The Fortissimo II uses the Crystal CS 4624 chipset. No idea how good of quality that offers; but the Chaintech AV-710 uses the Envy 24HT-S, which is of excellent quality. Plus, it's half the retail price of the Herc. (at least when it was new) $25 can't be beat.
In other words, yes, it's a worthwhile upgrade.
(-:Stephonovich:-)
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Yep, Turtle Beach Santa Cruz also use Crystal CS4630 chipset, which is quite good, though somewhat outdated. AV710 uses newer Envy HT-S chipset. So for listening music, AV710 would be a better choice.
it doesn't matter that much what DSP the cards use, the sound comes out od the DACs and analog section after.. Fortissimo II (and III) use four channel Crystal AC97 codec for this purpose, while certainly better than any SB Live! and Audigy, it's inferior to Chaintech AV-710.. upgrade..
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Chaintek better than fortissimo II?
