Aureal Vortex AU8830

[LIKMARK]

Ok. Im a cheap bastard, bought my Crosshair secondhand without the sound card add on thingy. I had my aureal vortex in my old comp, and decided to use it instead of bying an X-fi (or whatever). Last drivers to the soundcard ended at XP though, anyone know how I can get my aureal vortex to work with vista (32bit)?

Edit: Happy new year to you all BTW

[Donnie27]

Ok. Im a cheap bastard, bought my Crosshair secondhand without the sound card add on thingy. I had my aureal vortex in my old comp, and decided to use it instead of bying an X-fi (or whatever). Last drivers to the soundcard ended at XP though, anyone know how I can get my aureal vortex to work with vista (32bit)?

Edit: Happy new year to you all BTW

Happy New year to you too!

See if these work?

Drivers

Supported software


Windows 2000 SP4 Aureal Vortex 2 Drivers Win9x 4.06.2048 driver utility
Windows 98 SE Aureal Vortex 2 Drivers Win9x 4.06.2048 driver utility
Windows 2000 SP3 Aureal Vortex 2 Drivers Win9x 4.06.2048 controller
Windows 2000 SP2 Aureal Vortex 2 Drivers Win9x 4.06.2048 pci controller
Windows 2000 Aureal Vortex 2 Drivers Win9x 4.06.2048 controller
Windows 3.11 Aureal Vortex 2 Drivers Win9x 4.06.2048 driver
Windows 2000 SP2 Aureal Vortex 2 Drivers Win9x 4.06.2048 controller
Windows Vista Aureal Vortex 2 Drivers Win9x 4.06.2048 installation software
Windows 98 SE Aureal Vortex 2 Drivers Win9x 4.06.2048 exe
Windows 2000 SP1 Aureal Vortex 2 Drivers Win9x 4.06.2048 exe

Good luck, I loved that card when it was current, I still have one as a Keep sake!

[LIKMARK]

Thanks mate, I will test them when I'm finished at work. Tested some of them without luck earlier tough.

[Donnie27]

Thanks mate, I will test them when I'm finished at work. Tested some of them without luck earlier tough.

You're welcomed and good luck with them!

[wfor1pilot]

Interested in the outcome; .........P.M. sent!

[NapalmV5]

i gave up long long ago on the windows drivers

fortunately linux distros have good driver support

heres my 8830 + couple of mods

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=254935

[Donnie27]

i gave up long long ago on the windows drivers

fortunately linux distros have good driver support

heres my 8830 + couple of mods

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=254935

Still my favorite card! Also, unlike the cheap model I still have, the Diamond was the best of them IMHO Though it wasn't all that for Games, the Game Theater M.U.S. E. 5.1 was pretty good as well.

[STEvil]

Got a Diamond one on my shelf

[NapalmV5]

ive replaced all 14 caps with blackgate nx and now its real monster sound



im stunned at the sound this card produces now

[STEvil]

Tempting lol!

[NapalmV5]

believe it or not it beats my xmeridian/prelude @ clarity/purity

abomination!

[NapalmV5]

replaced the 470uf NX to 1500uF NX



finally living up to its name.. monstrous!

ive tested @ winxp and linux and its incredible

im not done yet with this card.. the areas circled are of interest to mod

[Donnie27]

replaced the 470uf NX to 1500uF NX



finally living up to its name.. monstrous!

ive tested @ winxp and linux and its incredible

im not done yet with this card.. the areas circled are of interest to mod

WOW, that's sweet!

[NapalmV5]

thanks!

goal reached: 5x total capacitance than stock


Donnie, do you remember seeing/reading anything about mx300/any of the 8830 based cards.. regarding mods?

i know im way late to the party to say the least.. regret not doing this long ago

[Donnie27]

thanks!

goal reached: 5x total capacitance than stock

Donnie, do you remember seeing/reading anything about mx300/any of the 8830 based cards.. regarding mods?

i know im way late to the party to say the least.. regret not doing this long ago

Sadly I don't remember

Review
http://www.sharkyextreme.com/hardware/diamond_mx300/

I wish I did have the skill and equipment to mod my X-Fi and I can't find my old SQ-2500 as well.

I'll tell you what was funny as hell, I found some of old Vood Doo Video cards. They brought back memories.

[NapalmV5]

lol @ review wow 10 years ago

still got some 3dfx cards

sweet memories

[Donnie27]

lol @ review wow 10 years ago

still got some 3dfx cards

sweet memories

When I get some time I'll post some PICs of them. Funny thing is, all but one still work.

[STEvil]

I should get mine together and put up a picture..

Diamond Voodoo 1
??? Voodoo Rush
Quantum Obsidian X24 (Dual Voodoo 2 on single board)
STB Voodoo 3 (forget if it is 2000 or 3000 though, 3000 I think)
2x Voodoo 5 5500 AGP's

[Donnie27]

The Herc and Matrox made a hell of a tream. That old home theater PC looked and sounded great. The Voodoo 3000 TV still works but yes, it sucks for anything but UT#1 but Glide was sweet It's the only AGP, the others are PCI. I have 2 more and an A3D SQ 2500 I can't seem to find.

[NapalmV5]

^nice voodoo cards


im just having a lot of fun with this mx300

2x 2200uf bg nx/26x 47uf bg nx all paralleled



so what do the paralleled caps do?

the 10year old mx300 beats the crap outta any modern sound card without a sweat

dont have to believe me

tally: 100$ mx300 + 120$ caps + 10$ opa4132 = 230$ total tax/s&h not included

next mod for mx300: adapt 2 x AD8620 opamps

[Stanley Pain]

Holy , nostalgia blast!

That was single handedly the BEST SOUNDCARD EVER! The A3D 2.0 sound engine was nothing short of incredible. *sheds a tear*

[Donnie27]

^nice voodoo cards


im just having a lot of fun with this mx300

2x 2200uf bg nx/26x 47uf bg nx all paralleled



so what do the paralleled caps do?

the 10year old mx300 beats the crap outta any modern sound card without a sweat

dont have to believe me

tally: 100$ mx300 + 120$ caps + 10$ opa4132 = 230$ total tax/s&h not included

next mod for mx300: adapt 2 x AD8620 opamps

You know something, this may surprise, ya'. I do believe you because I loved my un-modded MX-300. Seeing one brings back memories of my when I had that computer connected to my old Harmon Kardon and Optimus Mach 1.
Thanks, I have a couple of more of Voodoo Cards. All of them work except 1.

Oh baby, I'm envious, impressed as hell and wish I could hear it! When I'm finished transferring Music from my Reel to Reel, I'm moving my Prelude back to my Main computer and may upgrade the opamps on it!

[masterat0r]

i started to search infos on this gizmo, 3 years ago when i finally got it after a lot of time digging the online markets. i got in contact to its sound in 2000 at a friend of mine who had the standard aureal vortex2 card. the 4 speakers, 2xUnitra & 2xTechnics, and that astonishing hardware equalizer won me in a instance.since then, i kept on asking anyone who might have this ancient but precious piece of technology.and then i got it.since then, there is no day not to be overwhelmed by its sound and believe me when i tell you i wouldn't change it not even for a 1000 bucks (a newer card i care even less). i think i might mod it just like yours with the help of an electronist friend cause music audition deserves it. if there's more juice in it, then i want to squeeze till the last drop
I simply love my Diamond Monster MX300
hope i didn't sound too fanatic

[NapalmV5]

i started to search infos on this gizmo, 3 years ago when i finally got it after a lot of time digging the online markets. i got in contact to its sound in 2000 at a friend of mine who had the standard aureal vortex2 card. the 4 speakers, 2xUnitra & 2xTechnics, and that astonishing hardware equalizer won me in a instance.since then, i kept on asking anyone who might have this ancient but precious piece of technology.and then i got it.since then, there is no day not to be overwhelmed by its sound and believe me when i tell you i wouldn't change it not even for a 1000 bucks (a newer card i care even less). i think i might mod it just like yours with the help of an electronist friend cause music audition deserves it. if there's more juice in it, then i want to squeeze till the last drop
I simply love my Diamond Monster MX300
hope i didn't sound too fanatic

lol i replied to the one @ guru3d



@ Gogeta/others interested

since the pics above.. recap has changed

i got 2 x kinds of recaps

bg n/nx = rubycon blackgate n or nx
super e-cap =
+ -
- +

the n and nx bgs are nonpolar caps

please do not use polar caps in the same manner


1st
C89: 470uf 12V @ 2 x 1000uf 25V bg nx super e-capped
C8: 10uf +12V @ 2 x 100uf 16V bg n super e-capped
C9: 10uf -12V @ 2 x 100uf 16V bg n super e-capped
the rest of the caps are @ 5V and below so i use 22 x 47uf 6.3V bg nx super e-capped

2nd
C89: 470uf 12V @ 4 x 1000uf 25V bg nx super e-capped
C8: 10uf +12V @ 2 x 470uf 16V bg n super e-capped
C9: 10uf -12V @ 2 x 470uf 16V bg n super e-capped
the rest of the caps are @ 5V and below so i use 22 x 220uf 6.3V bg nx super e-capped

why those capacitances? theres a bit of calculation going on.. certainly noone has to follow.. you can use your own.. and other brands can be used not just rubycon bgs

there are many capacitor articles which a google search will bring many forth

good way to get familiar with caps

also: stock opamp @ OPA4132
http://focus.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/opa2132.pdf

there are number of soic14 opamps to choose from

certainly not bound to soic14 opamps.. 2x AD8620 4x AD797 4x OPA627 can be adapted

[Gogeta]

Thanks for the extra info Napalm.