Relative newcomer to the computer audio scene, Auzentech has been offering extremely high quality sound cards with a combination of great features and price.
As a builder of computers, I have found, since the days of DOS, that Creative sound cards are difficult to set up in a heavily configured PC, and that the software makes assumptions that it should not make. In the days of DOS, only certain IRQs were allowed to be used, and DMA channels were used in a way that not many motherboard manufacturers were prepared for. I can remember certain brands of motherboards failing with the use of Creative cards, simply because of DMA usage.
With high quality motherboards, there was no source for concern with board failure, but many times the sound would simply not work. This has been something that continues to this day, with Creative cards taking more than one IRQ, causing DMA problems, and software support that is based around the fact that nothing is installed in any slot on the motherboard, other than a graphics card.
Many times I have had e-mail exchanges with support at Creative, who refuse to acknowledge that people use SCSI cards, Firewire cards, and other assorted add-in cards in their machines. That is what the slots are there for.
In stark contrast, CMedia is a chip maker that decided that its reference designs should work, in a mixed environment, and that many who use their cards will also have other things in their machine.
Fortunately, many makers of cheaper sound cards don’t move far from the reference designs of CMedia, and tweak the software only a bit from one design to the next. Auzentech is one of these manufacturers.
The typical Auzentech board uses a stock CMedia chipset, adds the best quality components to support the chip, and adds the ability to upgrade the driver chips (op-amps), so that the very best output can be had, with extremely high signal to noise ratios.
The Auzentech system drivers are easily used, and work well with most any motherboard (I say that only because I have not tried using CMedia cards in EVERY chipset manufactured over the years – but my personal experience is that I have never had a CMedia card not work where any IRQ was available, and many times, I’ve managed to get good performance when an IRQ was shared).
Check out DTS Connect here
The X-Plosion 7.1 DTS Connect is the current top of the line, that uses the CMedia chipset.
C-Media CMI8770 PCI chipset (8CH audio single chip with DTS® Connect and Dolby® Digital Live Real-Time Content Encoder)
8CH codec embedded PCI audio single chip
Full-duplex 8CH 24bit/96kHz DAC / 2CH 16bit/48kHz ADC
Integrated S/PDIF input/output supports 44.1kHz/48kHz/96kHz sample rate and 16/24bits resolution
The world’s first DTS¨ Connect logo program certificated PCI audio board
DTS® Interactive : A real-time 5.1 encoder that takes any 2 or more channel and encodes it into DTS® bit stream. DTS® Interactive provides a single cable connection via S/PDIF digital audio output to a DTS® enabled surround sound system by encoding all audio into a DTS® compatible bit stream at 1.5Mbps
DTS® Neo:PC : An up mixing matrix technology that turns any 2 channel audio into 7.1 surround sound. DTS® Neo:PC, based upon DTS® Neo:6 matrix surround technology, transforms any stereo content such as MP3, WMA or CD audio, into a 7.1-channel surround sound experience
Dolby® Digital Live(DDL) Real-Time Content Encoder converts PC audio into a 5.1 channel Dolby® Digital bit stream
Swappable dual DIP type OPAMP controlled preamp circuit (4pcs output control OPAMP IC with DIY socket, 2pcs MIC input control OPAMP IC with DIY socket)
socketed op-amps so ultra high quality op-amps can be used – ultimate analog fidelity
Max 2.8Vrms full swing analog output gain by unique preamp circuit / incredible powerful analog output, improve dynamic range / SNR
Proper OPAMP control circuit (+8V, -8V dual power supply circuit) for high quality audio quality, prevent audio distortion at high volume levelPackage contents: HDA X-PLOSION 7.1 DTS Connect Audio Card / MPC to MPC(2pin-2pin) CD S/PDIF audio cable / TOSLINK fiber optic digital cable / installation CD / warranty card / owner’s manual
This card makes an excellent addition to any computer, whether used for HTPC or gaming, or simply audio enjoyment while doing other work on the machine. The quality of sound it produces will never be the weakest link in the chain.
For gamers, who insist that the difference between EAX 2.0 and the up-until-now-Creative-only EAX 5.0 is something they cannot do without, Auzentech has released the Prelude 7.1. While it uses the high quality Auzentech ancillary chips on the board, it uses the Creative X-Fi chipset, and also uses Creative drivers, so it will likely not play well with others on the motherboard, but will give the EAX 5.0 experience, with Auzentech quality and price.
So, with this addition to the line up, Auzentech can offer quality to anyone, regardless of their definition of the term, at a reasonable price.
Other Auzentech offerings
[tags] Auzentech, CMedia, sound card, EAX 5.0, Creative, X-Fi, op-amp, Signal-to Noise Ratio [/tags]