[ipumuk]

hi,
from what i have read the chaintech provides better music sound output than an audigy 2 zs and is pretty cheap. but i don't find a seller in germany.

does anyone know where to get this soundcard over here? does it have a different name?

which soundcards provide the same music quality or better for max $50?

thank you

 

[Elvin Presler]

I don't know about who would ship to or sell in Germany, but maybe this will help. A list of cards that are nearly identical for not much money.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=364771 - Lots of info on several cards there.

The Mad Dog Entertainer 7.1 is near identical, if they have them in Germany.

 

[ipumuk]

thanks for sharing. very informative link.

a few quotes concerning the av-710 and equivalent:

Quote:

Originally Posted by av710 I have no problems recommending it to anyone. If you don't need analog-out or SPDIF-in, then this is the card to go for.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MAD DOG ENTERTAINER 7.1 DSP Currently I am of the opinion that this is your best Envy24 based option if you are only concerned with digital output and have no use for analog, but require SPDIF in.

Quote:

Originally Posted by How should I decide if I want an Envy24HT, or an Envy24HT-S? Envy24HT cards are in the $100-150 range, while Envy24HT-S cards are in the $25-60 range. What you get for spending the extra money on an HT card is customized drivers, and better DACs for analog uses.

i think Envy24HT-S based cards like tha av710 are not for me because i will not use an extern dac, right?

my setup will be: soundcard -> analog -> z-audio lambda -> hf-1/dt770

but in the 100$+ pricerange the best card to get is an e-mu 0404?

so upgrading from an audio 2zs only makes sense when spending 100$ or more?

 

[Elvin Presler]

I use my AV-710 for analog 5.1 sound. Have used it off and on for about 2 years now and here's my experience with it.

1. Music and DVD's sound excellent. The higher quality Wolfson DAC runs the rear-most (7.1) speakers which I don't even use. I have used the high sample rate 2 channel just to try it out so it uses this "quality dac" (the one that does 24/192) and really didn't see any improvement. What good is 24/192 when almost everything is only recorded in 16/44.1?

2. For gaming, this card is not so great, but not bad either. If you just run software sound in games, you will get very nice 2 channel sound, better than my other card that does hardware sound, but you lose the 3d positional stuff.

If you tick the box in the Envy24 drivers to support 3d gaming, you get 5.1 3d sound...but the newer drivers use QSound for this and it absolutely doesn't work with most of these Envy24 cards. Older drivers still used Sensaura and they still work fine, but are not as matured.

3. Finally, using the 3d gaming support has never worked as well on this card (over all, but it depends on the game. Volume and position of things is not very good sometimes) as it does on my C-Media based cards. I have an old 5.1 8738 chip and new 7.1 8768 chip card.

I paid $15 each for all 3 of those cards. For that...I can't complain. I use this C-Media 8768 card now. It seems to do everything I want it to, is better for 5.1 gaming, and has digital out with dolby digital live for later when I get some digital equipment.

I absolutely refuse to use ANYTHING made by Creative Labs. I hate their junk with a passion.

 

[keiron99]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ipumuk hi, from what i have read the chaintech provides better music sound output than an audigy 2 zs and is pretty cheap. but i don't find a seller in germany. does anyone know where to get this soundcard over here? does it have a different name? which soundcards provide the same music quality or better for max $50? thank you

I'm in the UK and similarly couldn't find any suppliers. I just bought one off an ebay trader in Canada. There's another one on there at the moment but quite expensive shipping to Europe. Still probably the best place to look though.

 

[fjf]

I did pay a lot for shipping from the US to get mine. It seems, however, that the hercules fortissimo costs about 40 euro and has a better DAC and some amplification on the high quality output. Wish I knew that then!

 

[rOAdeh]

I remember a few months ago someone posted they had bought one from Estonia to the UK all for like $40 inc del.. maybe you'll be able to dig up that post.


*edit* last post here

 

[AdamWill]

elvin: it's not higher quality because it can do 24/192, it's higher quality because it's a better DAC than the one on the other channels. It's not a subtle difference; if you can't hear it, your equipment is likely nowhere near good enough to be evaluating sound cards.

 

[sgrossklass]

I'd say the Hercules Fortissimo 4 is about the closest card to the AV-710 available in ol' Europe. It does cost somewhat more but also comes with better DACs.

 

[ipumuk]

is there a difference between fortissimo III and IV concerning music playpack (analog)?

 

[sgrossklass]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ipumuk is there a difference between fortissimo III and IV concerning music playpack (analog)?

Absolutely. The III was some CS4630 or CS4624 based card with (IIRC) CS4294 codecs or somesuch, entirely different animal.

 

[Behemot]

Are Terratec cards not equal with av710?