[badmonkey]

Okay so I wanna dump the Revolution 7.1 and upgrade to something better.

I'm assuming it's my source; my sound is slightly too bright for my tastes. Nb. I don't want to go dark, I actually like "bright" - it's just that my system seems too bright with some music. (Rest of my system is in my signature). What I want is 1) detail and 2) balance of tone.

So I'm trying to get me a short list of upgrades. Price isn't really an issue. PCI or PCI-E internal cards only please, no external DACs. Surround sound is unimportant so long as there's a digital pass-through of some kind.

The last requirement is current or upcoming Windows Vista support.

E-MU 1212M is up there at the moment.

Any additions / comments?

 

[badmonkey]

I think what I'm asking, is: what's the very best internal soundcard, subject to Vista support?

 

[anthonylei]

I think you should check whether vista driver exists at the moment

 

[arterius2]

in your case, i would really recommend the HT Omega Claro+ (http://www.htomega.com/claroplus.html) they have pretty nice vista32/vista64 driver support. and the driver itself is rather well made. the reviews for this card is pretty stellar, it beats out other cards using the CMI8788 chip in terms of features.

here are bunch of reviews for this card: http://www.cluboc.net/reviews/sound/...laro/index.htm
http://www.dragonsteelmods.com/index...1776&Itemid=38
http://www.bjorn3d.com/read.php?cID=1051

 

[badmonkey]

DACs on that Claro seem to be the same as on the Auzentech Prelude... AK4396VF - except for the VF bit on the end. They'd sound the same then?

 

[chriscu1]

I second the Claro Plus+. Been running stable on Vista for a few months now. There is also the vanilla Claro...the only difference being the front L/R channels on the Plus use the upgraded AD8620 opamp.

 

[arterius2]

the price difference between the claro and claro+ is neglegible, at least from my local store here in canada, claro+ sells for $149, while Claro sells for $144. im not so sure if claro+ and the prelude sounds the same, they share the same DAC, yes, but the claro+ uses C-Media Oxygen processor while the Prelude use the Creative X-Fi processor. what i like about the Claro+ is its decked out with connectors and the use of solid-state capacitors.(i know it doesnt really affect sound quality but it sure does make me feel confident about these guys that they are set out to make one hell of a card)

 

[Elk]

Look at the new Onkyo PCI-SE200. Thats a nice looking card. Not sure about official Vista drivers. You can use it with vista Vista through ASIO4ALL.