I finally got some time to do a comparison between my old audigy 1 platinum and my new chaintech av-710. This comparison is meant to help the person who, like me is just starting to upgrade their equipment and is wondering how much of a difference they can expect. The equipment I used to test the 2 cards was a rolls headphone amp and grado sr-80 headphones. I’ve always been in love with my grados, but the rolls on the other hand is just now gaining my appreciation. Whenever I used the rolls with my audigy it only served to muddy the sound and did not otherwise improve the output in any way. Not only that by it had an audible hiss at nearly any volume above the halfway mark. The moment I plugged this amp into the back of the chaintech I immediately knew I hadn’t wasted my money on the card. Plugged into the audigy the rolls had no hiss or hum that I can detect. I can’t recommend the chaintech if you don’t have an amp, at least if you are using grados. Straight out of the back the sound easily clips with the low impedance sr-80’s and sounds tiny and uninteresting. With the addition of even a cheap studio amp I’m able to achieve what to me seems like aural heaven.
For the side by side comparison I used 2 albums by the books, which are varied enough to make for excellent test material. The audigy sounds wonderful in it’s own right but really can’t compete with the chaintech. What were hisses through the audigy turned into gentle whispers on the chaintech, what was background static on the audigy turned out to be fabric rustling, and what was awol on the audigy turned out to be ground moving lower bass notes on the chaintech. So sure the chaintech has countless added details and nuances that the audigy could simply not offer but how often does one pick apart music in such a way? Well…
As far as the overall sound is concerned the chaintech simply sounds more real than the audigy. Listening to it entails a definite goosebump factor. Voices sound right next to you, the guitar sounds like it could be under your arm, and when you hear something fall you try and pick it up. While the audigy sounds unengaging and grating at loud volumes, the chaintech makes you want to get up and get jiggy with it (both not good headphone practice). In general it’s much easier to get wrapped up in the music when it’s coming out of a better soundcard.
In conclusion, the chaintech is much better than the audigy one. Is this a subtle difference? Heck no! The first time I plugged in my headphones my jaw near hit the floor. I can strongly recommend this card to anyone who wants a card that can play music and do nothing else. It can be a pain to set up, especially getting creative cards to play nice with it, but this should pose no problem for the average user. In my experience with low impedance cans you will need some sort of amplification, no ifs ands or buts about it(I can’t comment on any other sort of headphone).
If you’re still using an audigy one or less for music, have a headphone amp, an extra pci slot and 23 bucks in the bank, get this card now!
