Turtle Beach Santa Cruz PCI Sound Card

by Turtle Beach

Product Details

Product Manual [11.01mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 15.5 x 9.5 x 3 inches ; 1.4 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000063WQ0
• Item model number: TBS-3400-01
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: April 16, 2002

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Santa Cruz combines cutting-edge technology, audiophile sonic quality, and an unprecedented array of features to deliver PC audio performance normally reserved for the finest home audio equipment.

Unlike conventional sound cards, Santa Cruz is engineered for the future with a powerful DSP accelerator. Advanced design features such as wide bandwidth, low-noise amplifiers, and high-resolution converters accurately deliver the highest fidelity for playing digital music, CDs, DVDs, and interactive multichannel games.

Santa Cruz can support up to six powered speakers in various combinations, including discrete 5.1, quad, and virtual surround with stereo speakers or headphones. Programmable digital sound fields further enhance your sonic experience with riveting three-dimensional realism.

The Santa Cruz sound card comes with a one-year limited warranty.

Product Description

A next generation PCI sound card that drives up to 6 powered speakers or enhanced to sound like 6 with programmable DSP effects Simultaneous record & playback up to 48kHz Digital Outputs - 48kHz PCM or AC-3 for external processors 10-band graphic EQ with presets and peak meters 3 20-bit DACs 10Hz-120kHz (-3dB) SNR - 96dB FS A-weighted THD+N - (-3dB) - < -91 dB FS (0.0027%) Requires Pentium 200MHz processor w/MMX or better, 32MB RAM, Win95/98/NT 4.0 (w/SP.4 or higher), PCI 2.1 slot, CD-ROM drive and 69MB disk space

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Finally, a 'creative' alternative, July 7, 2003

By 

Jason M. Wisnieski "atteSmythe" (Garfield Hts., OH United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Turtle Beach Santa Cruz PCI Sound Card (Personal Computers)

Turtle Beach's Santa Cruz is a welcome alternative to the everpresent Creative line of sound cards.

When I first opened the box, I was disappointed. The box is enormous, but there is almost nothing in it. There is a PCI card, a CD in a paper sleeve, a quick start fold-out, and a warranty registration card. I expected at least a dozen-page manual, and its ommission made me cautious.

Installation is easy, though it did require at least two reboots to complete. The full product manual is available on the install CD as a PDF.

I upgraded to a Santa Cruz from a Creative SB Live! Value. I upgraded for a few specific reasons. My old card had all the features I wanted - it supported quadraphonic sound, had all the inputs and outputs (digital and analog) that I wanted. Technically, though, it was lacking - the Live! line has notorious problems with interrupt sharing, which modern Windows systems use incessantly. Despite driver upgrades, I had popping, stuttering audio.

No more with the Santa Cruz. The new soundcard is much more reliable than the old. I did not expect to hear an audible difference in the sound quality, but I did. The Santa Cruz is crisp and clear, with a very low noise floor. The positional audio is also impeccable. A last unexpected benefit is that it runs much, much cooler than my old Live! did. The main chip on my Live! would be noticibly warm to the touch, but the Santa Cruz stays nice and cold. With summer upon us, every bit of cooling in your PC helps.

The bundled software is not flashy, but it is definitely adequate. The tools provided are small and unobtrusive. There is one utility that loads into the tray by default, replacing the standard volume control. I haven't tried disabling that yet, but it is hardly noticeable. There is an eq and an effects selector, with the ability to save presets for quick retrieval.

Although I have only quad speakers, the Santa Cruz supports everything from headphones (with virtual surround!) to 5.1 format audio. It also supports several environmental effect standards: In addition to the DirectSound3d, it supports EAX 1.0, EAX 2.0, A3D, IA3D, and Sensaura.

The bottom line is that this is a great card. Turtle Beach has a good reputation for good sound cards, and I'm glad that I finally made the switch.

36 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "The Best", April 30, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Turtle Beach Santa Cruz PCI Sound Card (Personal Computers)

I love really good equipment- and this card is the best overall. It has better driver support for more games- a better user interface than creatives cards ( I have a SB live also) and has a smaller CPU usage footprint...and it's cheaper. It's an ABSOLUTE steal- yes It's better that SB live value- LIVE!- and IMHO- better than ALL audigy cards for gaming- it's gives less trouble and runs better on most games. 5.1/6.1 sound- versa jack- sound options out he WAZOO! I built a new rig with MSI 415d motherboard (Nvida chipset) AMD athalon xp2100 OCZ PC 2700, Coolermaster ALUM. case, HCC_001 CM HS, and by my choice (and i had the money to but Audigy) I plugged a new Santa cruise in this baby- ...and...it rocks.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best Out There, July 20, 2002

By 

"greatone222" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Turtle Beach Santa Cruz PCI Sound Card (Personal Computers)

Having heard a SB Audigy Platinum Sound Card in action, I have to tell you that this thing is the real deal for ALOT less. It's got support for EVERY speaker combination you can think of, from 2, to 4, and then the 5.1 6 Speaker setup. I've got the Promedia 5.1 System, and this is the PERFECT card for it. I didn't think I needed to go any further than the Turtle Beach to get top quality sound, and I guessed right. If you buy a Sound Blaster, you'll probably get the same quality, with a few extra features, and a more recognized brand name. However, if your into performance and bang for the buck, rather than brand names, look no further.

The installation was simple, pull out the old card, plug this one in. The diagram on the back of the box is plenty detailed enough to help you find where your speaker plugs go. The installaion disk installed itself in about 1 minute, and I was rolling with REAL 5.1 Surround Sound.

The control panel is great, plenty of detail to adjust the card to perform to your specifications. It's a fancy card for a discounted price, but your not paying for it by getting less quality. This is a GREAT sound card. Dell sells these with the 8200 series line, and they rarely make mistakes.

If you've got a 5.1 System, I ESPECIALLY reccomend this, because you need the 6 speaker support. If your just looking to upgrade, look no further.

Good luck and take care.