HT Omega Claro soundcard

It's still PCI, when is this standard gonna die?

Not for a long time yet.

The article could do with some proof-reading and editing. It's not up to the usual b-t standards...

Originally Posted by David_Fitzy
It's still PCI, when is this standard gonna die?

I agree. Pci is far too ugly and bulky. It will be embarrassing to look back at them from the future. 5 white slots all the **** around my graphics cards in a different illogical positions for every different board that's made. It be cool if everything was just SATA interface and you could stuff it racks.

Same embarassing thing about PCI-e and the peices of metal lard that occupy them.

Originally Posted by BlueDemon
The article could do with some proof-reading and editing. It's not up to the usual b-t standards...

Sorry, I must apologise; that's my fault. A combination of a bad night's sleep and a splitting headache meant that I obviously wasn't as alert as I should have been this morning when I read it though. :)

I have been through the article again and I should have made the necessary changes. If there's anything else you spot, please PM/email me.

Thanks.

what's about vista drivers?


creative is certainly lacking in that area and it would be a good chance for the competitor's to sell their soundcard's if they would deliver working vista drivers form day one on.....

other than that.... i'm more than happy creative is finally getting some competition.... hopefully the x-fi lineup gets its prices pushed down....

Well even it's too expensive and doesn't have anything new, it's still a Non-X-Fi-Fatality-WTF-EAX-sound card. It would be cool to see some real results (you know, measurements'n'stuff) with some cards from M.audio (or other music makers' cards manufacturer), this and Creative. I'm extremely sceptical about real differencies in sound cards. Yeah the cheapest integrated solutions sound like crap and have all kinds of unwanted noises, but lets say price range from 50 to 150 bucks or so. What are you paying for?

I think if you want to really leap in the quality/features, you must go for external cards.

Vista drivers are on the HT Omega site, but it's only 32bit currently.

The difference between onboard and discrete sound card is incredible if you actually sit and listen. $50-$150 buys quality. It's not as blatantly obvious as looking at something, that's true, that's why I've tried to describe my experiences rather than just throw numbers at people.

For $100 I'd definitely buy a Sodingo Inferno, and I'd possibly buy the Claro if I was after the extra features. I don't spend most of my time gaming, the X-Fi isn't all that special to me, but if you are a gamer then there's no competition. But you need to balance it off with a decent set of headphones and/or surround speakers.

What external cards provide a leap in quality? I need links! :D

and I need linux drivers >:(

I'd like to see comparisons on CPU usage... since a sound card is supposed to remove the duty of sound processing off the CPU..

Originally Posted by Cthippo
and I need linux drivers >:(

http://www.cmedia.com/forums/

http://www.alsa-project.org/

Links from Cmedia website.

As for CPU numbers, check the Sodingo review because the hardware is identical. Real world performance costs are so infinitesimally minute that you'd never notice, and for the improvements in audio quality it's neither here nor there. There are only canned benchmarks we can run to give you an exact figure, or we could run a game but then you're always always better off with an X-Fi when gaming anyway.

Ahh.. But see, I can't afford an X-Fi :p

I have a 30$ SoundBlaster Live! :)

Eh, what were you talking about, "solid state capacitors"?

I always thought solid state referred to silicon or germanium transistors (as opposed to vacuum tubes) and had nothing to do with capacitors.

Originally Posted by DarkLord7854
Ahh.. But see, I can't afford an X-Fi :p

I have a 30$ SoundBlaster Live! :)

And an EVGA 680i motherboard, 7900GS and OCZ memory :P

Altron: There are electrolytic capacitors which contain a moist layering of electrolytes to hold a charge. The solid state variety (as in, not wet) doesn't dry out so they last long, and they also provide a more even and faster power delivery, but they also cost more.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrolytic_capacitor

I cant find info on the Solid State variety, but that's the term being peddled around the industry. It might be different in others, I can only go on what I've been told.

Bindibadqi: TBH I didn't think anyone catches that one ;)The point there is that in terms of EMI/all sorts of RF/electrical noise a computer case is maybe the worst place in the house. And the features, with the features I ment XLR/midi-in and outs, sturdy 6,3 mm connectors and such. Not any fancypancy effects.

Maybe a leap is a slight over-expression, but there's atleast some sort of difference.

This card sounds very tempting but i'll be sticking with my Audigy until I see a decent card with HDMI either alongside or replacing s/pdif.

I want to send my future AVR some yummy dolby truehd and dts hd master from hddvd/blu-ray! ;)

so this or the Sodingo Inferno would be well suited to a HTPC. And i agree bring out some damm pci-e sound cards

Originally Posted by Bindibadgi
And an EVGA 680i motherboard, 7900GS and OCZ memory :P

The GS was 100$, the RAM was free. The mobo was 80$ off because I got 4 bad mobos from Newegg in a row (they had all been about 80 to 120$).
Otherwise I wouldn't be able to afford my current components :p


It'd be nice to have a use for those pci-e x1 slots

Hi, I'm interested in something like this. My problem (if you can call it that) is that I have a pair of HD650s cans currently unable to be driven properly by my build-in AC97.

Would this card act as an amp? And would it eliminate (or reduce) interference noise?

Looking forward to your replies!

Originally Posted by Bindibadgi
I cant find info on the Solid State variety, but that's the term being peddled around the industry.

'Solid aluminium' is the term in the electronics catalogues (and, no doubt, 'solid aluminum' in electronics catalogs).

They feature an "organic semi-conductive electrolyte" (some polymer that is liquid during the earlier manufacturing stages but is converted to a solid later on) so that may have given rise to the 'solid state' term. "Ideal for high-frequency power supplies", so maybe some snake oil involved in audio applications.

http://www.sanyo.com/industrial/electronic_components/capacitors/os_con/overview.cfm?showFileID=13

I've always wanted to be able to hook up 2x 2.1 sets on a card... Think it'd work?

Not having the actual card in my possession, but having some experience amping high impedance cans like the HD650s, I would really doubt it. Those babies take some serious juice to purr. Most <$150 dedicated amps like the CMoy and PA2V2 can't drive them, so I think it's highly unlikely that a <$150 sound card could. I think that most people buying a card like this don't really want a beefy headphone stage, so it would be silly to cut costs in some areas (i.e. SPDIF) yet spend on a very heavy duty headamp.

I just did it with a cheap 15$ card :)

Tx heaps Altron. Much appreciated!

Originally Posted by Jipa
Bindibadqi: TBH I didn't think anyone catches that one ;)The point there is that in terms of EMI/all sorts of RF/electrical noise a computer case is maybe the worst place in the house. And the features, with the features I ment XLR/midi-in and outs, sturdy 6,3 mm connectors and such. Not any fancypancy effects.

Maybe a leap is a slight over-expression, but there's atleast some sort of difference.

Oh absolutely. Extra connectors would be great and I've expressed this to HT Omega who've taken it on board and if you want something professional or pro-sumer then a separate is far better again. But then you're looking at far better speakers than £50 headphones or £60 5.1's.

There's a dozen ways to do things and everyone enjoys their own variety of getting the best audio, I don't doubt that, and I've specifically avoided the pro-sumer discussion, because quite frankly, I just don't have the experience with it.