Page 1: Intro, Specs, Stuff, Drivers
<B>Intro</B>:
Even I overlook the importance of a good sound card. When I was <a href="http://www.asegames.com/articles.php?id=135">reviewing Doom 3</a>, I was amazed by the great audio the game possessed. I couldn't have been immersed as much if I didn't have a good sound card (Turtle Beach Santa Cruz) and a 5.1 setup (Logitech Z-640). They are by no means high end, but it gets the job done nicely. Today, we'll be looking at a Envy24HT-S type sound card. Don't let the Mad Dog brand fool you, I'm reviewing the chipset from <a href="http://www.via.com.tw">VIA</a>, which is the sponsor of this review. Let's get down to brass tacks, shall we?
<B>Box</B>:
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</center>
Here is the box in all its boxy glory. Since I don't care about the brand, no need for comment. I do want to mention the support for EAX and A3D, though. As for the 24-bit DSP, yeah, it sure is. You'll need to fudge with the drivers to get that kind of output, however. More on that in a bit...
<B>Specs</B>:
I took these from Mad Dog's website:
What you need to know that it is basically a 7.1, 24-bit sound card. What the specs don't mention is that there is no hardware DirectSound support at all. Most (if not all, nowadays) Windows games use DirectSound, and most use some type of hardware buffer. You will suffer a performance hit because the CPU needs to do more work than if the card had DirectSound acceleration in the hardware itself. How much of a hit depends on a bunch of different factors. You have to consider YOUR needs and what software you'll be using with it: I cannot gauge how much of a gain/loss this card will give over the current one you are using in one broad stroke.
<B>Parts</B>:
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</center>
Here is whatis contained in the box. Pretty minimalist. The paperwork is....wait, I'm not reviewing the retail product! All I'm concerned with is the sound card chipset! Let's inspect the actual card...oops.
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This is the card. The Envy24HT-S is paired with the VIA VT1616 (http://www.via.com.tw/en/multimedia/vt1616.jsp) which is a 6 channel, 18-bit DAC DSP. The box said it was 7.1 right? Where does the card get the other to channels from? There is a Wolfson WM8728 DAC (http://www.wolfsonmicro.com/products/digital_audio/dacs/WM8728/) onboard to get the last two channels. This DAC can produce the 24-bit sound that the box touts. It only does it for the rear two channels. You'll have to do some driver fiddling to get it to work the way you want, of course.
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</center>
Hidden by a Mad Dog sticker is the thing that I'm trying to review here. The Envy24HT-S chipset is the mainstream sound chipset from VIA. Anything that brings more competition to the market is a good thing for consumers.
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There are a load of ports on this monster. A 7.1 card sure has tons of outputs. You can see them all neatly placed in succession. They are colored and labeled.
<B>Drivers</B>:
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</center>
The drivers on the CD that came with the card are totally outdated. Since this card uses the <a href="http://www.viaarena.com/?PageID=69">reference drivers</a> from VIA, you'll be happy to know that you can head over to VIA's site and download the latest drivers (as I did). It enabled more features for me, and I was happy that I didn't need any driver wrapper that the manufacturer adds (read: bloat).
Even I overlook the importance of a good sound card. When I was <a href="http://www.asegames.com/articles.php?id=135">reviewing Doom 3</a>, I was amazed by the great audio the game possessed. I couldn't have been immersed as much if I didn't have a good sound card (Turtle Beach Santa Cruz) and a 5.1 setup (Logitech Z-640). They are by no means high end, but it gets the job done nicely. Today, we'll be looking at a Envy24HT-S type sound card. Don't let the Mad Dog brand fool you, I'm reviewing the chipset from <a href="http://www.via.com.tw">VIA</a>, which is the sponsor of this review. Let's get down to brass tacks, shall we?
<B>Box</B>:
<center>
</center>Here is the box in all its boxy glory. Since I don't care about the brand, no need for comment. I do want to mention the support for EAX and A3D, though. As for the 24-bit DSP, yeah, it sure is. You'll need to fudge with the drivers to get that kind of output, however. More on that in a bit...
<B>Specs</B>:
I took these from Mad Dog's website:
Quote
24-bit Digital Signal Processor (DSP)
Sampling Rates up to 192 kHz
PCI 2.2 Interface with Bus Mastering and Burst Modes
3 Synchronous I2S/AC-link Output Data Stream Pairs
2 Synchronous I2S/AC-link Input Data Stream Pairs
Multi-channel AC-link Supported
Integrated S/PDIF Transmitter with IEC958 Line Driver
Digital Loop-back and Stream Routing Mechanism
ACPI and PCI PMI Support
I2C Subset Interface Peripherals Control
Windows WDM drivers
3.3V Operating Supply (5V tolerant I/O)
What you need to know that it is basically a 7.1, 24-bit sound card. What the specs don't mention is that there is no hardware DirectSound support at all. Most (if not all, nowadays) Windows games use DirectSound, and most use some type of hardware buffer. You will suffer a performance hit because the CPU needs to do more work than if the card had DirectSound acceleration in the hardware itself. How much of a hit depends on a bunch of different factors. You have to consider YOUR needs and what software you'll be using with it: I cannot gauge how much of a gain/loss this card will give over the current one you are using in one broad stroke.
<B>Parts</B>:
<center>
</center>Here is whatis contained in the box. Pretty minimalist. The paperwork is....wait, I'm not reviewing the retail product! All I'm concerned with is the sound card chipset! Let's inspect the actual card...oops.
<center>
</center>This is the card. The Envy24HT-S is paired with the VIA VT1616 (http://www.via.com.tw/en/multimedia/vt1616.jsp) which is a 6 channel, 18-bit DAC DSP. The box said it was 7.1 right? Where does the card get the other to channels from? There is a Wolfson WM8728 DAC (http://www.wolfsonmicro.com/products/digital_audio/dacs/WM8728/) onboard to get the last two channels. This DAC can produce the 24-bit sound that the box touts. It only does it for the rear two channels. You'll have to do some driver fiddling to get it to work the way you want, of course.
<center>
</center>Hidden by a Mad Dog sticker is the thing that I'm trying to review here. The Envy24HT-S chipset is the mainstream sound chipset from VIA. Anything that brings more competition to the market is a good thing for consumers.
<center>
</center>There are a load of ports on this monster. A 7.1 card sure has tons of outputs. You can see them all neatly placed in succession. They are colored and labeled.
<B>Drivers</B>:
<center>
</center>The drivers on the CD that came with the card are totally outdated. Since this card uses the <a href="http://www.viaarena.com/?PageID=69">reference drivers</a> from VIA, you'll be happy to know that you can head over to VIA's site and download the latest drivers (as I did). It enabled more features for me, and I was happy that I didn't need any driver wrapper that the manufacturer adds (read: bloat).