Budget Soundcard Alert!
Mar 1, 2004 at 6:37 PM Post #16 of 110
Quote:

Originally posted by Sovkiller
Is it better for nay chnace than my crappy Sound Blaster Live!...???? I'm serious, evne while I do not use the computer for music playing, I at least deserve a better sound for the beeps, and gongs, of the system....and 24.00 is not bad....


I've had both the Live and the AV-710 and I must say the AV-710 is much better sounding than the Live. It's not as bass-heavy and has crisper highs and better sound overall in music and DVDs.
 
Mar 1, 2004 at 6:46 PM Post #17 of 110
Quote:

Originally posted by Gopher
ADS,

Can the front 2 channels be operated in hi rez mode while the rears go through the lesser DAC? I just ordered the card and have a set of Klipsch Promedia 4.1s I'm tired of disliking.


No, you're limited to two channels in hi rez mode, but the surround DAC will sound fine with your Promedias. The card isn't very good for games though, so I wouldn't recommend it if you like gaming in surround sound.
 
Mar 1, 2004 at 8:12 PM Post #18 of 110
I own this card too and it is much better for listening to music than my Audigy, as long as I'm using the high sample rate output. It's very silent and sounds less muddy and sloppy than the Audigy =)
 
Mar 3, 2004 at 3:51 PM Post #19 of 110
heh, wow this thing really is pretty descent. My klipsh promedias are fun again (though by no means good). All the surface noise I thought was due to the crapty cables is gone. I guess my integrated sound really was that bad.

Good call.
 
Mar 3, 2004 at 5:24 PM Post #20 of 110
is there another version of this card with both optical input and output? if there is, can I swith to use external clock in drivers? thanks..

btw. decent wolfson dac paired with envy24ht shouldn't sound bad by any means.. also you don't need ASIO, kernel streaming is okay..
 
Mar 3, 2004 at 6:39 PM Post #21 of 110
Quote:

Originally posted by Glassman
is there another version of this card with both optical input and output? if there is, can I swith to use external clock in drivers? thanks..

btw. decent wolfson dac paired with envy24ht shouldn't sound bad by any means.. also you don't need ASIO, kernel streaming is okay..


I don't know of another version of the card with optical in/out, but there a bunch of different variants with unique features. This card is almost perfect for really cheap, high quality headphone listening. The more I listen to it the more surprised I am. It's basically just the envy24ht and a nice 2 channel DAC, without a bunch of unneeded extras. If anyone out there is still listening to a decent headphone+amp combo off of integrated sound, I'd really recommend picking this up.
 
Mar 7, 2004 at 5:50 PM Post #22 of 110
I just installed this to replace a SoundBlaster Live Value card, and while I can't say that I've noticed a night-and-day difference yet, it certainly does sound good. (It's driving a pair of Swans Diva M200's, wonderful speakers, but I really need to upgrade the interconnect cable.)

OK, wait...just heard some light cymbal work that the SBLive never revealed to me. Neat.

The VIA drivers are available at viaarena.com.

A little more info on the chipset -- and a photo that's just ripe for the taking as someone's avatar -- is available at the "VIA Vinyl Audio" site.

Bonus: the chaintech card comes with Intervideo WinDVD 4. I had WinDVD 2000, and was looking to upgrade anyway. WinDVD 4 plays smoother, has some bundled audio effects (though the retail version has more), and has the nifty time-stretching functionality that lets you change the playback rate of your movies. All that and a free soundcard in the bargain
rolleyes.gif
 
Mar 8, 2004 at 6:51 AM Post #24 of 110
Quote:

Originally posted by ADS
...The card isn't very good for games though, so I wouldn't recommend it if you like gaming in surround sound.


By that, do you mean it doesn't handle EAX and the like very well? If so, I can live with that, I guess... my current card (SB Live! X-Gamer w/ KX Project drivers) can only handle EAX 1.0 (KX doesn't have much EAX support, but they're working on it), but I have basic reverb and the like in game enviroments.

(-:Stephonovich:)
 
Mar 8, 2004 at 7:05 AM Post #25 of 110
Quote:

Originally posted by Glassman
is there another version of this card with both optical input and output? if there is, can I swith to use external clock in drivers? thanks..

btw. decent wolfson dac paired with envy24ht shouldn't sound bad by any means.. also you don't need ASIO, kernel streaming is okay..


I think the Mad Dog Entertainer has both optical in and out... I also read they have identical DACs to the AV710.
 
Mar 8, 2004 at 7:23 AM Post #26 of 110
For the price, the Chaintech can't be beat. Btw, the Wolfson DAC is used on the rear stereo channels. High-res mode is suppossed to mute all channels but the rear stereo channels, but I found that only the 1.43d drivers actually did that.

I haven't installed the WinDVD version that comes with it, but does it include Dolby Headphone?
 
Mar 8, 2004 at 11:25 PM Post #27 of 110
It looks like Dolby Headphone is not included, but I'm not 100% sure. It's there on one of the audio tabs, but it's greyed out.

It's possible that I've chosen some other setting that is blocking use of Dolby Headphone, but if so, I haven't been able to figure out what it is.
 
Mar 10, 2004 at 3:27 AM Post #28 of 110
how does this card compare to other budget soundcards, like the santa cruz or the m-audio sonica?

perhaps just go for the indigo dj?
 
Mar 10, 2004 at 3:41 AM Post #29 of 110
Guys is a 25.00 card, do you still need to compare it with 100.00+ cards, what for.....??? I doubt it will perform at that level, but it cost 3 times less....
 
Mar 10, 2004 at 3:42 AM Post #30 of 110
what about the santa cruz tho, its not that much of a jump
 
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