The PC hardware fads and fashion thread

[Dos_Box]

Blu-ray playback on PCs seems to be a minefield! I got a UHD capable drive that I've never got to play a 4k movie (a common problem apparently). Glad I didn't pay too much for it! Will have to wait until I can warrant getting a PS5. It's no wonder people turn to "alternative methods".

 

Yeah, I had some paid for HDDVD\Blu Ray software which constantly had to update itself to keep up with encoding, sadly I can't remember the name of it now, but may be archived on my HP Microserver.

That reminds me, not all cards with HDMI had HDCP built in and had to have a little sticker\branding on them to let you know they could decrypt HD content.

[Norphy]

Indeed, onboard audio was generally awful until comparatively modern times. I had an Awe64 and SBLive, both with the drive bay addons. Friend had an Awe64 Gold. Awesome cards! Although they used to serve more purpose than that, with connections for CDRom drives too (sometimes up to 3, Sony, Panasonic and Matsushita IIRC) plus analogue audio!

 

It's been a long time since I built a gaming PC (Battlefield 2 was the new hotness, so gauge the usefulness of this post by that if you wish!) but the motherboard I was using had an on-board sound card that, on paper, sounded very good indeed. Six channels, loads of voices, hyped up DSP, 24 bit/192hz and all that crap. I decided not to buy a discrete sound card because I got taken in by the marketing and it made it sound like the on-board was a massive step up from AC97 and would be enough.

 

Playing the aforementioned Battlefield 2, whenever my position got shelled, the sound got very choppy but I put it down to the game being new and still buggy. It was coming up to Christmas and someone like Scan or Aria had the SoundBlaster Audigy on offer. My dad asked me what I wanted for Christmas so I said to him that he could get me one of those if he wanted. Well, I put that thing in and the difference it made was staggering! Not so much in sound fidelity but just being able to keep up with things. No sound choppiness in BF2. Actual working surround sound. I stayed with discrete cards until I stopped gaming.

 

I don't know if things are still the same, but honestly if I were to go back into PC gaming (And I might because my son is starting to show an interest), I'd probably buy whatever the modern equivalent to an Audigy is, if there still is one.

 

/edit Looking at the Creative website... The Audigy is still a thing! It doesn't look like it's been updated significantly since, what, 2008?

Edited July 11, 2024 by Norphy

[LeMarchand]

Yeah, I had some paid for HDDVD\Blu Ray software which constantly had to update itself to keep up with encoding, sadly I can't remember the name of it now, but may be archived on my HP Microserver.

That reminds me, not all cards with HDMI had HDCP built in and had to have a little sticker\branding on them to let you know they could decrypt HD content.

 

I think the HDMI end is OK. If you come across the name...

[southhamster]

I used to work for Olivetti many years ago and "someone" had great fun with the M380/LSX server towers in the repair workshop re-programming the EPROM which worked the little green dot display at the top.

[EssentialRug]

Not sure if it counts as retro/a fashion fad, but this absolute thing of beauty my parents bought us back in the mid 2000's was everything.

 

[Dos_Box]

I think the HDMI end is OK. If you come across the name...

 

It was Arcsoft Total Media Theater. IIRC, it was one of the only (or the last supported) that could playback HDDVD, and as that format had just lost the war against Blu Ray you could get the films silly cheap (all since eBay'd).

[Dos_Box]

I also picked up a 21" Silicon Graphics CRT monitor for pennies off eBay about 2005. It was quite epic (VGA only), but weighed a ton. Sold it when I got my first flatscreen display.

Wish I hadn't now as they now go for a fortune!

[mikes]

/edit Looking at the Creative website... The Audigy is still a thing! It doesn't look like it's been updated significantly since, what, 2008?

 

I was wondering if Creative were still around... back in the early/mid 2000's everyone had a soundblaster or audigy. Nobody used onboard sound if a board even had it. But now I don't know a single person with an add on sound card, I'd presumed Creative had gone bust or transitioned into some niche expensive professional gear. I must admit my motherboard's onboard Realtek audio seems good enough but being almost 40 and having deafness in my family I suspect my hearing isn't what it once was... that said my friends setup sounds MUCH nicer than mine but he has proper expensive speakers, amp, and knows how to set it all up. He has some external sound card/amp thing that even glows amber...

 

Part of me remembers a lot of us got our Soundblasters almost more for performance reasons than sound quality, as back then just decoding sound/mp3 playback could take up a good 5 fps of a game back when 30 - 40 fps was normal for us youngsters on a budget. We all had those Creative "surround sound" 4 mini-speakers with the subwoofer for the middle as our speakers. Nowadays I doubt they'd even be considered good enough for a classrooms's speakers here!

[synaesthesia]

We all had those Creative "surround sound" 4 mini-speakers with the subwoofer for the middle as our speakers. Nowadays I doubt they'd even be considered good enough for a classrooms's speakers here!

 

 

My mancave sound system was one of those until I picked up a proper set from a local auction house last year! I bought them new in around 2001! Cambridge Audio. Posher people had Altec Lansing ones.

[LeMarchand]

It was Arcsoft Total Media Theater. IIRC, it was one of the only (or the last supported) that could playback HDDVD, and as that format had just lost the war against Blu Ray you could get the films silly cheap (all since eBay'd).

 

AFAICT it's dead and doesn't do 4k . I did have a year's sub to one of the paid players, but their support could never get it to play.

[DrCheese]

I still have creative soundcards - Currently have an AE5 - I can't quite describe it but I've got too used to the way they sound & whenever I've tried anything else (DAC or the built in audio) it's not been the same to my ears & I'm too grumpy to try and get used to it

[jthompson]

I still have creative soundcards - Currently have an AE5 - I can't quite describe it but I've got too used to the way they sound & whenever I've tried anything else (DAC or the built in audio) it's not been the same to my ears & I'm too grumpy to try and get used to it

 

That reads like an update of the "vinyl just sounds warmer than CDs" thing

 

EDIT: by that I'm not suggesting your post has no merit.

Edited July 11, 2024 by jthompson

[Dos_Box]

AFAICT it's dead and doesn't do 4k . I did have a year's sub to one of the paid players, but their support could never get it to play.

 

No, it was way before 4k. Back when HTPC's were becoming a thing you really did have to spend a small fortune to make one that would do everything you needed it to.

Graphics cards, sound cards, tuners, Blu Ray drives etc. Not a cheap way of doing things compared to a seperate PVR and player. Was good fun to meddle with though...constantly.

[DrCheese]

That reads like an update of the "vinyl just sounds warmer than CDs" thing

 

EDIT: by that I'm not suggesting your post has no merit.

 

hah no offence taken

[Patrick]

I was wondering if Creative were still around... back in the early/mid 2000's everyone had a soundblaster or audigy. Nobody used onboard sound if a board even had it. But now I don't know a single person with an add on sound card, I'd presumed Creative had gone bust or transitioned into some niche expensive professional gear. I must admit my motherboard's onboard Realtek audio seems good enough but being almost 40 and having deafness in my family I suspect my hearing isn't what it once was... that said my friends setup sounds MUCH nicer than mine but he has proper expensive speakers, amp, and knows how to set it all up. He has some external sound card/amp thing that even glows amber...

 

Part of me remembers a lot of us got our Soundblasters almost more for performance reasons than sound quality, as back then just decoding sound/mp3 playback could take up a good 5 fps of a game back when 30 - 40 fps was normal for us youngsters on a budget. We all had those Creative "surround sound" 4 mini-speakers with the subwoofer for the middle as our speakers. Nowadays I doubt they'd even be considered good enough for a classrooms's speakers here!

 

I used to run a Asus Xonar DX sound card with custom drivers made by the community! Paired with some fantastic surround sound speakers it sounded brilliant, I miss those days! Not many run a system like that now. I used to love listening to music on that setup. This wasn't even that long ago, maybe 8 years ago. Unfortunately, I moved and the speakers had to go as they will too loud. The card was also powered from a floppy drive power connector If I remember rightly, and needed adapters! It mustn't have been able to draw enough from the PCI-E slot. These days I'm USB headset.

 

I miss my sound card and massive speakers from 2004

[Oaktech]

I still have creative soundcards - Currently have an AE5 - I can't quite describe it but I've got too used to the way they sound & whenever I've tried anything else (DAC or the built in audio) it's not been the same to my ears & I'm too grumpy to try and get used to it

 

 

I've got an A3 Live now most other soundcards just sound either really fake, or a bit 'crunchy' to me.

 

I've got a couple of friends who podcast, but they're creative types and just want to talk for an hour and not be bothered with the technical details, so I use it for producing their podcasts!

 

I was very, very sad when my X-Fi Fatality card with the drive bay IO wouldn't work on Windows 10.

[ovenchips]

I've got an A3 Live now most other soundcards just sound either really fake, or a bit 'crunchy' to me.

 

I've got a couple of friends who podcast, but they're creative types and just want to talk for an hour and not be bothered with the technical details, so I use it for producing their podcasts!

 

I was very, very sad when my X-Fi Fatality card with the drive bay IO wouldn't work on Windows 10.

 

If you've still got it, the Daniel_K driver pack supports most PCI-E Audigy/X-FI cards and works on XP / Vista / 7 / 8 10 / 11 perfectly! https://danielkawakami.blogspot.com/

 

He's stopped updating them now but they work great for the cards I've got in various machines.

[Koldov]

Managed to get an old PCI (not -E) Creative Labs Audigy 2 ZS card working in Windows 10 with those drivers! Some slight inconsistencies with some functions and I never had the audio interface/drive bay IO so can't comment on that, but it brought back some memories.

 

I am hopefully moving house soon and know I'm going to have to face some heart-breaking decisions.... we're downsizing and the amount of stuff I'm going to have to lose (old computers and tech related stuff, lots of legacy audio and video equipment, along with guitars/amps/pedals, exercise equipment/gym and an old running machine). I know I should sell it, but there's so much I don't think I can really add that stress on top of the move...

[Oaktech]

If you've still got it, the Daniel_K driver pack supports most PCI-E Audigy/X-FI cards and works on XP / Vista / 7 / 8 10 / 11 perfectly! https://danielkawakami.blogspot.com/

 

He's stopped updating them now but they work great for the cards I've got in various machines.

 

I moved it on to a friend of a friend who is still using XP in a studio for legacy midi reasons.