Video Asylum

Posted by Some Guy on May 01, 2003 at 11:25:37

In Reply to: Creative Labs Extigy for Home Theater? posted by AudioDave on May 01, 2003 at 08:21:28:

A lot of people brag about having the Extigy and Audigy: personally, I think neither card has much going for it apart from the front panel. They really don't sound all that much better than the original Sound Blaster 16, they are generally used to feed the lowest of the low speakers, and they (as mentioned elsewhere) don't have very good specs. The only reason they exist is because a lot of people think they look cool and want the bragging rights... If you want a real pro card with a breakout box, the cards by Aardvark, Digidesign, and M-Audio are all far better choices both in quality and genuine bang for the buck.

Very simply, go ahead and buy a dedicated amp for AV use. If you want to wire a PC into it (they do make good PVR, DivX, VCD, and DVD Players) get a SoundCard with a digital out (I'd say optical, but a coax would probably be OK as well) and wire that into your receiver. Having a PC attached to home theater these days isn't a bad thing at all... it really jumps up the flexibility even though they're lacking a bit in fidelity. Not only are they good for various video stuff, they make really good MP3 jukeboxes as well.