[TonyTripleA]

Well thanks to Becomethemould I'm now the proud owner of a Chaintech AV710 soundcard (thanks Peter). It was a dream to install, simply ran the install disk to setup the drivers and then updated using the windows XP driver updater.

After installation I just went to control panel, selected sound devices and made the Chaintech the default card. Easy.

Now the fun part. You know that moment when you pull out your best cans (in my case Music Series Pros). Then, with anticipation you plug in, start an application and wait for that first sound.... and then, to your surprise that first sound from a familiar album is actually better than you expected. Far better in fact. My 224 kHz AAC encoded itunes music sounds fantastic beyond my belief. Not quite CD quality out of my NAD, but heck, not far behind.

I was particularly impressed with the clarity and clear bass. True the very upper highs have that "compressed" audio tell-tale sound, but heck, this is med/high quality itunes AAC not lossless or WAV. Terrific.

Now I guess the next thing to do is to try foobar, but you know, with 25 Gbytes of music already encoded I feel just a bit reticent.

Am I missing much?

TonyAAA

 

[Flagger]

agreed, thanks the becomethemould!

yer just to make sure, i went and hooked up my old soundstorm on the analogue 2 ch output into my NAD amp into some dtx floorstanders and it was like stepping into dampened room. (only put the soundstorm back on for my tv tuner card). thank god for the av-710

btw running card with 4.32 drivers, in high quality (back speakers) mode, mp3s played through foobar, with PPHS upsampling to 96khz and DFX7 (winamp plugin) to clean up the mp3's.

 

[Zeruel the 14th]

I too got a chaintech due to what i read here. I figured "Not too expensive...can't be that bad...just has to replace the dead SBlive."

The difference was quite noticeable at the time. I've not actually settled into some phones and amp yet, so i'm still using a bunch of Altec Lansing speakers (basic 4.1 setup) that have served me well for 5+ years. Not bad for $168 at the time (well 138, the storeperson wanted to sell).

If the AL's were a step up from 'multimedia speakers' (You know the sort. Cheap and nasty), then the Chaintech was another step up. I can't imagine anything else really sounding better. If i stuck with just a chaintech, i'd be happy. (Time will tell when i finally choose some cans and amp)

Can't say i've touched much of foobar. I'm running latest drivers, no probs with the back port magic doing its thing etc. What can i say...until i can find some sort of 'global hotkeys' for foobar. Winamp wins hands down.

 

[Talonz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zeruel the 14th What can i say...until i can find some sort of 'global hotkeys' for foobar. Winamp wins hands down.

Foobar2000 => Preferences => Core => Keyboard Shortcuts => Select your key and check "Global Hotkey"

 

[TonyTripleA]

hey guys pardon my ignorance but "back speakers" are high SQ??? I set up my Chaintech for headphones. I see options for all sorts of speakers, monitor, surround sound etc, but not back speakers.

Amy I missing something and is my setup a mistake?

thanks,

TonyAAA

 

[Mr.Radar]

Set it for 2-channel "hi sample rate" mode, as described in the setup guide linked in my sig.

 

[TNT]

Mr. Radar, what's your opinion on breeze's comments in Conraeds' new setup guide, regarding enabling the Wolfson DAC in the newer drivers?
http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=98588

 

[TheJackal]

Just a query, in the devices section (Control Panel), what should show up as the device, the "Chaintec AV-710" or "Envy24 Family Audio Controller WDM", as I have in mine.

Cheers.

 

[MD1032]

Make sure you amp that sucker too, otherwise you'll miss out on a decent amount of bass and an overall better balance in sound.

 

[necropimp]

damn you head-fi! i was gonna try to avoid it... but damnit... now i want one of these soundcards...

 

[Zeruel the 14th]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Talonz Foobar2000 => Preferences => Core => Keyboard Shortcuts => Select your key and check "Global Hotkey"

Alright I obviously missed that in my initial enthusiasm (which died off when i couldn't find a 'global hotkeys plugin'). That said i can't seem to set Combinations, i'd like to use CTRL + ALT + <KEY>. Single keys will only conflict with something, I shall look towards some docs for insight. I've not been able to figure it out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheJackal Just a query, in the devices section (Control Panel), what should show up as the device, the "Chaintec AV-710" or "Envy24 Family Audio Controller WDM", as I have in mine.

It shows up as the latter. It does so on mine, and i picked up the latest VIA reference drivers. I believe it shows as such on everybody's PC.

 

[Skipinder]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zeruel the 14th i'd like to use CTRL + ALT + <KEY>. Single keys will only conflict with something, I shall look towards some docs for insight. I've not been able to figure it out.

Just push CTRL + ALT + <KEY> in the key window, that should work (and don't forget to push add)

 

[Flagger]

yep multi key combos work fine in foobar2k for me (i.e. using alt-ctr-home for play and i made sure global was ticked before adding it to the list). you just need to try harder

 

[TonyTripleA]

Mr Radar, tried to send you a PM to thank you (your full up though... lots of other grateful people PMing you no doubt).

My problem was not having the Vinyl Audio Control Panel installed. Installing from the disk that came with the Chaintech AV710 only loaded the drivers not the control software.

Now no problems. Bit of a trick realising that the output next to the optical out is the '7/8 speaker output' referred to in the on screen message. If you hadn't specified its location the manual would have been little help. My manual calls this "ALT out".

So thanks again, saved my sanity and helped increase the SQ noticably.

Cheers,

TonyAAA

 

[Mr.Radar]

Glad to have helped you! Enjoy your AV-710.