**OFFICIAL** b-Enspirer thread

[PurdueRy]

b-Enspirer

This card is the latest coming out from bluegears, the original makers of the X-mystique sound card. It uses the latest Cmedia chipset, the Oxygen 8788.

With a more advanced chipset then the X-Plosion, this card might be a great option for anyone in the market.

Just e-mailed Bluegears. Looks like the card will be released late May to mid June.

FEATURES

* 24-bit / 192KHz digital audio out
* 24bit / 96KHz 8 Channel analog out
* DTS Interactive ,NeoPC
* Dolby Pro-Logic IIx , ,Digital Live(AC3)
* Dolby Headphone , Virtual Speaker

* DTS® Interactive - a real-time 5.1 channel encoder that takes 2 or more channels and encodes them into a DTS bit stream
* DTS® NeoPC - an up-mix matrix that turns any 2 channel audio into 7.1 channel surround sound
* Dolby® Digital Live(AC-3) real time 5.1 channel encoding bit-stream to facilitate the connection with CE AV receiver
* Dolby® Pro-Logic IIx surround processor, spreading stereo audio into 7.1 channel surround sound
* Renowned Dolby® Headphone technology, conveying 5.1 surround and 3D gaming audio over stereo headphones
* The latest Dolby® Virtual Speaker solution, creating amazing virtual surround sound from a generic two-speaker configuration
* C-Media FlexBass? - configurable LFE channel crossover frequency(from 50 to 250Hz)
* C-Media Magic Voice?, a popular feature for disguising voice in online chatting
* C-Media Xear3D? 7.1 Virtual Speaker Shifter technology
* C-Media's unique Karaoke functions: Microphone Echo, Key-shifting
* Individual 10-band EQ for each channel
* 27 global reverberation environments
* Play 3D demo program
* Supports most industrial standards of 3D sound for PC gaming, including EAX? 1.0&2.0, A3D? 1.0 and DirectSound?
* Supports 7.1 CH digital audio playback for WinXP, 2K, ME, 98SE(Microsoft® DirectX V.9.0 and above is required.)

9-1-06 UPDATE

Zipzoomfly, FrozenCPU and Xoxide will start to sell the Bluegears
b-Enspirer from this afternoon. And newegg will begin selling from the
next week.

ZZF

Newegg

 

[PurdueRy]

bump for hopefully some interest

 

[PurdueRy]

Is no one interested? No HTPC people here today or what?

 

[PurdueRy]

Just e-mailed Bluegears. Looks like the card will be released late May to mid June.

 

[tw33ter]

How much is it? How does it compare to a soundblaster?

 

[Chris2wire]

Yeah all thats important to me is how it compares to soundblaster with price weighed in.

If its the same performance at the same price, Ill stick with soundblaster. If its better performance at a higher price, ill stick with soundblaster... If its cheaper and better... Ill consider it.

Give us some more details

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: tw33ter
How much is it? How does it compare to a soundblaster?

price hasn't been released yet. I wouldn't normally compare it to soundblaster as this tends to cater to HTPC users who want to use the digital connection for surround sound in games/movies/(matrixed) music. All that is possible with this card. Which is the main advantage of the oxygen chip.

once it comes out I am sure we will get comparisons to the X-fi analog out, but like I said, it really isn't trying to compete directly with the X-fi

 

[Missing Ghost]

I thought c-media was not good. All the audio solutions from them I've ever listened to where exceptionnaly low-quality.

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: Missing Ghost
I thought c-media was not good. All the audio solutions from them I've ever listened to where exceptionnaly low-quality.

The analog output is not necessarily been known to be the best. But its digital capabilities far surpass creative's offerings

 

[Chocolate Pi]

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: Missing Ghost
I thought c-media was not good. All the audio solutions from them I've ever listened to where exceptionnaly low-quality.

The analog output is not necessarily been known to be the best. But its digital capabilities far surpass creative's offerings

...or lack of therefore.

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: Chocolate Pi

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: Missing Ghost
I thought c-media was not good. All the audio solutions from them I've ever listened to where exceptionnaly low-quality.

The analog output is not necessarily been known to be the best. But its digital capabilities far surpass creative's offerings

...or lack of therefore.

Well they do have a digital out and digital in

 

[Pariah]

"Supports most industrial standards of 3D sound for PC gaming, including EAX? 1.0&2.0, A3D? 1.0 and DirectSound?"

You can bold all the features you want, until the above line is more up to date, few people here are going to care. If all you want a card for is digital out, it matters little which one you get, the cheapest will work fine. If you require DDL, it still matters little which one you get, as long as it supports that feature, since the cards will all sound the same.

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: Pariah
"Supports most industrial standards of 3D sound for PC gaming, including EAX? 1.0&2.0, A3D? 1.0 and DirectSound?"

You can bold all the features you want, until the above line is more up to date, few people here are going to care. If all you want a card for is digital out, it matters little which one you get, the cheapest will work fine. If you require DDL, it still matters little which one you get, as long as it supports that feature, since the cards will all sound the same.

I don't think Creative is allowing other cards to support EAX 3.0 and higher...could be wrong.

DDL and DTS interactive cards may sound the same but that doesn't mean they all work the same. This card will have the most advanced chip of any card out there with DDL or DTS interactive. As a owner of a HT receiver, I am excited about the possibilities this card allows for. We will see if it lives up to them.

 

[tropic]

I'm interested, but I'm not currently in the market for a sound card. Still using an X-Mystique Gold with no complaints. But I AM using the digital out...

 

[Siba]

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: Chocolate Pi

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: Missing Ghost
I thought c-media was not good. All the audio solutions from them I've ever listened to where exceptionnaly low-quality.

The analog output is not necessarily been known to be the best. But its digital capabilities far surpass creative's offerings

...or lack of therefore.

Well they do have a digital out and digital in

While they do have digital in and out on the Platinum editions, the lower end versions of Creative cards only have a 3.5mm jack acting as a digital out. Usually you need some type of 3.5mm to RCA connection to connect the Creative cards to any type of S/PDIF connector. Another thing is that NONE of the Creative cards will output a digital signal unless the SOURCE is digital i.e. a DVD. If you are trying to hook your gaming computer up to your home theatre system, the game's sound will come out in stereo - unless that particular game supports Dolby Digital sound (how many of those have you seen around?).

This Bluegears card and the X-Mystique are among the only ones to support REAL-TIME encoding of any audio source into a Dolby Digital stream. If you currently use or are looking into using a home theatre system or high end speakers (high quality - accurate and clear sound, not just high output levels) - then this Bluegears card looks to be for you.
As it stands right now, games and music will all come out of only the left and right fronts, unless you decide to run 3 wires for the analog connection, provided your amplifier accepts line-level inputs.

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: Siba

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: Chocolate Pi

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: Missing Ghost
I thought c-media was not good. All the audio solutions from them I've ever listened to where exceptionnaly low-quality.

The analog output is not necessarily been known to be the best. But its digital capabilities far surpass creative's offerings

...or lack of therefore.

Well they do have a digital out and digital in

While they do have digital in and out on the Platinum editions, the lower end versions of Creative cards only have a 3.5mm jack acting as a digital out. Usually you need some type of 3.5mm to RCA connection to connect the Creative cards to any type of S/PDIF connector. Another thing is that NONE of the Creative cards will output a digital signal unless the SOURCE is digital i.e. a DVD. If you are trying to hook your gaming computer up to your home theatre system, the game's sound will come out in stereo - unless that particular game supports Dolby Digital sound (how many of those have you seen around?).

This Bluegears card and the X-Mystique are among the only ones to support REAL-TIME encoding of any audio source into a Dolby Digital stream. If you currently use or are looking into using a home theatre system or high end speakers (high quality - accurate and clear sound, not just high output levels) - then this Bluegears card looks to be for you.
As it stands right now, games and music will all come out of only the left and right fronts, unless you decide to run 3 wires for the analog connection, provided your amplifier accepts line-level inputs.

Yes, Yes. This is pretty common knowledge. But, if you only want music and DVD's, the digital out on creative's card is usuable as these formats are passed as the source intended. One clarification is that the Creative cards will output digital whether or not the source is digital...its just a matter if all the surround channels are encoded in a bitstream format or not. The signal received by the receiver is still digital either way.

I have also hooked up via analog connections, and it was a pain. I eventually went back to the digital connection for simplicity sake

 

[PurdueRy]

Here is the latest:

Hello Ryan,

Thank you for your interest in our products. I apologize for this delay
but this is due to the 64 bit driver.

However, by the end of June you will see the sound card in the market.

I will keep you updated.

Best Regards,

Jay Heo

Too bad its been delayed a month, hopefully this will mean a better 64 bit driver for all you windows XP 64 bit users

 

[Howard]

Mmm... what I'd like to see is something like the Behringer DEQ2496 or the DCX2496 on a PCI/PCI-e board, fully configurable in Windows.

 

[alpha88]

I'm interested. I currently use an M-Audio Revolution 7.1

 

[PurdueRy]

Well...the card is now "available" as of today. Hopefully we will see it popping up in stores and out for review shortly.

 

[Raduque]

Very nice, what's the retail on this badboy? It'll be nice to finally be able to drop AC3Filter. And my ah heck AV710s drivers.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

PurdueRy, I know it's a bit early, but do you think there significant physical differences between this and the X-Purity. Besides, well, existing? Auzentech took down the pics a while ago.

Thanks for being a sound card nut.

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler
PurdueRy, I know it's a bit early, but do you think there significant physical differences between this and the X-Purity. Besides, well, existing? Auzentech took down the pics a while ago.

Thanks for being a sound card nut.

They are based on the exact same Cmedia 8788 chip, so features wise...they should be the same. One difference I do notice so far is that the X-purity will include a header for attaching case headphone/mic I/O. That may or may not be a selling feature for you.

I think the main difference is going to be the drivers. Which one wins here won't be known until some reviews start pouring in.

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: Raduque
Very nice, what's the retail on this badboy? It'll be nice to finally be able to drop AC3Filter. And my ah heck AV710s drivers.

While it is only speculation my guess is that it will start around $150 or so. Again, it will be interesting to see what happens to the market when these come out.

For those interested, Auzentech is doing a trade up program with their X-purity card. If you buy/bought the X-Plosion you will be able to "trade up" to the X-purity for a reduced cost. Certainly a good way to make your customers happy IMO.

 

[smthmlk]

hardware mixer? what DACs is it going to use?