Chaintech 7.1 Channel PCI Sound Card w/Optical Digital Out

[EF9]

Originally posted by: dchakrab
Yep, I have the audio center. I set it to SPDIF enabled for many different speaker configs, and none of them produced anything on my speakers. Analog connections, on the other hand, with my speakers set to normal "quad" mode, works very well. MUCH better than onboard audio, and seems to be an improvement from a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz I used to have. Need to wake the neighbours up a little more before I know for sure.

Not being able to get the SPDIF working is a major annoyance, though...any ideas?

-D.

Did you look under advance controls?

Originally posted by: Deucer
Anybody running this card with z-680s? I will be getting them for christmas and i don't know $h!t about sound cards. I'm looking for a reasonably priced solution that will take full advantage of my new setup.

thanks,

Deucer

The z-680's will sound really good with this sound card. I have the Z-560(not as powerful as yours but...) and music sounds really good. Gaming isnt all that bad either.

 

[dderidex]

Originally posted by: dchakrab
Not being able to get the SPDIF working is a major annoyance, though...any ideas?

Ummm...try a DVD with 'S/PDIF passthrough' enabled.

I'd put good money that will work - if so, I can explain what is going on.

 

[gordita]

Originally posted by: dderidex

Originally posted by: dchakrab
Not being able to get the SPDIF working is a major annoyance, though...any ideas?

Ummm...try a DVD with 'S/PDIF passthrough' enabled.

I'd put good money that will work - if so, I can explain what is going on.

I would be buying this card for my new rig so I can stream music/mp3's from my basement PC to my HT receiver up in the living room.
I also got a 40-ft optical cable for this.
does this mean that I cannot stream mp3 music from my PC to my home theater?
I also got a 40-ft s-video and rca audio cable to run for my media server.
pls advice

 

[dderidex]

Originally posted by: gordita

Originally posted by: dderidex

Originally posted by: dchakrab
Not being able to get the SPDIF working is a major annoyance, though...any ideas?

Ummm...try a DVD with 'S/PDIF passthrough' enabled.

I'd put good money that will work - if so, I can explain what is going on.

I would be buying this card for my new rig so I can stream music/mp3's from my basement PC to my HT receiver up in the living room.
I also got a 40-ft optical cable for this.
does this mean that I cannot stream mp3 music from my PC to my home theater?
I also got a 40-ft s-video and rca audio cable to run for my media server.
pls advice

Well, that's the question - I don't know offhand.

My knee-jerk reaction is 'no', that since it doesn't have a digital signal *encoder* on it (nothing but the SoundStorm by nVidia does), it can't ENCODE anything - just pass through pre-encoded content and that's it.

Now, the question is in regards to simple stereo sound. Surround sound is obviously out of the question, as that would involve a Dolby Digital encoder which we KNOW it doesn't have. "Simple stereo" SHOULD be able to be encoded, though. In theory, anyway.

 

[cw42]

is there any point to getting this card if u mostly use headphones? right now im using my sennheiser 280s with an audigy1.

 

[abaez]

I use headphones and it works awesome.

 

[sjwaste]

I ordered from ZipZoomFly, and it was definitely the HT-S, in case anyone was wondering. The website has the wrong pic/description I suppose.

 

[konakona]

Originally posted by: cw42
is there any point to getting this card if u mostly use headphones? right now im using my sennheiser 280s with an audigy1.

be prepared to get a decent amp. most people without amp found less than optimal since the 'high quality' codec is a line out unadelterated by subpar amp section like the one found on audigy series.

 

[Schneider879]

First, I would like to say I'm very very new to all this audio stuff. I just used to getting a sound card and a pluggin the headphones. I have this soundcard and I would like to get the most out of it though. Could someone explain what a SPDIF cables does? I have the one that came with my soundcard and I looks like both sides are inputs and it also come with this extra little thing. Lol, I know thats a great explaination. VannillaH were can I find an amp. How much are they? What is a good budget but still high quality amp?

Any help is good. Thanks for dealing with a noob.

 

[konakona]

I havnt really checked on low-end segment now that i moved up to mid-high with my ppx3.

http://www.headsave.com/classic.html
http://www.fixup.net/tips/pktamp/
http://www4.head-fi.org/forums...;highlight=porta+corda

soemone suggested headsave go-vibe is pretty much a well packaged cmoy. while cmoy is not a bad sounding amp, its easy to build one on your own with minimal soldering skills. hell, even i made a super tiny cmoy your best bet prolly is to find some DIYer to build you a META42. then again, it all depends on what headphones you have.

 

[Schneider879]

what exactly does an amp do? ( I have sennheiser pc 150s)
If someone could point me to a website talking about amps and other higher end audio stuff I would appreciate very much. Also then i would stop bugging you.

 

[Wedge1]

Originally posted by: Schneider879
what exactly does an amp do? ( I have sennheiser pc 150s)
If someone could point me to a website talking about amps and other higher end audio stuff I would appreciate very much. Also then i would stop bugging you.

I think the headfi.org site he vanilla just posted is a good place to start. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[mikeford]

Headphone amps basically do two things, offer a blending function so listening is more like speakers (where your left ear hears much of what the right does and vice versa), and they use a MUCH better drive circuit (better, not louder).

 

[gnawrot]

What are Analog Digital Converters in this Chaintech AV710 sound card? I am looking for bit rate 16 bit vs 24 bit and maximum sampling rate. I know that Audiotrak Prodigy 7.1 is a killer sound card but it goes for 100$ and it has 24bit/96kHz ADC (correct me if I am wrong).

 

[konakona]

Headphone amps basically do two things, offer a blending function so listening is more like speakers (where your left ear hears much of what the right does and vice versa), and they use a MUCH better drive circuit (better, not louder).

what you are referring to is crossfeed (or crossfade) which is a feature found on some commercial (cordas) or DIY amps. crossfeed changes soundstaging and is known to create a more fatigue-free listening environment. not everyone likes it, and that includes me. for one thing, it usually results in less prominent bass.

i dont know enough about the circuits to discuss what amps do on technical level, but they boost the signal by amplifying voltage or current to produce a fuller sounding music. amps also add sonic signature of their own, not something you can emulate with EQs or convolver.

 

[Jinxt]

Can someone comment on this card's sound quality/capability versus the built-in 7.1 available on the forthcoming MSI K8N-Neo4 Platinum? I think, for example, the Mobo has digital optical out. But I really have little experience/knowledge about sound in general. I'd appreciate a good general post to the group.

 

[Antoneo]

This deal seems too good to be true. But before I click buy, I thought I might add a quick question: Will this card's optical out pass say a dvd's Dolby Digital 5.1 audio information to my Denon receiver unadulterated?? Meaning, will it downcovert the signal to stereo PCM and then pass it over the optical? I ask because I am curious to this card's advantage (for optical out/SPDIF) over Soundstorm, or even on-the-motherboard optical out (Realtek ALC 650F). Is it just this new "Dolby Digital Live" option for the Soundstorm?

 

[mikeford]

Basically that is ALL it does, pass through with no changes of any kind the digital signal that comes out of your DVD player. All other uses are analog output only.. 10 cables need to run to your AV system.

What some peopler are saying is nice, is that this card accidently can output a very nice 2 channel analog signal. Two cables for headphones or a pair of pc speakers.

The point of SoundStorm is that its about the only card that encodes sounds to send out the digital output. Two cables go to your av system (digital sound, and video).

 

[buzzdalf]

Originally posted by: mikeford
.. 10 cables need to run to your AV system.

I don't think that is entirely true. I have the maddog enternainer version of this sound card and all I have running to my Denon is the SPDIF cable. 1 cable, that's it.
I use it for listening to mp3's, watching d/led videos and, and of course playing dvd's with Dolby Digital sound! Works great for dolby digital on DVD's I have on the HD and also for DVD discs I pop in the PC. I love it.
And, I am most definitely only using the SPDIF cable to connect it.

 

[LongCoolMother]

vanillaH is talking abput a standalone DAC (ie audio alchemy digital decoding engine) no matter what you use, the digital signal will pass through a DAC at one time or another. NO matter what. he just wants to spit out the digital signal and convert it using an external DAC rather than an onboard one.

the crossfeed adds delay between headphone channels so you dont get the "in your head" sound after a while.

orry for the crappy typing, i broke one arm.

EDIT: btw, i second the recommendation for the meta42 or pimeta. i used to use a maxed meta42 with el2002 buffers with a dt880 and er4s and it was awesome.

 

[the Juice]

I have one of these and its a good card for the money. It does not have onboard processing like more expensive cards but with a fast CPU no need to worry.

 

[palswim]

I have one of these and its a good card for the money. It does not have onboard processing like more expensive cards but with a fast CPU no need to worry.

What do you mean by that? Does that mean that the performance hit on the main processor is no different for this card than it is for onboard sound?

Sorry if this is a noob question, but within the realm of hardware sound cards are one (of the many) components about which I know little.

 

[Perknose]

Originally posted by: corinthos
I've used the optical out and found I got better sound that way, but the 7/8 analog out that uses the Wolfsen sounds pretty good as well.

As for DVD-A, I don't think even the Revo officially supports that.

This is a great card, and rebate free. If you want to mess with a $30 rebate, Microcenter has the Mad Dog Entertainer 7.1 (uses the same or similar Wolfsen DAC as this one and includes an optical-in) for $39.99 before $30 rebate.

Does anyone here have specific info on the Mad Dog Entertainer card, i.e., does it indeed have the same Wolfsen DAC, can you flash the bios to the Prodigy 7.1, and did you get your rebate?

I ask because I have over $1,000 in MicoCenter credits left from back in the day (no hurry, electronics just get cheaper and more capable, right?).

 

[dchakrab]

Originally posted by: dderidex

Originally posted by: dchakrab
Not being able to get the SPDIF working is a major annoyance, though...any ideas?

Ummm...try a DVD with 'S/PDIF passthrough' enabled.

I'd put good money that will work - if so, I can explain what is going on.

Sorry for the lateness of this response...I've been swamped, so I haven't had time to touch the card or the drivers for a long time...been running analog ProLogic mode so far (my speakers upmix to surround from one input).

Where do I enable spidf passthrough?

I'm a total newbie when it comes to sound, too...

Thanks,

Dave.

 

[mikeford]

10 cables, 8 for 7.1 analog sound from games etc., 1 video, and 1 spdif for the passthru from your cd/dvd player.

My gripe is that I want game sounds out the spdif too, but that seems to be only via SandStorm or whatever it is. The glitch here is that encoding requires a license, and that often moves very slowly.