Is it just me, or this some serious NVIDIA lovin'??

[NFS4]

I was reading this review and all I could think of was, "GOOD LORD!!??"

http://www.tweaktown.com/docum...mp;dId=695&dPage=1

 

[caz67]

LOL...Just a bit

 

[Schadenfroh]

they need to make soundstorm into a discrete card, soon

 

[Mik3y]

wowwie.

 

[SynthDude2001]

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
they need to make soundstorm into a discrete card, soon

:thumbsup:

 

[randumb]

woah

 

[John]

That is definitely one of the better audio reviews I have come across. It also makes me want to hug my NF7-S v2

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: John
That is definitely one of the better audio reviews I have come across. It also makes me want to hug my NF7-S v2

Did you write it? :laugh:

j/k

 

[Goi]

I've always wondered what the big deal with real time Dolby Digital encoding on the Soundstorm was about. It seems to me that you're taking a 5.1 channel signal generated by the game/application, running it through the Soundstorm encoder to compress/encode it, piping it out through S/PDIF to your external receiver/decoder, decoding it to analog 5.1, then amplifying/playing it through your speakers. However, if you already have the 5.1 channel signal in the first place, why go through all the trouble of encoding it only to have to decode it later, when you can just run the signal through a DAC and out to your speakers via analog 5.1 out? Seems like a gimmick to me...

 

[DaveSimmons]

I've always wondered what the big deal with real time Dolby Digital encoding on the Soundstorm was about.

Well, for connecting to a receiver you only need one digital cable instead of 3 analog cables, plus that same digital cable if you want to pass through a DVD's digital audio. One cable is nicer (and cheaper) than 4.

 

[Goi]

The cost of cables is pretty inconsequential. Those RCA Y splitter cables cost like a few bucks each. I'm not sure what Soundstorm uses, but an optical cable can be, and is usually more expensive than 3 Y splitter cables. From a functionality standpoint, I don't think DD encoding on a soundcard does much. The cable issue is really trivial and IMO shouldn't be used as a reason for the implementation.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Well, for those that already have home theater setups, with DD-capable outboard decoders/amps, and nice speakers, then the SoundStorm with SPDIF out, seems to fit right in there. A long time ago, before SoundStorm existed, I hooked someone with a nice HT setup (with a big DVD collection) up with an Aureal Vortex2-based card, with an SPDIF output, to support DD/DTS pass-through to watch DVDs on their shiny-new PC that they replaced their DVD player with. Playing 3D games was a bit less impressive though, only supported stereo digital output. I would have killed for a multi-channel digital-encoding feature back then. The only question I have, about a possible negative here - isn't DD encoding necessarily somewhat lossy? I wonder how much of a real loss of fidelity there is, using it, vs. running multiple analog signal cables to the amp, and dealing with analog noise and signal-loss issues.

Yeah, a SoundStorm PCI-E card would be awesome for the sound-card market, and is probably the only thing that could actually compete against the (un-)Creative Labs juggernaut in the gaming sound-card market sector.

 

[Geomagick]

I'm sorry but whaaaaaaaaaa......

Wonder if the guy wants to date nVidia.

 

[Steg55]

Perhaps I should dump my SB Live! 1024 and get round to using the Soundstorm that has been sitting ideal on my mobo for ages......

*Ponders*

Steg

 

[DotheDamnTHing]

Originally posted by: SynthDude2001

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
they need to make soundstorm into a discrete card, soon

:thumbsup:

 

[Davegod]

here's another example of reviewer blatantly getting out the needpads:
http://www.hardware-pacers.com...?pid=298&catType=r

4 pages of how "stylish" a squished power ranger is, and 2 crap pics of the internals.

 

[Mem]

That is definitely one of the better audio reviews I have come across. It also makes me want to hug my NF7-S v2

I gave my SB Live to a charity company,as to my Audigy,well it`s collecting dust in my draw,SoundStorm on my DFI Infinity Ultra is more then good enough for me and audio drivers are excellent.

I can`t wait for the nForce 4 which has SoundStorm 2.

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: Mem

That is definitely one of the better audio reviews I have come across. It also makes me want to hug my NF7-S v2

I gave my SB Live to a charity company,as to my Audigy,well it`s collecting dust in my draw,SoundStorm on my DFI Infinity Ultra is more then good enough for me and audio drivers are excellent.

I can`t wait for the nForce 4 which has SoundStorm 2.

I'll stick with my Audigy 2ZS Platinum

 

[compfreak999]

Originally posted by: NFS4

Originally posted by: Mem

That is definitely one of the better audio reviews I have come across. It also makes me want to hug my NF7-S v2

I gave my SB Live to a charity company,as to my Audigy,well it`s collecting dust in my draw,SoundStorm on my DFI Infinity Ultra is more then good enough for me and audio drivers are excellent.

I can`t wait for the nForce 4 which has SoundStorm 2.

I'll stick with my Audigy 2ZS Platinum

heh not quite sure about that, the current soundstorm is almost as nice as audigy 2, i own both of them. so soundstorm 2 should be really good.

 

[deanx0r]

The most of those soundcard solutions only affect framerate if you enable 3dsurround or EAX sound, which will stress your system.

Most of the gamers I know play with a headset or headphones, which is just fine with a stereo output.

I think the review ommited to show you that.

I have myself a Logitech Z680 5.1 speaker set coupled with just a SBLive. However while gaming, the headset is always on, specially in FPS like UT.

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: compfreak999

Originally posted by: NFS4

Originally posted by: Mem

That is definitely one of the better audio reviews I have come across. It also makes me want to hug my NF7-S v2

I gave my SB Live to a charity company,as to my Audigy,well it`s collecting dust in my draw,SoundStorm on my DFI Infinity Ultra is more then good enough for me and audio drivers are excellent.

I can`t wait for the nForce 4 which has SoundStorm 2.

I'll stick with my Audigy 2ZS Platinum

heh not quite sure about that, the current soundstorm is almost as nice as audigy 2, i own both of them. so soundstorm 2 should be really good.

The SS2 really needs better HRTF's and EAX3/4 support if it wants to compete with the Audigy. They've got the overall sound quality down pretty good, but it's still weak as far as gaming goes in those areas.

 

[ElFenix]

Not only was the nVidia SoundStorm APU the only sound solution capable of encoding Dolby Digital on the fly (which produces true and accurate 5.1 surround sound via either optical or digital coaxial cable to a set of computer speakers supporting these connections or to an external amplifier), it was also hardware accelerated meaning it does not chew up precise CPU cycles like other inferior onboard solutions which in turn reduces frames per second and do not have the ability to send separate digital signals to anymore than two channels.

the guy needs to learn what a sentence is.

 

[Mem]

The SS2 really needs better HRTF's and EAX3/4 support if it wants to compete with the Audigy. They've got the overall sound quality down pretty good, but it's still weak as far as gaming goes in those areas.

Creative have the strangle hold on EAX4 and I can`t see them releasing it to third party companies,as to gaming in general with nforce boards,I find the nForce sound compatible with all games I`ve tested,so it`s not a bad choice for gaming as long as you realize it doesn`t support all the EAX standards.

When you consider you can pickup an nForce board with SoundStorm for the price of an Audigy 2 ZS or less you get amazing value for money IMHO.

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: Mem

The SS2 really needs better HRTF's and EAX3/4 support if it wants to compete with the Audigy. They've got the overall sound quality down pretty good, but it's still weak as far as gaming goes in those areas.

Creative have the strangle hold on EAX4 and I can`t see them releasing it to third party companies,as to gaming in general with nforce boards,I find the nForce sound compatible with all games I`ve tested,so it`s not a bad choice for gaming as long as you realize it doesn`t support all the EAX standards.

When you consider you can pickup an nForce board with SoundStorm for the price of an Audigy 2 ZS or less you get amazing value for money IMHO.

But aren't all nForce boards with SoundStorm Socket-A??

 

[Mem]

But aren't all nForce boards with SoundStorm Socket-A??

For the time being yes,until we see nForce 4 boards sometime towards end of the year.