[mikesch1]

I read these boards on occasion, and more often then not I come away having learned something. I'm hoping that someone here will be able to help me with an upcoming purchasing decision, here's the deal.

I've had a Beige G3, since they were introduced and have been happy with the computer overall. However come this summer, I'll be replacing the Beige G3, with whatever duel processor model G4, (hopefully PPC 7450 based) they come out with at MWNY '01.

I am am avid music listener, it can be pretty much assumed, that if I'm using my Mac, some sort of music will also be playing in the background.

Presently I have some JBL speakers hooked up to my G3, and I've never been anything less then pleased with them. But I tend to replace everything at once, So I'm planning to upgrade to a four channel system. The klipsch Promedia 4.1's have caught my eye and I'll probably purchase a pair come july. Unless someone can recommend something better. More info is here:
http://www.klipsch.com/index.asp?pat...mp;line=&1

Now of course the question arises in regards to which four channel sound card to buy to support the speakers. I've looked at the Soundblaster, and while I have no doubt that it would support the speakers correctly. I feel that the soundblaster for mac is overpriced when compared to the PC offerings and I'm a little leery about the quality of the drivers, given that this is largely Creative's first venture into the Mac Arena. More info about the soundblaster can be found here:
http://www.creativelabs.com/products/MAC/110.asp

Another card I am considering is the M-Audio Audiophile 2496, more info about this card is here:
http://www.m-audio.net/m-audio/html/...audiophile.htm

Would the audiophile support the Above mentioned Klipsch speakers? I would use the card's recording facilities for live concert recording. Thanks for all replies sorry for being so long winded. Any other suggestions regarding equipment is also appreciated.

Mike

[exa]

The AP2496 is a sonically superior card than the soundblaster however you can kiss EAX and OpenAL and all that stuff you want in games good bye (its a 2 channel card, not a 4 channel, but you can do stereo x2 with 4 speakers.. it only has RCA ports too, so you will need some converters)... Software wise, I believe Midiman has plans on releasing drivers for OS X whereas creative does not, I think... Software itself is pretty good and stable (I have the AP2496).

Speaker-wise, IMHO multimedia speakers just do not cut it... this is me but I would get a nice pair of speakers and an amplifier, but that is just me...

One nice thing with the AP2496 is that you can upgrade indefinetely (or when your money runs out)... that is to say, you can upgrade your d/a conversion with an external DAC plugged into the AP2496's s/pdif output (the soundblaster's s/pdif port resamples giving an inferior output to do this).

The Audiophile Card is only superior in the Recording Arena. That's what the purpose of an Audio Card is. The SoundBlaster Card is exactly that, a Sound Card. It has many more features than the Audiophile Card in that it provides a Midi Synthesizer, Surround Sound, EAX, Envirormental Effects, and will probably be able to offload the processor in the futuer. SoundBlaster will release OS X drivers eventually. It's in their plans. I can't use any other card except the SoundBlaster as I'm using it to give me a self Contained midi lab set-up. Can't do that on an audiophile card.

[TheDoctor]

I've heard those Klipsch speakers in person and they sound phenomenal. In fact, they sound better than my full-blown stereo.