>>108042778
somewhere around 98 - 00 can't remember

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i have a soundblaster 2 card i think, is it possible i could hook it up to my modern pc?
is there is a point in doing so?

>>108042778
2004

I can't remember but I do remember like 80% of random crashes and incompatibility issues back in the early 2000s being caused by them. Was glad to see them end up being paired back and built into mobos.

>>108042778
2004. Helped a friend put together a rig and he had some Chinesium sound card he got from the back alley of the internet. Had speaker terminals on it and enough juice to crank his old Advent 5002 speakers.
He still had that pc when we graduated college in 2014.

>>108042850
you'd need an ISA slot mainboard, or jerryrig some kind of adapter. And afaik, you'd be better off looking for an old mainboard with ISA slot than trying to get that card working with a 'modern' PC.

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>>108043021
That's a Sound Blaster Audigy 2. It needs a PCIE to PCI adapter which you can get. Mounting it on your case is going to be hard. Unless you have a matx MB in a ATX case or your case has vertical GPU mounts.

>>108042856
Same. I still have a stack of old soundblasters through and can't bring myself to get rid of them since they have hardware FM, which current sound cards do not have.

>>108043082
Unfortunately, most pci-pcie adapters don't work very well with pci sound blasters due to some latency issue.
Easiest option is just to buy those pci-e x-fi sound blasters (EMU20K2) from the late 00s.

>>108042778
has to be around 1998

but honestly I'm currently thinking about getting one
well an external one at least

>>108042778
A couple weeks ago. It's a 486 and I put in a SoundBlaster 16.
The newest thing I've put an internal sound card in was a Pentium 2 with a Turtle Beach card with A3D and wavetable MIDI.
Since then everything moved to onboard audio devices that have become just DACs, and if I have one that sucks, I use an external USB DAC.

>>108042850
No, and no. I've seen some hackery to convert the LPC bus that's found on some TPM headers into normal ISA slots, since it's just serialized ISA. But the last few generations of boards haven't even had LPC on their chipset.

Also, SoundBlaster 2 is one of the rare ISA cards that needs -5 volts, which ATX power supplies after the mid 2000s no longer supply. If you got an ISA slot, you'd also need to use a voltage regulator to produce it from -12 V.

Your picture looks to be a PCI Audigy card though, which you can use in a modern board with just a PCIe to PCI adapter card.

2007 or so

>>108043122
yeah, it's an audigy 2, sorry about confusion i don't really know sound cards

would it produce better quality sound with some decent headphones than typical usb stuff?

>>108042778
2024, when I put that exact model into my media center PC.
>b-but hdmi muh dacs
Don't care. High quality sound card audio with processing pumped to a high quality amp driving passive speakers, sounds better than anything those other slopshit options would provide.
Arguably, the newest might have been the 2025 rebuild of my main pc replacing some broken parts and reusing the soundblaster I've had in it for a decade.

>>108043143
Probably not. It probably has midi support but software midi is better these days, doesn't use any significant CPU except for playing some of those black midis, and doesn't have limits on simultaneous notes like the old hardware ones. It probably also has some "audio enhancements" but again this is better done in software today.

Just get a quality USB DAC or even just a headphone amp if your headphones aren't being driven well enough from the green jack on your onboard audio.

>>108042778
I added a sound card in current year, though the PC is older

>>108043111
Why not just get a never soudblaster, like AE-5?

>>108043281
>my sound card isnt a dac
bravo

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>>108043339
>hurr durr
You know what I'm talking about and still insist on posting this rubbish.

>>108043281
>>b-but hdmi muh dacs
>Don't care. High quality sound card audio with processing pumped to a high quality amp driving passive speakers, sounds better than anything those other slopshit options would provide.
HDMI does passthrough for digital audio to your A/V processor or AVR. Your soundcard offers no benefit over that, anon

>>108043328
>Why not just get a never soudblaster, like AE-5?
I suppose those work fine too.
EMU20K just happened to be the last batch of cards to support WinXP that still had EAX "hardware acceleration". Not that it really did much in practice to boost performance, despite Creative's advertising. The later cards use software emulation(Alchemy) for EAX, if they even support it at all.

>>108042778
Like 15 years ago. I use an external one now. IMO you really need one if you have an audio setup as choosing a motherboard with correct outputs is a bitch. With a soundcard you always have them no matter the mobo.

>>108042778
maybe 10 years ago. IDK I didn't know there would be a test.

>>108042850
good luck getting drivers even if you did.

>>108042875
pretty much never had a problem with most name brands.

>>108043101
I had a pile of them as well, but now you can't easily get drivers for anything newer then when they were made or at all.


I still have my Gravis Ultrasound. I don't have anything I can plug it in to though :(
best sound card ever made.

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>>108042778
Last year, initially out of necessity because my motherboard line-in broke so I couldn't drive my speakers. I later paired it with some proper headphones and was pleasantly surprised. I now let FL Studio take advantage of it for hardware acceleration, it's much faster than my CPU.

Personally I would say what I got here is more than enough for most people who want a more artsy experience and who want to take things a little more than casually. I probably would not say it is essential though like it once was.

>>108042778
2026, I'm building a W98 machine with a SB0100 right now.

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>>108042778
2025
Its a SoundBlaster X-Fi. Had to download some random drivers from a forum to get it working though. I like to play XP era games with eax support: Fear, Doom 3, OFP Resistance and so on.
Fortunately there is no retro pc craze around those cards in my country so I bought two for ~15 yuros each.
Also inb4 reflection doxx

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>>108042778
2025
Still rocking my Asus Xonar Xense.

>>108043383
>hdmifag doesn't know sound cards have processing, EQ, effect modulation

>>108043431
that's a really cool looking piece of hardware

obsolete tech now that you can get an external DAC/AMP combo and plug it via USB

>>108042778
2006ish but it was to add two gaming ports

I got a Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio in my 2007 PC which I also moved to my 2012 build because frankly it sounded way better than the integrated audio especially when maxing the volume even though people in 2012 claimed integrated cards are now good. Also didn't have any of the random noises/whines that pollute integrated audio when the other components like CPU/GPU are being very active.
I still have it in the closet but I haven't had any use for it since I just started taking audio out of my PC digitally via USB into an external DAC/amp all my shit is connected to.

yesterday

Sound cards need to make a comeback. Not because they produce any tangible benefit, but because of the profit potential. Any audio snob willing to pay $600 for audio cables wouldn't think twice about putting a $500 widget on their computer if they can pretend it increases already perfect audio fidelity

>>108043542
>muh dac
Literal garbage. How do you faggots keep falling for this shit?

Probably two years ago because the arcade game it went in uses a xonar

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>>108042778
Like 2009 maybe, been using USB DACs for years now.

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>>108042778
Last time my main PC had a dedicated soundcard was around the Windows 7 era, which had a SoundBlaster X-Fi. One day I realized
>why the fuck do I still use a sound card? Creative's shitty drivers BSOD my PC at least once a month, my motherboard's built-in audio sounds just as good, and the last game I played that took advantage of my X-Fi was BF2, which I absolutely hate now.
Ever since I've been happy with various Bluetooth headsets and sound provided by everybody's favorite audio crab

>>108042778
2004

>>108042778
2005
It was supposed to decrease CPU load and increase performance

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>>108043542
I guess that makes internal sound cards obsolete in the same sense, as external hard drives make internal drives obsolete

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>>108043111
There is also this H610 Asus motherboard that still has a legacy PCI slot.

>>108044595
that asmedia 1083 is a pci bridge chip well known for not working well with sound blasters

>>108044595 i wonder why this 1 particular motherboard became memed
ive been seeing it like near on a decade now i stg

>>108042778
2009 and not even because I wanted a sound card specifically but because I want fill all my motherboard PCIe slots just for the keks.

So I build a PC with 2 ATI 4870 in crossfire, a slim ASUS sound card(don't really remember the part number, but it was a "popular" one) and a card for extra USB ports, which I ended up never using. I was the last windows pc I built.

>>108044126
You haven't seen the RME cards then

>>108043431
I got one of them sennheisers and it flakes like a motherfucker and is unusable. Even if you swap the earpads then you got the headband. Next time I will spend more to get a different brand

>>108042778
Never, I think. I've never really cares for audio.

I still use external one

>>108042778
I think the computer I was using until 2014 or 2015 (forgot when I built the next one) had one. I used a PCI Audigy 2 ZS card with a third party driver. The computer had P55M-UD2 motherboard which still had PCI slots.

Around 2012 but I still have my trusty Asus Xonar soundcard simply because I like non fatiguing and the dark presentation of the BB dac chips that uses.

>>108043510
Why not just use wrappers?

>>108043111
>most pci-pcie adapters don't work very well with pci sound blasters due to some latency issue.
Creative themselves used PCIe bridges for years for their PCI cards though. Off the shelf bridges.

2007, my onboard sound didn't have support for Vista so I got the cheapest sound card I could find at Best Buy.

>>108042778
2015, some shitty Asus Xonar card that was still better than the garbo audio from whatever motherboard I had

2003, 2004 maybe. When the AMD Athlon XP was a thing.

>>108042778
2025
Soundblaster PCI

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My current PC has a Sound Blaster Z. It's great the headphone dac btfo's the motherboard dac and the line in/spdif in features let me route audio from my turntable/ps4 into my PC.

>>108042778
They were expensive back in the day. Not everyone could afford to have one.
I think there were some cheaper ones but don't remember which.
That was like 24 years ago...

>>108044876
>I got one of them sennheisers and it flakes like a motherfucker and is unusable.
That's weird, I got these Sennheisers in part precisely because every other damn headphone before it would flake off all that rubber and litter my room and my head. These just use proper upholstery.

>>108044876
>>108048200
I guess their quality has varied. I've used a RS 185 headset for ~10 years now. The headband pads started flaking after a few years of use. I just let them flake their merry way, and now they are just bare fabric. Not a good impression, but otherwise the set is great. I think they should have made the headband pads out of the same velour the earpads are covered in, which seem to be durable

>>108042778
2009

I'm hoarding sound cards because i'm convinced they're going to be the next thing to be used by the next crypto/AI/whatever bubble, how stupid am i?

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>>108049528
People say that modern integrated audio cards are more advanced than old Sound Blasters, but the stereo separation and sound quality of my Audigy Rx are unbeatable. I've tested many audio outputs with my certified A-brand calibrated headphones.
When audiophiles discover this hidden truth, you'll be a millionaire.

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>>108042778
pretty late, around 2010-ish, juli@ esi
you could flip the card and switch between balanced or unbalanced outputs. which for speaker monitors was a good thing.

>>108042778
Every year, all of my builds revolve around the sound card

>>108043542
Latency for professional audio kid

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I can tell you when I sold it, 2013

>>108042778
October 2025. Creative Sound Blaster AE-5
It's day and night compared to the integrated audio chipset of the motherboard.
However it often causes BSOD on the W11 login screen when I boot the computer.

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>>108042778
Should I install this anon? My Lenovo P520 has a single PCI slot at the bottom and I have had this sitting in my junk drawer for probably a decade or more.
You decide anons, is today the day I return to sound card glory.

>>108042778
Pretty sure I had one in my 2007 build. I think I used one at least until like 2012 since I had a Logitech Z5500 5.1 system. Took it out at some point after that since I switched to a hifi stereo setup for sound, got an external DAC eventually.

My motherboard doesn't have a toslink output and I'm pissed

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I got an Asus Xonar DX in 2009 and kept it until 2024. With newer motherboards having shitty PCI-E slot arrangements and GPUs growing in size, I was forced to switch to a USB sound card. Now i have a Creative Sound Blaster X G6. But in terms of sound quality i would still be fine with the Asus Xonar DX.

>>108050182
>creative

good luck finding windows 11 driver for that thing. Meanwhile, Asus still provides drivers for the stuff they released in 2008

>>108051487
Does it have S/PDIF header? That's how some cheapo motherboards do digital out these days. It can be used to connect optical with an rca-adapter + converter

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>>108051909
Nope. It would be labeled or mentioned in the specs or manual

>>108042778
Around 2008.

>>108042778
My current system has an AE-7.

>>108042778
I never assembled a PC with a soundcard

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>>108052489
The header I'm talking about is internal, but yeah, it probably would be mentioned in the specs/manual

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>>108042778
I guess 2022. I have a sound blaster Z in my Ryzen 5000 system.

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~2011 when I built my 2600k rig.
Still going along with most components.

>>108042778
I had to get a USB soundcard about two years ago because the onboard audio chip on my motherboard died.

>>108049528
I remember there was a hoax in the early 2010s that someone got bitcoin mining on their Audigy 4 and it outperformed GPUs.

>>108049630
That's very likely down to just drivers or default EQ or DSP effect settings.

>>108049703
That's genius. Reminds me of those old videocards that had PCIE connector on the bottom side of the PCB and AGP port on the top, so you could flip it 180 degrees and it works on either boards.

>>108050182
Nah, even if you could find drivers, they'd be utter fucking garbage. Creative is known to have had junk drivers forever. It got so bad that a group of people made alternate free software drivers for their cards (look up kxproject).

Speaking of which, the kx audio drivers supposedly work under windows 10. So technically, you could get that card working. Unless something in Windows broke them since.

>>108054154
his pic is from one of those asus tuf motherboards (the only ones that do 7.1 analog output) and I know for a fact that those can't do s/pdif anywhere.

it's so friggin annoying that they started gimping audio outputs, on am4 even midrange boards had 5 gold plated analog jacks and s/pdif, nowadays nothing has more than 3 analog out, except extreme high end boards which have TWO gold plated analog jacks + spdif.

>>108042778
I'm using a sound blaster xfi titanium and EAX 5.0 to play older games like the Colin McRae 2 to 2005. Prey and F. E. A.R. sounds awesome too. It's a much better experience than any modern game for me.

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>>108043542
TRVTH NVKE
got pic rel and it noticeably mogged my old soundblaster g6 and is less buggy too

>>108042778
i'd have one right now if it wasn't for the fact that it's PCI and adapter won't make it align with the hole on the back of the case
but i will buy one when i have some spare money

I have a PCI soundcard because I bought a motherboard with a PCI slot. I use the motherboard built-in soundcard, the PCI soundcard and an external audio interface.

I'm pretty sure the first PC I built in like 1998 had sound built into the motherboard.

I did have a prebuilt before then that had a soundblaster

>>108054718
>the only ones that do 7.1 analog output
Things have gotten grim. The x99 deluxe where the pic of the S/PDIF header is from had analog 7.1, external toslink, and the aforementioned internal S/PDIF

Toslink seems to be regarded as some sort of legacy tech now. I guess people just use USB more and more. Not that that's terrible, as today it can have low latency, and has ample bandwidth for any audio

>>108042778
When they came with a game port for joysticks.

>>108042778
2010 or something.

>>108042778
I'd say 1998 or 1999, the next ones came integrated in the Mainboard.

>>108058180
No, I remember building a core2duo around 2009 , I added an Asus soundboard in order to make it output sound through the hdmi connector. I used it this way for 2-3 years,

>>108042778
2006
And thats because somehow my soubd stopped comming through the mobo and i was too dumb to know why. I was 15. So i bought an audigy soundblaster from bestbuy and didnt have any problems again.
Today i know better though lol.

>>108042778
I got a Sound BlasterX AE-5 Plus for free and include it in everything.

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>>108042778
2000. Sound Blaster AWE64 inherited from my previous build from 1997.
I'd keep using the AWE64 in my next PC that I built in 2004, if the motherboard still had ISA slots but alas, it didn't. Back then integrated audio was already "good enough" for me in midrange and high end mobos that I felt spending money on a new sound card would be a waste

2004
Creative SB Audigy

>>108042778
2004