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Top 10 Best Sound Cards
Welcome to the Sound Card Piki, the best place to decide between sound cards. A sound card is a computer expansion card responsible for processing audio signals as they are inputted to or outputted from a computer. What sound card your computer has affects the type and quality of audio tasks it can perform. This Piki makes use of more than 6,400 facts about 131 sound cards. Sort and filter these sound cards according to your preferences using the options on the left. Whether you're looking for firewire (IEEE 1394) sound cards, sound cards with 7.1 channel surround or something else entirely, we have you covered.
You are currently viewing the best sound cards. We stack everything according to PikiRank, which measures each item's performance for all users combined. If you're looking for a good bet, pick an item near the top.
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pikimal created the Philips Aurillium Sound Card 04/12 at 7:48 AM (EDT)
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Independent, Unbiased, Fact-Based Rankings
Selected Preferences Custom: Best Sound Cards
Creative Technology Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Notebook
The Creative Technology Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Notebook is inexpensive, and it has a PC card card interface. It has a 24-bit depth, 7.1 channel surround output and a signal to noise ratio (SNR) of 104 decibels. It is a plug-in module.
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Price: $59.45
Given that users looking for the best overall sound cards prefer lower values for price, the Creative Technology Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Notebook achieves 99% performance in this category.
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Construction: Form Factor - Plug-in module,
The Creative Technology Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Notebook achieves 55% performance for construction.
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Sound Quality: Bit Depth - 24-bit, Output Mode - 7.1 channel surround, Maximum Sample Rate - 192
The Creative Technology Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Notebook achieves 88% performance for sound quality.
Creative Technology Sound Blaster Audigy 4
The Creative Technology Sound Blaster Audigy 4 is inexpensive, and it has a PCI card interface. It has a 24-bit depth, 7.1 channel surround output and a signal to noise ratio (SNR) of 106 decibels. It is a plug-in card.
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Price: $20
Given that users looking for the best overall sound cards prefer lower values for price, the Creative Technology Sound Blaster Audigy 4 achieves 99% performance in this category.
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Construction: Form Factor - Plug-in card, Remote Control
The Creative Technology Sound Blaster Audigy 4 achieves 66% performance for construction.
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Sound Quality: Bit Depth - 24-bit, Output Mode - 7.1 channel surround, Maximum Sample Rate - 192
The Creative Technology Sound Blaster Audigy 4 achieves 71% performance for sound quality.
Sabrent SND-P8CH Sound Card
The Sabrent SND-P8CH Sound Card is inexpensive, and it has a PCI card interface. It has a 24-bit depth and 7.1 channel surround output, and it is a plug-in card. It has a PCI Card.
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Price: $11.99
Given that users looking for the best overall sound cards prefer lower values for price, the Sabrent SND-P8CH Sound Card achieves 99% performance in this category.
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Construction: Form Factor - Plug-in card, PCI Card
The Sabrent SND-P8CH Sound Card achieves 66% performance for construction.
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Sound Quality: Bit Depth - 24-bit, Output Mode - 7.1 channel surround, Maximum Sample Rate - 96
The Sabrent SND-P8CH Sound Card achieves 47% performance for sound quality.
Creative Technology Sound Blaster Live!
The Creative Technology Sound Blaster Live! is very inexpensive, and it has a PCI card interface. It has a 24-bit depth, 7.1 channel surround output and a signal to noise ratio (SNR) of 100 decibels. It is a plug-in card.
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Price: $4.72
Given that users looking for the best overall sound cards prefer lower values for price, the Creative Technology Sound Blaster Live! achieves 100% performance in this category.
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Construction: Form Factor - Plug-in card,
The Creative Technology Sound Blaster Live! achieves 55% performance for construction.
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Sound Quality: Bit Depth - 24-bit, Output Mode - 7.1 channel surround, Maximum Sample Rate - 96
The Creative Technology Sound Blaster Live! achieves 74% performance for sound quality.
Crystal CS4280-CM Sound Card
The Crystal CS4280-CM Sound Card is inexpensive, and it has a PCI card interface. It has a 64-bit depth and stereo output, and it is a plug-in card. It uses FM synthesis.
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Price: $10
Given that users looking for the best overall sound cards prefer lower values for price, the Crystal CS4280-CM Sound Card achieves 99% performance in this category.
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Construction: Form Factor - Plug-in card,
The Crystal CS4280-CM Sound Card achieves 44% performance for construction.
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Sound Quality: Bit Depth - 64-bit, Output Mode - Stereo
The Crystal CS4280-CM Sound Card achieves 54% performance for sound quality.
StarTech.com PCISOUND7CH
The StarTech.com PCISOUND7CH is inexpensive, and it has a PCI card interface. It has a 24-bit depth and 7.1 channel surround output, and it is a plug-in card. It is compatible with dolby digital EX.
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Price: $14.99
Given that users looking for the best overall sound cards prefer lower values for price, the StarTech.com PCISOUND7CH achieves 99% performance in this category.
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Construction: Form Factor - Plug-in card,
The StarTech.com PCISOUND7CH achieves 55% performance for construction.
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Sound Quality: Bit Depth - 24-bit, Output Mode - 7.1 channel surround, Maximum Sample Rate - 48
The StarTech.com PCISOUND7CH achieves 37% performance for sound quality.
ASUS Xonar D1 7.1 Sound Card
The ASUS Xonar D1 7.1 Sound Card is inexpensive, and it has a PCI card interface. It has a 64-bit depth and 7.1 channel surround output, and it is a plug-in card. It is compatible with DTS.
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Price: $81
Given that users looking for the best overall sound cards prefer lower values for price, the ASUS Xonar D1 7.1 Sound Card achieves 98% performance in this category.
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Construction: Form Factor - Plug-in card, Installed Memory - 256,
The ASUS Xonar D1 7.1 Sound Card achieves 66% performance for construction.
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Sound Quality: Bit Depth - 64-bit, Output Mode - 7.1 channel surround, Maximum Sample Rate - 192
The ASUS Xonar D1 7.1 Sound Card achieves 100% performance for sound quality.
Creative Technology Sound Blaster X-Fi Go!
The Creative Technology Sound Blaster X-Fi Go! is inexpensive, and it has a USB card interface. It has stereo output and a signal to noise ratio (SNR) of 96 decibels, and it is an external device. It is compatible with EAX.
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Price: $30
Given that users looking for the best overall sound cards prefer lower values for price, the Creative Technology Sound Blaster X-Fi Go! achieves 99% performance in this category.
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Construction: Form Factor - External device, Installed Memory - 512,
The Creative Technology Sound Blaster X-Fi Go! achieves 100% performance for construction.
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Sound Quality: Output Mode - Stereo, Maximum Sample Rate - 48
The Creative Technology Sound Blaster X-Fi Go! achieves 26% performance for sound quality.
Sabrent SBT-SP6C Sound Card
The Sabrent SBT-SP6C Sound Card is very inexpensive, and it has a PCI card interface. It has a 32-bit depth and 5.1 channel surround output, and it is a plug-in card. It uses MIDI synthesis.
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Price: $8.99
Given that users looking for the best overall sound cards prefer lower values for price, the Sabrent SBT-SP6C Sound Card achieves 99% performance in this category.
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Construction: Form Factor - Plug-in card,
The Sabrent SBT-SP6C Sound Card achieves 44% performance for construction.
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Sound Quality: Bit Depth - 32-bit, Output Mode - 5.1 channel surround
The Sabrent SBT-SP6C Sound Card achieves 21% performance for sound quality.
Creative Technology Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic
The Creative Technology Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic is inexpensive, and it has a PCI card interface. It has a 24-bit depth, 7.1 channel surround output and a signal to noise ratio (SNR) of 109 decibels. It is a plug-in module.
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Price: $71.41
Given that users looking for the best overall sound cards prefer lower values for price, the Creative Technology Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic achieves 98% performance in this category.
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Construction: Form Factor - Plug-in module, PCI Card
The Creative Technology Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic achieves 77% performance for construction.
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Sound Quality: Bit Depth - 24-bit, Output Mode - 7.1 channel surround, Maximum Sample Rate - 96
The Creative Technology Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic achieves 80% performance for sound quality.