No, in their day they were very good. They were the first high quality cards for the PC.
I have an old 8-bit ISA Soundblaster card sitting in the closet somewhere. I can guarantee you that if I plugged it in to an old 386 board, hooked it up to my mixing board, turned the sound up, and then booted the computer, I'd be listening to the sound of every electrical impulse travelling anywhere in that machine. Hey, maybe I could produce a "glitch" track with those sounds...
Maybe they were the first to market with a sound card that actually worked with Windows without too much fuss, but I certainly wouldn't use the word "high-quality" to describe any of their boards.
I have an old 8-bit ISA Soundblaster card sitting in the closet somewhere. I can guarantee you that if I plugged it in to an old 386 board, hooked it up to my mixing board, turned the sound up, and then booted the computer, I'd be listening to the sound of every electrical impulse travelling anywhere in that machine. Hey, maybe I could produce a "glitch" track with those sounds...
Maybe they were the first to market with a sound card that actually worked with Windows without too much fuss, but I certainly wouldn't use the word "high-quality" to describe any of their boards.
They are no doubt part of the "plug and pray" era. I use both platforms and have for years the fact is most pc users could care less about high quality sound and gamers do just fine using creative sound cards. Im a gamer myself and a x-fi card works just fine for what I need.
On the flip side I also agree with you that for high quality sound or for someone that uses high end mixing equipment and so on , Creative is not that way they will go.
Creative fills a need which is a mainstream market audio card. Your average system user is going to have at best a 100.00 speaker system setup on their computer, gamers might go in the low 200.00 range its very rare to see anything higher. A 5.1 and 7.1 system on a computer for the most part is a joke most people can spread the speakers out far enough to get any true surround sound and the speakers are lower quality so you wouldnt be able to hear them anyways.
Ive used a klipsch 5.1 for like 5 years now still works fine for my needs at least when im on my computer. Still use a audigy 2 card I honestly cant tell the difference between any of the Creative cards.
For my iMac my 2.1 with a sub is just fine for me, if I want more I hookup my ipod to an external speaker source. Its all good.
I use both platforms and have for years the fact is most pc users could care less about high quality sound and gamers do just fine using creative sound cards. Im a gamer myself and a x-fi card works just fine for what I need.
Hey, I wasn't always an audiophile. I used Creative soundcards with crappy PC speakers for years too. And to be honest, I simply got used to hearing little whining noises, clicks, etc. Never really thought about it too much.
Then I got into computer music, purchased a decent audio card, and realized that I wasn't hearing those little sounds all the time. That when I listened to music, or played games, all I'd hear was the actual sound. Then I went back to using a cheap, onboard audio system for a while, and all I'd notice were the annoying little sounds.
So yeah, sure you can just get used to hearing those electrical noises all the time. The same way you get used to having your computer crash regularly, or get used to seeing other channels show through when watching traditional analog cable TV. However, once you've lived without those annoyances for a while, it's impossible to go back. Especially when the cost difference these days is almost negligible.
I have an old 8-bit ISA Soundblaster card sitting in the closet somewhere. I can guarantee you that if I plugged it in to an old 386 board, hooked it up to my mixing board, turned the sound up, and then booted the computer, I'd be listening to the sound of every electrical impulse travelling anywhere in that machine. Hey, maybe I could produce a "glitch" track with those sounds...
Maybe they were the first to market with a sound card that actually worked with Windows without too much fuss, but I certainly wouldn't use the word "high-quality" to describe any of their boards.
One of the reasons why first Atari, and then Apple, were so sucessful in the pro music business was because their machines were internally quiet, in the electrical sense.
PC's were impossible to use, no matter what board might be available. There was no concern for that aspect of the design until well into the Pentium era. Even then, most machines were noisy.
Hey, I wasn't always an audiophile. I used Creative soundcards with crappy PC speakers for years too. And to be honest, I simply got used to hearing little whining noises, clicks, etc. Never really thought about it too much.
Then I got into computer music, purchased a decent audio card, and realized that I wasn't hearing those little sounds all the time. That when I listened to music, or played games, all I'd hear was the actual sound. Then I went back to using a cheap, onboard audio system for a while, and all I'd notice were the annoying little sounds.
So yeah, sure you can just get used to hearing those electrical noises all the time. The same way you get used to having your computer crash regularly, or get used to seeing other channels show through when watching traditional analog cable TV. However, once you've lived without those annoyances for a while, it's impossible to go back. Especially when the cost difference these days is almost negligible.
They say you can never go back. I remember when I first started skating I used 120.00 pair of skates, now I use a 900.00 pair. Cant skate for shit in the 120.00 pair anymore....
"My enemy's enemy is my friend". Why bother to fight if you can buy a Gurkha Battalion to do it for you ? Just pay your money and get on with doing what you have to do. And if your new found friend wins a few battles you claim the territory. If your new friend fails to win anything it has cost you no more than the first payment, plus you got yourself out of a battle you may have lost. Sounds like a plan to me.
Comments
No, in their day they were very good. They were the first high quality cards for the PC.
I have an old 8-bit ISA Soundblaster card sitting in the closet somewhere. I can guarantee you that if I plugged it in to an old 386 board, hooked it up to my mixing board, turned the sound up, and then booted the computer, I'd be listening to the sound of every electrical impulse travelling anywhere in that machine. Hey, maybe I could produce a "glitch" track with those sounds...
Maybe they were the first to market with a sound card that actually worked with Windows without too much fuss, but I certainly wouldn't use the word "high-quality" to describe any of their boards.
I have an old 8-bit ISA Soundblaster card sitting in the closet somewhere. I can guarantee you that if I plugged it in to an old 386 board, hooked it up to my mixing board, turned the sound up, and then booted the computer, I'd be listening to the sound of every electrical impulse travelling anywhere in that machine. Hey, maybe I could produce a "glitch" track with those sounds...
Maybe they were the first to market with a sound card that actually worked with Windows without too much fuss, but I certainly wouldn't use the word "high-quality" to describe any of their boards.
They are no doubt part of the "plug and pray" era. I use both platforms and have for years the fact is most pc users could care less about high quality sound and gamers do just fine using creative sound cards. Im a gamer myself and a x-fi card works just fine for what I need.
On the flip side I also agree with you that for high quality sound or for someone that uses high end mixing equipment and so on , Creative is not that way they will go.
Creative fills a need which is a mainstream market audio card. Your average system user is going to have at best a 100.00 speaker system setup on their computer, gamers might go in the low 200.00 range its very rare to see anything higher. A 5.1 and 7.1 system on a computer for the most part is a joke most people can spread the speakers out far enough to get any true surround sound and the speakers are lower quality so you wouldnt be able to hear them anyways.
Ive used a klipsch 5.1 for like 5 years now still works fine for my needs at least when im on my computer. Still use a audigy 2 card I honestly cant tell the difference between any of the Creative cards.
For my iMac my 2.1 with a sub is just fine for me, if I want more I hookup my ipod to an external speaker source. Its all good.
I use both platforms and have for years the fact is most pc users could care less about high quality sound and gamers do just fine using creative sound cards. Im a gamer myself and a x-fi card works just fine for what I need.
Hey, I wasn't always an audiophile. I used Creative soundcards with crappy PC speakers for years too. And to be honest, I simply got used to hearing little whining noises, clicks, etc. Never really thought about it too much.
Then I got into computer music, purchased a decent audio card, and realized that I wasn't hearing those little sounds all the time. That when I listened to music, or played games, all I'd hear was the actual sound. Then I went back to using a cheap, onboard audio system for a while, and all I'd notice were the annoying little sounds.
So yeah, sure you can just get used to hearing those electrical noises all the time. The same way you get used to having your computer crash regularly, or get used to seeing other channels show through when watching traditional analog cable TV. However, once you've lived without those annoyances for a while, it's impossible to go back. Especially when the cost difference these days is almost negligible.
I have an old 8-bit ISA Soundblaster card sitting in the closet somewhere. I can guarantee you that if I plugged it in to an old 386 board, hooked it up to my mixing board, turned the sound up, and then booted the computer, I'd be listening to the sound of every electrical impulse travelling anywhere in that machine. Hey, maybe I could produce a "glitch" track with those sounds...
Maybe they were the first to market with a sound card that actually worked with Windows without too much fuss, but I certainly wouldn't use the word "high-quality" to describe any of their boards.
One of the reasons why first Atari, and then Apple, were so sucessful in the pro music business was because their machines were internally quiet, in the electrical sense.
PC's were impossible to use, no matter what board might be available. There was no concern for that aspect of the design until well into the Pentium era. Even then, most machines were noisy.
Hey, I wasn't always an audiophile. I used Creative soundcards with crappy PC speakers for years too. And to be honest, I simply got used to hearing little whining noises, clicks, etc. Never really thought about it too much.
Then I got into computer music, purchased a decent audio card, and realized that I wasn't hearing those little sounds all the time. That when I listened to music, or played games, all I'd hear was the actual sound. Then I went back to using a cheap, onboard audio system for a while, and all I'd notice were the annoying little sounds.
So yeah, sure you can just get used to hearing those electrical noises all the time. The same way you get used to having your computer crash regularly, or get used to seeing other channels show through when watching traditional analog cable TV. However, once you've lived without those annoyances for a while, it's impossible to go back. Especially when the cost difference these days is almost negligible.
They say you can never go back. I remember when I first started skating I used 120.00 pair of skates, now I use a 900.00 pair. Cant skate for shit in the 120.00 pair anymore....