[labeelen]

Hi All,

I've been searching for a good all-round card that I could use for HTPC, Gaming, HomeStudio & Music Listening. Normally you always have to make a compromise.

Last week I bought me the AudioTrak Prodigy 7.1lt:

http://www.audiotrak.net/prodigy7.1LT.htm

Performance & features of this card are very impressive and I'm very happy with it.

One thing I wan't so mention in particular is how AudioTrak implemented the dedicated HeadPhones out.
First of all it offers very high quality and can drive difficult loads. Next I find it very convenient that I can have my 5.1 surround set and my HP concurrently connected (if you select 'HP' the front channels are also routed to the amped HP-out on channel 7/8)

Anyone else have any experience with or opinion on this new card from AudioTrak ?

regards,

Louis

 

[MinotaurUK]

I bought one of these cards last week and installed it over the weekend. Quality is generally improved compared to the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz it replaced, but I can't seem to get the dedicated headphone out (ch7/8) working properly. When enabled, I get a much lower audio level in the left ear than in the right ear.

I've also noticed that enabling any of the Qsound stuff makes no difference at all to the sound. Labeelen, what driver version are you using? I'm seriously wondering if I might have a dodgy card, or possibly just a poor driver version (currently running 1.006).

Any idea how this card compares to the Prodigy 7.1 (without the LT)? Personally I'd prefer all the jacks on the card rather than via a breakout cable (which has a nasty habit of becoming unplugged of its own accord - the fit doesn't seem to be particularly good).

 

[binary01]

I just received a Prodigy 7.1LT also. Overall I am quite happy with it. I find having the Qsound driver set and Prodigy 7.1LT driver set being seperate a little annoying - but no major dramas. I assume it is common to have two simultaneous driver sets for Envy24 based cards?
The sound quality is dramatically improved over my old SBLive and Nvidia APU (and it should be!). It is good to finally have bit-perfect digital out also. The 48kHz upscaling was nasty with the old cards.

Just a quick question - I heard the non-LT version, it had a mechanical relay to switch the hp amp on/off. The LT version doesn't have this. What mechanism turns the amp on and off now? Is the 7/8 (hp) channel always amped now? I am running my DT531s via the 7/8 channel, with the headphone button depressed in the control panel. However the sound level seems no different compared to running the 7/8 channel without the headphone button depressed.
The sound level as is, is quite good, however it doesn't drive the dt531s as high as I expected. Am I just expecting too much from the built-in amp? Perhaps an amp purchase is on the horizon...

Thanks, Liam.

 

[blomquist]

The curious thing is: there is nothing special about this amp, the relay simply switches between different gains.. The opamp will still be supplied with only +-5V so no more headroom or current capability...

Don´t trust those marketing guy´s. although the prodigy isn´t bad at all . Osound is very good!

 

[MinotaurUK]

Has anyone managed to get this card running under Linux? I've spent the last few hours banging my head against a brick wall trying to get ALSA to work with the damned thing. It hates me. I keep getting errors about the firmware ID not being recognised by the ALSA driver.

Any thoughts?

 

[icestorm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MinotaurUK Has anyone managed to get this card running under Linux? I've spent the last few hours banging my head against a brick wall trying to get ALSA to work with the damned thing. It hates me. I keep getting errors about the firmware ID not being recognised by the ALSA driver. Any thoughts?

According to the audiotrak support forum, it won't work. I do not remember the details but it could be because of a specific chipset/controller/whatever, which is not supported.

 

[eugenius]

I'm thinking of getting this card as an upgrade to a SB Live! 24bit.
Is it worth it?