Audigy 2 > Chaintech Av-710

[llmobll]

Ok well I finally got this sound card that everyone was raving about, and well i've very unimpressed. Just as I had thought my Audigy 2 sounds much better with all the enviromental plug-ins that are available. Foobar just can't give the sound that deep bass that the audidy 2 controls allowed for. The drivers that are included are pure crap, and so are the downloadable ones. Can anyone point me in the direction of some better software for this card. I can't tweek anything, at least as far as I have found. I want to adjust reverb and the like.

The clarity of the sound seems to be there. Without a doubt this is a very good card for the price. However it still isn't a match for my audigy 2. The sound seems airy and very very flat.

Can someone please help me out?

Edit:

Ok so i plugged my headphones back into my audigy and wow, sounds soo much better, Deep, full, great trebble. Messing with the drivers as such a hassle with the chaintech. I'm keeping my audigy.

 

[dotslashconfig]

The Audigy is a great card. Don't let people here convince you otherwise... most of them don't know what they're talking about. The digital resampling, which most people blame for the odd sounds that came out of early SoundBlaster cards, has been done away with in the Audigy line. You can set the Audigy to bypass all filters, and, provided you use the S/PDIF digital output on the card, the Audigy does the same job as any other sound card - it lets you get the bit-perfect data out with ease.

The reason the Chaintech card is so popular is because it gives you the bit-perfect digital out for under $30. For people that build their own computers and want that specific output, it's a fantastic deal.

 

[MuZI]

It`s a great deal for the price, no one said it beats a Audigy 2 tho...i don`t think they did...

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

Look up the graphical step-by-step guide in this forum for setting up the AV710. It should kill the Audigy for music once it is set up properly. It is better tha the M-Audio Revo, and according to NeilPeart the Terratec DMX 6-fire. The resampling to 48 in hardware of any signal less than 48 still happens with the Audigy.

 

[NeilPeart]

The Chaintech AV-710 is easily better than the Audigy 2 when playing back audio - this improvement is NOT subtle at all. However, while the Chaintech AV-710 outputs audio at the quality of the DMX 6fire, it only has 2 channels of high-end output while every channel on the DMX 6fire has high-end output/input (and the 6fire natively supports ASIO with no fuss). Of course, the Chaintech is $25 while the 6fire LT is $90, so if all one requires is great headphone output than the AV-710 is the only card to buy until the E-MU 1212M is within financial reach.

 

[MikoLayer]

Quote:

Ok so i plugged my headphones back into my audigy

the whole sound thing is very subjective of course, we are mostly dealing with sonice signatures, not sound quality. but from that statement of yours i somehow i get a notion you may not have the best setup for headphone listening. what kind of headphones are you using? do you have a headphone amp? by no means i intend to insult you, please dont feel offended

i find it very surprising however, i gave my chaintech card to my roomate - an ex audigy ownder now turned into a happy envy24 camper - and he is not even an audiophile. then again some people use winamp for things like DFX (bleh!)

 

[Borky]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dotslashconfig You can set the Audigy to bypass all filters, and, provided you use the S/PDIF digital output on the card, the Audigy does the same job as any other sound card - it lets you get the bit-perfect data out with ease.

How do you do this?

 

[llmobll]

My Sound Setup:

Sennheiser 580's
CMOY amp (15v)


Another quick question are you able to adjust the bass and trebble on the Chaintech av-710 i can't find the adjustments as of yet, mark another one on the things wrong with this card.

 

[attnet]

I sense a basshead...

 

[ooheadsoo]

Most of the guys here don't WANT to touch those settings. We're trying to get as pure and natural a sound as we can. If you like to listen to big bass/in your face sound, you might consider grado 225 instead of the senns. I think you'll like the presentation a lot better.

 

[Mr.Radar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by llmobll Another quick question are you able to adjust the bass and trebble on the Chaintech av-710 i can't find the adjustments as of yet, mark another one on the things wrong with this card.

You need to use the EQ in the program you're playing your music with. There is no driver-level EQ like on the Audigy.

 

[llmobll]

Well i guess this is where this comparison ends for me. Without ANY type of control over the sound, this card just fails.

P.S. Sennheiser > grado ... the amount of bass from my cans will rattle your grados right off your head, while the clarity of the music shatters your ear drums. Long live senn.

 

[ooheadsoo]

If you're happy with it, go for it. There are vastly differing levels of audiophilia. The first step is usually bass. Most people don't progress beyond it.

As for senn vs. grado, fyi, I have the senns, not the grados. The grados have cleaner bass. You do need good amplification to bring it out though. Since you're putting your bass up through your driver controls, I guess it doesn't matter as much. If bass boosted senn bass is what you like, then maybe try the beyerdynamic dt770's. That should give you what you want. It needs good amplification too though.

 

[Mr.Radar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by llmobll Well i guess this is where this comparison ends for me. Without ANY type of control over the sound, this card just fails.

IMHO, all a soundcard should do is provide a convinent way to play/record sounds on your computer in good quality. I have no clue why people demand that their SOUNDCARD allow them to adjust the audio when in fact it should be job of the actual PLAYER application to do that (FooBar2000 in particular excels at that with a very flexible DSP chain processed in 64-bit float).

 

[SumB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dotslashconfig You can set the Audigy to bypass all filters, and, provided you use the S/PDIF digital output on the card, the Audigy does the same job as any other sound card - it lets you get the bit-perfect data out with ease.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Borky How do you do this?

You can't

Not with 16/44 PCM sources, or the digital out. The only time you bypass the AC97 codec is when you input DVD-A or 96khz
AC-3.