Auzentech Sound Card announcement!

[Johnny87au]

X-Meridian 7.1 2G Coming Dec. 2010

Second Generation Auzen X-Meridian is a feast for the ears thats right X-meridian...

Linky Linky

[ripken204]

this news is over a month old but i am happy that they are continuing to make great products, my prelude is a great card

[Johnny87au]

thought i'd add to it seeming as i havent seen it posted yet..

[koc]

The X-Meridian 7.1 2G key features are:

* CMI8788 - High quality PCI 32-bit multi-channel audio processor
* Pure electrical connections via gold plated PCB, jacks and metal bracket
* 24bit/192kHz high definition 7.1 channel analog playback
* Signal-to-noise ratio greater than 115dB
* 120dB dynamic range
* Do-it-yourself upgrade for ultimate analog sound quality and color (all channels have swappable OPAMPs)
* Complete Dolby® Home Theater technologies: Dolby® Digital Live, Dolby® Pro Logic® II, Dolby® Virtual Speaker, Dolby® Headphone
* DTS™ Connect, DTS™ Interactive, and DTS™ Neo:PC
* Shift between Coaxial and Optical Output and Input, with combo adaptor
* Proprietary Auzentech Pointing Ground Design shares one point for the DAC, OPAMP, Power Supply and Output Jack, cutting noise and distortion
* 7.1 Virtual speaker shifter supporting virtual surround over two channel speaker and headphone
* C-Media FlexBass: Advanced bass management allowing a variety of speaker types and combinations. Large, small speaker setting available for all channels. LFE channel crossover frequency configurable in small speaker mode (from 50Hz to 250Hz).
* Support for the Auzen X-Tension DIN connection.

[96redformula]

I am still lost as to why not just spend that $$$ on a good receiver and let it do the decoding.

[BrowncoatGR]

Because a good DAC/receiver would cost a lot more than that?

[Zaskar]

Ehh, no X-Fi chipset. Not that its the best, but one of the main points to an external card for me is the ability to use EAX to Direct Sound conversion for older games, like Alchemy from Creative and SoundBack from Realtek. The other for me is DDL/DTS which this has, though if you use Digital out you don't make use of the cards onboard DAC's.

[Jamesrt2004]

Ehh, no X-Fi chipset. Not that its the best, but one of the main points to an external card for me is the ability to use EAX to Direct Sound conversion for older games, like Alchemy from Creative and SoundBack from Realtek. The other for me is DDL/DTS which this has, though if you use Digital out you don't make use of the cards onboard DAC's.

X-fi is crap that's why? And all cards don't make use of the DACs when via digital

[iddqd]

If X-fi is crap, then where does that put C-media?

[EniGmA1987]

The X-Meridian 7.1 2G key features are:

* CMI8788 - High quality PCI 32-bit multi-channel audio processor
* Pure electrical connections via gold plated PCB, jacks and metal bracket
* 24bit/192kHz high definition 7.1 channel analog playback
* Signal-to-noise ratio greater than 115dB
* 120dB dynamic range
* Do-it-yourself upgrade for ultimate analog sound quality and color (all channels have swappable OPAMPs)
* Complete Dolby® Home Theater technologies: Dolby® Digital Live, Dolby® Pro Logic® II, Dolby® Virtual Speaker, Dolby® Headphone
* DTS™ Connect, DTS™ Interactive, and DTS™ Neo:PC
* Shift between Coaxial and Optical Output and Input, with combo adaptor
* Proprietary Auzentech Pointing Ground Design shares one point for the DAC, OPAMP, Power Supply and Output Jack, cutting noise and distortion
* 7.1 Virtual speaker shifter supporting virtual surround over two channel speaker and headphone
* C-Media FlexBass: Advanced bass management allowing a variety of speaker types and combinations. Large, small speaker setting available for all channels. LFE channel crossover frequency configurable in small speaker mode (from 50Hz to 250Hz).
* Support for the Auzen X-Tension DIN connection.

So its an HT-Omega Claro XT? and an Asus Xonar Essence ST.

Great cards, so this will be great too. That audio processor is awesome. But its still just any other card that uses the same chipset. They all have replaceable op amps, great power section, great output section, the same processor, the same slot connection. What makes this any different then what has been around for years? I bet it will even use the exact same stock op amps as the other cards too.

EDIT: looks like it has price going for it. Slightly cheaper than the competition.

At least its good to see Auzentech going back to the C-Media chips, they must have gotten a license agreement from ASUS since ASUS owns the rights to the C-Media chips.

If X-fi is crap, then where does that put C-media?

C-Media has way better sounding chips than X-Fi, cheaper too. And can do more theater type stuff. X-Fi has always been crap. Nothing from Creative has been good since the Audigy 2 days

[zalbard]

Ehh, no X-Fi chipset. Not that its the best, but one of the main points to an external card for me is the ability to use EAX to Direct Sound conversion for older games, like Alchemy from Creative and SoundBack from Realtek. The other for me is DDL/DTS which this has, though if you use Digital out you don't make use of the cards onboard DAC's.

Yeah, it's a pity, but I suppose this is just not a gamer card.

[RPGWiZaRD]

C-Media has way better sounding chips than X-Fi, cheaper too. And can do more theater type stuff. X-Fi has always been crap. Nothing from Creative has been good since the Audigy 2 days

Agreed, although I think it has to do with the software behind it rather than the chips themselves, Creative has never been strong in the software department. Installing kX Audio drivers (which is a 3rd party project coded from scratch and doesn't share anything in common with Creative's drivers) for an audigy card brings a huge improvement in sound quality compared to Creative's drivers for example. I see Creative a bit like Gigabyte used to be before they stepped up in BIOS development and software somewhat, Creative needs some new skilled knowledgable programmers in this field and should perhaps change the internal driver structure as well for whatever next "big-thing" after X-Fi is which would be a quite huge job but since the competition is tough especially from ASUS these days it's needed.

[JohnZS]

I was hoping this would be Auzentech's version of the fantastic X-Fi HD
Oh well, looks like I will be upgrading to an X-Fi HD at somepoint...
John

[zalbard]

I think Forte is much better than X-Fi HD, isn't it?

[Jodiuh]

I think Forte is much better than X-Fi HD, isn't it?

Just a guess, but I bet the new creative card with its huge Emi shield doesn't cackle like a maniac. Yeah, that's right..my Forte makes noises when moving the mouse. :-(

[RejZoR]

Since when are others allowed to use C-Media chips? I thought ASUS was exclusive holder of C-Media chips. I mean, that was one of the reasons why Auzentech switched to X-Fi.

[RaZz!]

what happened to creative's r&d anyways? x-fi is pretty old now and there's absolutely nothing new on the horizon yet. i'm still on an audigy2 and neither audigy4 nor x-fi offered significant changes that made me want to replace it.

since vista and the renewed HAL/WDM creative lost a lot of appeal. one of the reasons i'm still on winxp is the sound of my audigy2 in win7 - it sounds completely crap compared to winxp, even with the same settings (cmss3d 2 etc.). and alchemy isn't exactly brilliant either...

[crash5s]

Since when are others allowed to use C-Media chips? I thought ASUS was exclusive holder of C-Media chips. I mean, that was one of the reasons why Auzentech switched to X-Fi.

My ht-omega is cmedia. I think ASUS bought them out of one type of chip for a while, but others still use them, and it's a lot better than that creative crap.

X-fi is crap that's why? And all cards don't make use of the DACs when via digital

agreed

[RPGWiZaRD]

since vista and the renewed HAL/WDM creative lost a lot of appeal. one of the reasons i'm still on winxp is the sound of my audigy2 in win7 - it sounds completely crap compared to winxp, even with the same settings (cmss3d 2 etc.). and alchemy isn't exactly brilliant either...

It sounds a lot better in Win 7 for me with Audigy 2 ZS and kX Audio drivers compared to Win XP, even clearer and more fine details in the sound but when I compared with Creative's drivers it was the opposite like you said. Perhaps you should give them a try, I could send some "starter" settings for you as newbies can easily get lost in kX Audio settings.

[RejZoR]

Auzentech X-Fi Forte + WinAMP + Wumpus OpenAL output + Vista/Win7 = teh secks sound

[ajaidev]

HDMI pass-through with Sony STR-DN1010 or Pioneer VSX-1020

I have a Sony receiver and it is much better than the old X-Fi i had.

[bamtan2]

I'm going to plug this in right next to my $150 network card. I can hear the speed already.

[RejZoR]

You're so gonna pwn online dawg!

[Frodin]

HDMI pass-through with Sony STR-DN1010 or Pioneer VSX-1020

I have a Sony receiver and it is much better than the old X-Fi i had.

Exactly, I have an external DAC (Cambridge Audio Dacmagic) that cost me perhaps 50% more than a good discrete sound card, and I plan on keeping it through generations of sound cards. I think it's much better to put however much money a good discrete sound card costs towards upgrading or spending more on a good receiver/amplifier, or an external Dac, that you can use with several different sources with the flick of a switch.

[RejZoR]

It all depends. For gaming, Creative 3D positioning wins hands down. Also if you use analog conectivity, soundcard makes a lot of sense when looking at the high end segment. Backed up with decent speakers as well of course.