would i notice much diffrence geting that compared to my onbord ALC889A Azalia chip with DTS Connect and HD audio?

I went from Realtek onboard to a X-fi music and yes, you most def notice better sound ;).

Front Panel Audio! At Last!

by: ZoneDymo

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I went from Realtek onboard to a X-fi music and yes, you most def notice better sound ;).

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Except that one is a CMedia chipset, and the other is a VIA.

The XRaider looks like a good card though, built on the ever-present 8768 Chipset.

The XStudio is a VIA chipset, from the specs alone it looks in line with other sound chipsets, but we'll see how it does on release.

i just noticed they're color coded - thank god, its so hard for me to remember what goes where with a 5.1 setup when they're all gold plated

At $60 the X-Raider is pure win. After an underwhelming experience with Envy24, I wouldn't try anything VIA for audio.

Just to let everyone know - these cards ARE NOT equipped with Creative's X-Fi APU . . . Auzen has been using the X- prefix on all their cards long before their partnership with Creative . . .

Anyhow, for those wondering, these cars (based on what I can make out from the images, Auzen's level of quality, and the DSP) will completely TRUMP any onboard solution (like 95% of all stand-alone adapter cards do) . . . and for the price they're asking, are worth their weight! :toast:

by: Mussels

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i just noticed they're color coded - thank god, its so hard for me to remember what goes where with a 5.1 setup when they're all gold plated

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I thought the same till i switched on my pc with my Xonar soundcard and noticed there coloured leds inside each of the gold inputs shining light out onto the wall :D

I also find it interesting how they call the other soundcard "studio" when it dosent have ASIO drivers? you need asio drivers when using any multimedia software (music production, video production etc...)

might have to get that Raider for my HTPC... my old Creative SB Live doesn't have optical out which I need. Looks like a good upgrade to me

by: twicksisted

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I also find it interesting how they call the other soundcard "studio" when it dosent have ASIO drivers? you need asio drivers when using any multimedia software (music production, video production etc...)

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The VIA chips usually have ASIO drivers, as in the past they've been used by a lot of high-end sound card manufacturers like M-Audio and what not. So it might just be that Auzentech hasn't finished off its version of the ASIO drivers as yet?

Thanks Imperial, I was going to ask if they use the X-Fi codec.

by: WarEagleAU

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Thanks Imperial, I was going to ask if they use the X-Fi codec.

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N/P

TBH, I'm quite surprised to see a VIA DSP utilized by Auzen . . . the X-Raider is packing a C-Media, though.

by: imperialreign

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N/P

TBH, I'm quite surprised to see a VIA DSP utilized by Auzen . . . the X-Raider is packing a C-Media, though.

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The 8768 chipset to be precise (as noted in my previous post).

It's the same chipset that's used in Auzentech's previous X-Plosion and X-Plosion Cinema (8770 is the SAME THING) cards.

by: Darknova

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The 8768 chipset to be precise (as noted in my previous post).

It's the same chipset that's used in Auzentech's previous X-Plosion and X-Plosion Cinema (8770 is the SAME THING) cards.

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yerp . . . truthfully, though, I'm kind surprised they didn't go with the 8770 for complete DTS support . . .

although, that probably would've driven the price of the card into the lower-mid range, instead of the economy range it's currently situated in . . .


The VIA, though, I'd be curious to hear - we don't see too many audio cards with VIA DSPs . . . and, sadly, VIA (nor Auzen) doesn't list too in-depth of specs for the Tremor chipset.

Either way, both are highly respectable cards for their price range . . . I'd defi recommend either of these over Creative's Extreme Audio any day. :toast:

by: imperialreign

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yerp . . . truthfully, though, I'm kind surprised they didn't go with the 8770 for complete DTS support . . .

although, that probably would've driven the price of the card into the lower-mid range, instead of the economy range it's currently situated in . . .

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That's true, but you want to know what's even more annoying?

The driver sets for the 8770, 8768 and 8738 are the SAME THING. Seriously. The 8768 can have DTS "seen" in the control panel, but it'll never work on an 8768 chip :(

by: Darknova

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That's true, but you want to know what's even more annoying?

The driver sets for the 8770, 8768 and 8738 are the SAME THING. Seriously. The 8768 can have DTS "seen" in the control panel, but it'll never work on an 8768 chip :(

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Isn't hardware limitation just astounding sometimes?

Like - C-Media's 8787 doesn't support any Dolby capabilities . . .



. . . although it supports 32b playback :wtf:

by: imperialreign

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Isn't hardware limitation just astounding sometimes?

Like - C-Media's 8787 doesn't support any Dolby capabilities . . .



. . . although it supports 32b playback :wtf:

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My 8787 card begs to differ :P It has full DTS, Dolby Virtual Speaker, Digital Live, and Pro Logic IIx all of which work perfectly :P

by: Darknova

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My 8787 card begs to differ :P It has full DTS, Dolby Virtual Speaker, Digital Live, and Pro Logic IIx all of which work perfectly :P

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Really?!

Huh . . . I guess C-Media haven't updated their site, then . . .

Although, if you're running a Razer . . . it's quite possible that 8787 is a "special" DSP, much like ASUS' AV200 is . . .

that's quite interesting, though . . .

by: imperialreign

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Really?!

Huh . . . I guess C-Media haven't updated their site, then . . .

Although, if you're running a Razer . . . it's quite possible that 8787 is a "special" DSP, much like ASUS' AV200 is . . .

that's quite interesting, though . . .

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Asus's AV200 IS an 8787 chip, I just modified their drivers to install on my card, before that I had DTS connect and Dolby Digital Live and Virtual Speaker any way.

I had myself, and somebody else test the drivers to confirm that Dolby and DTS were fully working.

It's a very simple INF mod.

Waitaminute . . . isn't the AV200 a CMI8788 . . . the same thing that Razer's AC-1 uses? If so, then that might explain why you've got full Dolby support, whereas the 8787 doesn't . . . :confused:

I'm not sure, TBH - there's a lot of "rebranding" and "specialty" DSPs in the audio chipset realm.

by: troyrae360

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would I notice much diffrence geting that compared to my onbord ALC889A Azalia chip with DTS Connect and HD audio?

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To me (using a Logitech X2300 set of speakers) the Realtek 889A is MUCH nicer than any of the other realtek 888 and lower chipsets.

Unless you have crazy speakers and need some special type of connection I dont know if there is enough of a difference to justify spending the $$.

One thing I liked about my Asus D1 card is headphones were noticeably louder/clearer over the realtek 889A, maybe the experts here can say if the Auzen cards have a similar effect on headphones.

It would be nice to see a comparison between these and the Asus ones...

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the Realtek 889A is MUCH nicer than any of the other realtek 888 and lower chipsets.

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would i notice much diffrence geting that compared to my onbord ALC889A Azalia chip with DTS Connect and HD audio?

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I have ALC889A on my motherboard and it is truly the first time I have come across an onboard sound solution that had decent sound quality and near total absence of any signal interference. I'm not sure if it's the overall construction and build quality of the motherboard or Realtek's own doing, but ALC889A is great when compared to other onboard solutions I have tinkered with over the years.

With that said, I got my hands on a rare made-for-Alienware edition of Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium the other day, with X-RAM and all that other voodoo, and I must say that there is still something that dedicated sound solutions can do better. While ALC889A is pretty good compared to previous onboard solutions, especially in regard to signal purity, X-Fi Titanium still offers better experience when it comes to music playback, gaming (semi-proper EAX support for what it's worth), and there is much more for those who are into content creation.

While the situation is not like it was 8-9 years ago when onboard sound with few exceptions was anywhere from terrible to barely tolerable, I would say that dedicated high-end sounds cards still have their place. For now at least.

a few mos ago I bought Gigabyte mobos just for the 889 chip...(were the only ones that had it) The Foxconn BloodRage X58 I have also has the 889 but with X-FI mumbo jumbo (I havent heard it yet so I have no clue if its better or just a marketing thing to put a Creative sticker on the unit.

I must say I loved the Asus D1 card I had (but PCI wouldnt fit any mobos I was choosing from so its gone) It was superior with the headphones... I may get a sound card (depending on how the onboard is) but I need the PCI X so it looks like its a choice between the Asus DX or the more expensive AuzenTech AZT-FORTE. Looks like this one (Auzen X-Studio) is just PCI.