Hercules Gamesurround Fortissimo 4 Soundcard

[Mem]

Don`t think this has been posted,

Link.

La Gacilly, November 2, 2004 ? Hercules is thrilled to announce the launch of its new Gamesurround Fortissimo? 4 sound card, the new leader in the award-winning Gamesurround Fortissimo line. Gamesurround Fortissimo 4 combines high-resolution audio quality for recording and playback with ultra-realistic surround sound positioning and 7.1 channel output for games and DVDs.


* 24-bit processing improves the dynamic range of the sound environment in games, providing unparalleled contrast between silence, background sounds and music, dialog and action.
* 96KHz to 192KHz audio provides increased bandwidth, resulting in enhanced realism in terms of sound effects, ambience and music by keeping frequencies in the soundtrack that tend to disappear at 44 and 48KHz sample rates.

High-resolution audio for home theater applications
Gamesurround Fortissimo 4 comes bundled with Cyberlink PowerDVD 5, the popular DVD playback software which decodes Dolby® Digital and Dolby® Digital Surround EX? DVD soundtracks on stereo, 5.1, 6.1 and 7.1 channel systems.
The board?s high resolution audio hardware processes DVD soundtracks with an audio performance exceeding the standards of most home DVD players.
In addition to its analog speaker outputs, Gamesurround Fortissimo 4 includes an optical S/PDIF output which can be connected to an external Dolby® Digital decoder for the ultimate in crystal-clear digital sound.

Gamesurround Fortissimo 4 is based on the following innovative technologies:

* Via? Envy24HT PCI audio controller
* Wolfson WM8776 and WM8766 DAC and Codec
* QSound surround positioning engine

 

[Brian48]

* Via? Envy24HT PCI audio controller

If this is correct and not a type-O (ie. not a Envy24HT-S), then I'd definitely give it a go. Been looking for a decent upgrade that has optical out for my Fortissimo III for a long time now. I haven't been very impressed with the current run of Envy24HT-S cards thus far.

 

[Mem]

If this is correct and not a type-O (ie. not a Envy24HT-S), then I'd definitely give it a go.

Looks correct,found one site in the UK that has it listed,link. .

 

[Chainzsaw]

This explains why Creative released The audigy 4.

Creative can't have another company have a higher number than them...

Also, it looks like creative was WAITING for another company to release their Audigy 4...sad.

If anything, the A4 looks like an Audigy 3.

 

[Brian48]

I can't say I agree with that. Why would they even bother to wait? That doesn't make sense from a business standpoint. Certainly not for something like the Herc F4.

The Audigy4 is targeted at a different user group entirely and it's certainly not in the same competing, price bracket as this new Herc. Plus, Hercules is still not releasing anything new. In fact, except for the optical output vice coax, this new Herc is basically just a Revo and that's been out for a while now. If this is going to hurt anybody, it's going to hurt AVID (who owns M-Audio now) and Philips who have their own competing Envy24HT and Envy24PT cards.

 

[WeiWei]

Are these Hercules and M-Audio cards still inferior compared to the Creative line of sound cards ?

Many people are complianing that there is no competition in the sound card arena, well, then what is this, and why are these cards not as popular ? What are their drawbacks compared to Creative's ?

For one thing, Newegg.com doesn't sell Hercules cards...

 

[Algere]

Philips who have their own competing Envy24HT

Don't you mean Envy24 GT? Correct me if I'm wrong but never heard/seen a Phillips with Envy24 HT.

 

[Brian48]

Originally posted by: Algere

Philips who have their own competing Envy24HT

Don't you mean Envy24 GT? Correct me if I'm wrong but never heard/seen a Phillips with Envy24 HT.

No, you're right. It's the GT. I made the mistake of refering to it as the PT, but the PT is what's available on some motherboards like the Albatron K8X800 ProII.

 

[RussianSensation]

Originally posted by: WeiWei
Are these Hercules and M-Audio cards still inferior compared to the Creative line of sound cards ?

Many people are complianing that there is no competition in the sound card arena, well, then what is this, and why are these cards not as popular ? What are their drawbacks compared to Creative's ?

For one thing, Newegg.com doesn't sell Hercules cards...

I was under the impression that M-Audio and the Envy chipset has no "mainstream" (~$100) competitors. AT the same time for gaming, Creative has no competition either. That is why the market isnt competitive. So right now, if you want the best of both worlds, you either pick what's more important for you (games vs. music), or buy both.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Originally posted by: WeiWei
Are these Hercules and M-Audio cards still inferior compared to the Creative line of sound cards ?

Many people are complianing that there is no competition in the sound card arena, well, then what is this, and why are these cards not as popular ? What are their drawbacks compared to Creative's ?

For one thing, Newegg.com doesn't sell Hercules cards...

It used to be that Hercules cards offered better gaming performance (negligably higher FPS) but Creative dominated gaming sound formats (such as EAX) and therefore their cards tended to offer better/more support

I've always thought that Hercules was able to offer a pretty good alternative for what was usually a significantly lower price, I even bought a Fortissmo 2 back when newegg.com sold them (a few years ago) but it arrived DOA and I eventually went with a Game Theater instead which has served me very well up to this day.