

Thanks for the replies.

My mate does have on-board sound on his PC, but I would have thought that a dedicated card would give better quality.
The rason he wants to take this route is that he doesn't have a hi-fi to plug his PC into, so his PC will be his hi-fi system.

I don't think active monitors are the way to go as he's not into music making in any way shape or form, and monitors I would guess may not give a 'hi-fi' sound.

Thaks for the suggestions and keep em coming.

Thanks
Pete

[rsmus7]

I don't think active monitors are the way to go as he's not into music making in any way shape or form, and monitors I would guess may not give a 'hi-fi' sound.

Thaks for the suggestions and keep em coming.

Thanks
Pete

well it depends on some things, but mostly active monitors give you better sound then Hifi. Maybe you dont want real nearfield monitors, (if the room is huge).
How big is his room, how loud do the speakers need to be? and in any case he needs an amplifier for the monitors/speakers.

[C00kie]

The most noticeabe difference between onboard sound and a add-on soundcard is the background noise. At moderate levels you won't notice it, but when playing at loud levels (when neighbours will notice it) you'll hear background noise if the CD doesn't play.

As far as frequency response etc the speakers, amp and actual room you sit in have way more influence.

Monitors are actually way more "hifi" than consumer hifi speakers. Thats why they are more expensive. In general you get what you pay for.

Well sorry, I'd still recommend to get a second-hand hifi set (amp + speakers) for next to nothing at a garage sale. Or some multi-media speakers, whatever sounds satisfying... Theres too much on the market to give an actual advice.