[ImMersion]

I got the chaintech a few days ago, and while it is SLIGHTLY cleaner that my SB audigy 1, it is also a quite a bit quieter too. When i turn down the audigy's main volume to about 80%, and the AV701 to 100% then the sound quality differences are very very little. When I turn it up max on the SB then it begins to get grainy and/or clip. 100% on the AV710 sometimes isn't enough.

But i would never listen past 80% with the SB anyway, so what gives with the droves of people SWEARING that the AV710 is SOOOOOOOO much better?

Stats:
unamped
HD 280 pro's
MP3's of 192kb rating
Winamp w/all equalization turned off

 

[Piccolo Daimaou]

I have an Audigy 2 ZS and bought the AV-710. I didn't think it sounded significantly better than the Audigy 2 (or better at all, for that matter). I used HD580s and Monkey's audio files with foobar and no equalization of any kind. Maybe we're deaf.

 

[skitlets]

Up both the master and rear outputs (if you are using the rear output) to gain more volume. However, the rear outputs, although using the better DAC onboard the av-710, is inadequate to properly drive headphones. Some may have had luck with it, but I find it WORLDS better when amped, even with the efficient ms-1. iPod, Dell DJ, everything I've had powers the ms-1 better than the unamped line-out of the av-710.

 

[Publius]

I haven't taken the time to really delve into the sonicality of my 710, but my occasional listening to it unamped has left me very unsatisfied. The bass firms up quite a bit amped with my A900s.

On the other hand, CPU noise is on the cusp of being audible at normal listening volumes with my amp, and it is very audible at +20dB. It's not the end all be all of quietness.

The 710 is an excellent, excellent value for the money, but if a $50 card can deliver the goods unamped it might work out better for a lot of end users.

 

[Talonz]

I am under the impression that the rear output of the AV-710 is a line out, which is unamped. You won't get a better sound out of it compared to an amped sound card like the Audigy.

 

[ImMersion]

This leaves me with one final choice:

What if the various components of the Audigy were changed out....such as resistors, caps, and the op-amp??

Wasn't there a guide or step-by-step on how to do this?

 

[skitlets]

You could mod the hardware of the card, but there is the inherent flaw of its poor resampling in the Audigy's architecture. I'd say your best bet is to grab an amp for the av-710, if your budget will allow it.

 

[wali]

I have an audigy2, and I was tempted (posted a WTB for 710 in buy/sell forum), but I'm beginning to have second thoughts. i guess I stay with my A2 and concentrate more on my stand-alone rig.

 

[strid3r]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ImMersion This leaves me with one final choice: What if the various components of the Audigy were changed out....such as resistors, caps, and the op-amp?? Wasn't there a guide or step-by-step on how to do this?

FWIW, I have a Audigy 2ZS with opamps replaced and I think it sounds better than a AV710. Not bad at all considering it's a nice all-in-one solution.

 

[commando]

The AV-710 has a line out, not a headphone out, as Talonz said. Without an amp it sucks. With an amp it holds its own against the EMU range, IMHO.

 

[MikoLayer]

looks like the only people who find av-710 below their expectations are those who lack proper amplification. it may not blow audigy2 out of water, but most find it better and it costs much less.

 

[Guust-Fi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wali I have an audigy2, and I was tempted (posted a WTB for 710 in buy/sell forum), but I'm beginning to have second thoughts. i guess I stay with my A2 and concentrate more on my stand-alone rig.

Mmm, I even started thinking of getting into pc audio ONLY

 

[Rempert]

Quote:

Originally Posted by skitlets You could mod the hardware of the card, but there is the inherent flaw of its poor resampling in the Audigy's architecture. I'd say your best bet is to grab an amp for the av-710, if your budget will allow it.

But, isn't a common use of the av-710 to use the high quality outputs at 96khz and resample in foobar? Then, this is *exactly* the same resampling process you would use with an Audigy2 ZS's regular outputs. It's bad that Creative cards don't support native redbook sample rate, but the extent to which it really matters (for someone who properly sets up resampling in their player software) is greatly exaggerated. 10 years ago maybe it was a big deal.

Still, the analogy output of Audigy2 is not very clean. Something not good is happening with that bass, for example. IIRC, Glassman did a complete revamp of the Audigy's analog stages with good results. But, for most people it is probably not worth the hassle or the cost to mod the card. If all you want is good, clean playback of CD music, you could just as well get a different sound card and an amp. If you need the Audigy's processing effects (EAX, DVD-A support, etc.) and are willing to get your hands dirty with electronics, then modding the card would be a possibility. After all, it is the processing that you pay so much for to get this card, not the sound quality.

The other possibility to get effects from the Audigy is to pass a digital signal from the Audigy to something else. But this does not work for DVD-A decoding, or Dolby Digital/DTS passthrough, and unless that "something else" is digital surround speakers with Creative's mini-plug system, this is only a 2-channel solution. And of course, the sample rate can only be 48 or 96 khz.

 

[Talonz]

Actually, the Audigy frequency response graphs for 44.1kHz show some very strange things going on for the audigy's internal resampler. It's very bad:

http://andrew.cmu.edu/user/jwu1/hfi/...erloopback.htm

That's bypassing the DAC.