[Pistachio]

The Chaintech AV-710 is unavailable in Aus as some of you may already know. It can be purchased for about AU$100 dollars from some Australian outlets or can be shipped for about the same price from overseas.

What I found out while looking around for a place that sells at a decent price I discovered that the AV-710 IS available in Aus albeit by a different name. Apparently AVLabs http://www.avlabs.net/index2.php is the official distributor of the Envy 24 sound cards in the Asia-Pacific region.
This sound card aparently goes by the name of "Audacity - 7.1" though I am not completely sure of this as the description for the Audacity 7.1 doesn't specify the chipset.

A very exciting discovery for me, so I proceeded to search for Australian outlets to buy the card only to find out it still sells for about AU$100

Is there no way to get cheap reasonable quality computer audio in Aus? If im not mistaken the AV-710 should cost about AU$50 AT THE MOST if you just convert currency.

 

[commando]

The way I got mine was I had a mate in the US get it then ship it to me.

I'll be selling my AV-710 in a few weeks, once my emu arrives. I'm in NZ so shipping would be cheap enough. PM me if you're interested.

 

[Spoonfed]

You could just order one from the states. would still be cheaper.

My Revo 5.1 cost $160AUD delivered.... can't even get it here.

 

[commando]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spoonfed You could just order one from the states. would still be cheaper. My Revo 5.1 cost $160AUD delivered.... can't even get it here.

I couldn't find anywhere that'd deliver a chaintech to me from the states. Via someone who lives there's probably the only way

 

[Daroid]

Worth a try maybe, if all else fails: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...sPageName=WD1V

However, they don't accept non-US Paypal accounts, but there are other (good) alternatives to pay...

 

[cosmopragma]

Quote:

Originally Posted by commando I couldn't find anywhere that'd deliver a chaintech to me from the states. Via someone who lives there's probably the only way

I've recently imported 2 x AV-710 to Europe from Computergeeks, one for my girlfriend and one for a fellow finnish head-fier (who doesn't have a credit card ).Here is the link .They will ship to Australia, too, shipping costs are 20 $.
It turned out to be more expensive than I hoped for,
48 $ for 2 cards
16 $ shipping costs
20 $ customs fees

results into 42 $ for one card (respective more than 50 for the finnish member due to the additional shipping to Finland)
To my ears this thingy has the sound quality of a budget CDP, plus the convenience of computer audio.Not bad for that price, even 50 $ is o.K.
The Chaintech is decent mid-fi, no giant killer.
Directly compared to my Benchmark, oh, well .........

 

[kunwar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spoonfed You could just order one from the states. would still be cheaper. My Revo 5.1 cost $160AUD delivered.... can't even get it here.

both the revo7.1 and AV-710 are available in Australia
You just have to look around.
check out a site called www.hometheatrepc.com.au
botht the cards mentioned are available.

kunwar

 

[Spoonfed]

Yes you are correct

The Revo 7.1 and chaintech IS available at hometheatrepc.com.au

But as i said the Revo 5.1 is not...... well it wasn't a few months ago.

 

[kunwar]

revo 5.1 & 7.1 i am not sure of the diff. between the 2
can you elaborate other than the 5 channel and 7 channel sound eg. in terms of components

 

[Pistachio]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kunwar both the revo7.1 and AV-710 are available in Australia You just have to look around. check out a site called www.hometheatrepc.com.au botht the cards mentioned are available. kunwar

Yes that is correct, but it is nevertheless $90, and that is no better than the AVLabs version of the AV-710. It seems no matter the outlet you wish to acquire a AV-710 in Australia it will cost in excess of $80. Even Computer Geeks quotes it as $77 (I assume US) to ship to Sydney.

It seems the only real cheap(er) way is to have someone ship it to you, or hope that someone starts retailing them for the price they should be, in Aus.

 

[cosmopragma]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pistachio Even Computer Geeks quotes it as $77 (I assume US) to ship to Sydney.

Well, you must be in a hurry.The price for the cheapest (and slowest) delivery is 20 USD.

 

[Kuja]

I paid AUD 53 in total for mine, shipped from Compu-geeks via USPS. It arrived within a week.

 

[Pistachio]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kuja I paid AUD 53 in total for mine, shipped from Compu-geeks via USPS. It arrived within a week.

I sure hope so! Well i suppose i'll be off to double/triple check on the costs there.

Edit - I just checked and it should cost about AU$60 including shipping from Compu-Geeks. Which isn't too bad at all.

 

[Spoonfed]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kunwar revo 5.1 & 7.1 i am not sure of the diff. between the 2 can you elaborate other than the 5 channel and 7 channel sound eg. in terms of components

5.1 is newer.

The 7.1 has good "DAC" on its main two channels but average on the others.

The 5.1 has a good 8ch DAC (only 6 used) that works on ALL channels and is superior to the 7.1's good "main" channel DAC.