Aureal SQ2500

[Maximus22]

Does it still have decrease FPS in games whle using A3D?

 

[Dark4ng3l]

no(if you dont enable a3d)

 

[fkloster]

yes(if you do enable a3d) Fantastic card if you have the horses to pull it...

 

[Maximus22]

Is it worth it or should I just invest in a SB Live?

 

[andylawcc]

invest in Live! if you plan to use Win2k,

if not, support the Anti-Creative Association and buy an Aureal!

 

[fkloster]

ITS WORTH IT! Get your:

Win9x drivers here.

Win2K drivers here.

 

[Wingznut]

If oustanding 3D gaming audio is what you are after, you must get that card.

 

[fkloster]

<< support the Anti-Creative Association and buy an Aureal! >>



...if he buys an Aureal card he will be supporting Creative unfortunatly...

 

[utopia]

Truth is that My MX300 (A3D) sounds so much better (when A3d enabled) than SB live..

 

[andylawcc]

not sure about that fkloster,
coz Creative only got Aureal's intellectual property, not the financial or operational infastructure, while nvidia got all the engineers. (anyone still working in aureal then?) I don't think Aureal is having any income, and if so, where will the money go (repaying the bankcrupcy debt maybe?). but I do know that they are still making the Vortex1/2 chips.

 

[sd]

I have it, and I love it!

 

[pr0d2]

for 25$ + Shipping you cant go wrong buying a MX300, i have one in one of my PC w/ Win2k works just fine

 

[R0b0tN1k]

Get the Aureal...you'll love it. I've kept my Vortex 1 card for years because the SB live's can't come close to it. Better sound quality, better technology, and better drivers have kept me with this thing. Fighting with LiveWare just isn't fun.

 

[Maximus22]

Aureal is this ggod, how come they went bankrupt?

 

[MasterMind]

Well I would upgrade my MX300 but the SQ2500 doesnt have separate mic and line-in jacks (besides no DA speakers yet). The 3D sound processing was a no brainer since Creative didnt have it when the MX300 came out.

I havent liked Creative's sound cards since I tried one that had RCA jacks that sound like crap. I bought it specifically to hook up to my stereo when playing MP3's but the signal to noise ratio was so much worse than the on-board sound card of a HP 7360 running through a mini-plug to RCA adapter. It's a real shame that Aureal went under but it wasnt from making crappy products.

 

[Sephiroth_IX]

Creative sued them HARDCORE over some bullsh|t, and they didnt have the deep pockets like creative to still keep running and pay legal fees.

 

[Soccerman]

damn u creative.. I want to boycott them for this..

&quot;Well I would upgrade my MX300 but the SQ2500 doesnt have separate mic and line-in jacks (besides no DA speakers yet). The 3D sound processing was a no brainer since Creative didnt have it when the MX300 came out.&quot;

the SQ2500 has seperate line in and Mic in jacks on the back.. it also has digital out, 2 sets of speaker outs (stereo front, stereo back), and the MIDI/Game port..

 

[Redwingsguy]

are there any daughter cards for the SQ2500 so I can record better MD's? OR does anyknow if that digital Xitel pc link works for SQ2500?

 

[BA]

Redwingsguy, you could try and find a Superquad. It's the card before the SQ2500, Vortex2 and an optical output. It's what I've got. It's also possible to convert between RCA and optical digital; I've seen schematics. Also remember a page of a guy hacking up an optical output for an MX300, anyone remember where that was?

 

[Redwingsguy]

you mean they took off optical out as they evolved it??!

 

[Soccerman]

I have the Aureal Superquad Digital.. it's the one before the SQ2500, and it has Optical Digital out!

 

[BA]

Yup, why they did it, I have no clue. I've seen a few go over in FS/FT. Highly recommend snagging one if you can, it is THE CARD for gaming boys w/ MD's. The Guillemot Maxi-Gamer Fortissimo also has an optical out. Best Buy used to carry them.

 

[MasterMind]

OK I took &quot;Line/Mic-in&quot; as being a shared input. I guess buy one now before its too late? Does anyone know if BestBuy or CompUSA is still stocking them?

 

[R0b0tN1k]

OOh baby! Check out the Turtle Beach Montego 2 Plus. 4 speakers, RCA S/PDIF input and output, optical S/PDIF input and output...this thing is packed. Sure, it needs a daughtercard to hold it all, but it's just so cool. I wonder if the win2k drivers work with it.

 

[andylawcc]

ok, you can buy a MX80 which is a daugther card for MX300 which has an Optical Out (and probably a Coaxial Digital out too, read Firingsquad's review)

Montego2 Quadzilla has most of the I/O stuff but it takes up two PCI slot, just like a MX300 w/ MX80 will. (for Montego's the 2nd PCI SPACE is taken, not the slot; for MX you need both PCI slot used.)

The Terra (Videologic's I think) has Optical Out.

this should all comes clear after checking out VortexofSound.com, it got a whole list of Vortex1/2 chipped cards listed.