Cmedia VS Nvidia APU - Nforce2

[Spraf]

I will post all the findings on this dilema!
I suggest to all of u not to worry on the cmedia isuue! An dactually if anyone of u has Xbox or ever bother to connect a fiber (optical) cable to his external amplifier optical In port will understand what kind of sound clarity and quality u can get when u use this type of connection instead of regular cables!
So stop complaining and invest some money on real good stuff .... Such as Monsoon PC speakers, external Yamaha DD or DTS amplifiers and optical cables! Then watch your DVDs or play your incredible games and feel the noise!!!
For those lucky ones with PLASMA screens u ll see the difference! ( I highly recommend the Panasonic Plasma 42" - All HDTV standrad, UXGA and contrast ration 3000:1 !!! for around $4000)!!!

For those of u that know what I am talking about u ll understand!

 

[Spraf]

All.. using the nforce2 chipset but the DSP is Cmedia CMI8738 instead the Realtel AL605 which... Its weird that Toms HW says that both are Dolby digital 6.1 but no one else does...
And chaintech or cmedia they dont clarify it either. But cmedia cards say they support dolby digital..

 

[Spraf]

Thats what I found on newegg forum posted on 12/12/02... It seems its by a chaintech guy...
"First of all, thanks for your attention in CHAINTECH product!
Here is the answer regarding to your question "Does CHAINTECH 7NJS support SoundStorm??"
Yes, absolutely. NVIDIA SoundStorm is actually a standard which offers a plethora of input and output connections and
ZENITH 7NJS does support all of the features.
NVIDIA SoundStorm Standard
Digital S/PDIF for access to the Dolby Digital 5.1 real-time encoder.
Microphone
CD
TV
Line-in
Headphones
Front left and right speakers
Rear left and right speakers
Center channel
Subwoofer
Our product does support all of the above which enables the end users enjoy the effects
of nVidia's soundstorm!!
"

 

[Spraf]

Here is another thing by him... What I dont undestand is that the new chips by cmedia are using AC'97. So actually is there a dolby digital support on cmedia or its just SW encoding rather than real time? Should I invest on chaintech board to have dolby digital on my stereo or go for the asus deluxe? Any comments are very welcome!

" n/a,12/13/2002 4:58:24 AM

I think because most of the people don't really know Soundstorm is actually a standard. But nVidia
does promote the name a lot without proper explanation which caused the confusion.
And actually, the choice of Cmedia is actually better than APU of nVidia chipset.
1. APU only supports SPDIF out but Cmedia supports both SPDIF in/out which our board has one more feature!
2. Cmedia's sound comes out from PCI interface but to use nVidia APU it comes out from AC'97 which
increases the CPU loading. That's why Cmedia audio is always more popular then AC'97.
Hope I do solve your confusion!"

 

[Spraf]

I finally decided to contact chaintech USA and TW and I got an answer from Taiwan HQ !!!
I really appreciated their quick responce and actually I am going to stick with their products! I have to agree ASUS is top also!
So here is their answer!
"
Dear Spiro,

Thanks for your interest in our product. Here are the reasons CHAINTECH uses Cmedia in stead of nVidia APU. 7NJS ZENITH is designed to incorporate Cmedia 8738 as an external bridge through PCI interface and it?s a hardware decoding and consumes less system resources. It?s similar as any other audio CODEC but with additional 5.1-channel and SPDIF for digital surround output equals to what Dolby surround would offer. Soundstorm's spirit is to enable the 5.1 channel audio which provided by Cmedia also. Moreover, Cmedia privides both SPDIF in/out but NVIDIA APU can only support SPDIF out. Cmedia is very experienced in designing audio chipset and the skill is very
matured which you do not need to worry! As a motherboard manufacturer, we know what is actually better to recommend to our users!
Hope I answer your questions and clear your doubt!

Let me know if you have other questions!
Best regards,
B. Lin
"