Auzentech Prelude

[Nox]

All I can say is WOW

What a pain in the... to get working! OK OK it was my own fault :) For some reason it needs Windows Media Player to be installed, or more specifially wmvcore.dll. Once I had all that installed (its not by default on 2008) it worked fine.

vs onboard:

Allready, within a few minutes I can hear a massive difference, I used to like my onboard, always have, ever since I bought a creative labs audigy 2 and hated it. I can hear horse steps, fires crackling, everything. I'm seriously suprised how much I just missed before and how much better everything sounds.

Just need some decent headphones now, these get uncomfy after about 45 mins.

Nox

[matz]

All I can say is WOW

What a pain in the... to get working! OK OK it was my own fault :) For some reason it needs Windows Media Player to be installed, or more specifially wmvcore.dll. Once I had all that installed (its not by default on 2008) it worked fine.

vs onboard:

Allready, within a few minutes I can hear a massive difference, I used to like my onboard, always have, ever since I bought a creative labs audigy 2 and hated it. I can hear horse steps, fires crackling, everything. I'm seriously suprised how much I just missed before and how much better everything sounds.

Just need some decent headphones now, these get uncomfy after about 45 mins.

Nox

haha how about we swap? :mrgreen: i just got the Steelseries 5h v2 and im thinking about a newer sound card but if i do i would like it so i can add EQualisers up alittle on the bass ;) is the auztentech prelude the first X FI chip not from creative?

[Jonny2Bad]

Yeah even the cheapest of sound cards can make a big difference, overlooked as an upgrade these days somethimes.

[matz]

Yeah even the cheapest of sound cards can make a big difference, overlooked as an upgrade these days somethimes.
yeah im thinking of an X FI xtreme gamer or anything better that comes out :) can i plug in the front audio into this sound card?

[Jonny2Bad]

No i cant on my fatal1ty and its pretty annoying sometimes, luckily my speakers have an earphone socket on the volume control so i use that.

[matz]

but would you still recomend it? im looking at the platanium edition if i cant attach the front HDA cables or AC97 in :)

[Jonny2Bad]

Yeah the sound is amazing it has a built in 64mb memory which makes it stand out from most other cards go for the 1 that has the front panel though it is more expensive but makes sense i wish i had got that 1.

[matz]

Yeah the sound is amazing it has a built in 64mb memory which makes it stand out from most other cards go for the 1 that has the front panel though it is more expensive but makes sense i wish i had got that 1.

yeah im thinking about that aswell but tbh i only use one 3.5mm for my sound system and a headset with mic ;)

[matz]

johnny, i have decided to buy the extreme gamer version. Can you tell me if you can connect ALC888 or AC97 cables onto the sound card to enable Front panel audio rather than buying the front pannel 5.25" drive bay set

[Nox]

noooo! get the Prelude!!

Creative have good hardware, but have dire bloaty drivers. The prelude is the same/better quality card with lean stripped down drivers. You can even purchase different opamps for it from Auzentech. Seriously, the Creative software suite is awful.

Nox

[matz]

noooo! get the Prelude!!

Creative have good hardware, but have dire bloaty drivers. The prelude is the same/better quality card with lean stripped down drivers. You can even purchase different opamps for it from Auzentech. Seriously, the Creative software suite is awful.

Nox
even for XP?

[Nox]

especially for XP!

I have a Audigy 2 somewhere, and swore i'd never buy another creative product after that, because of the 'forcibly' installed software/drivers. The Prelude does use Creative drivers BUT, Auzentech have stripped them down a lot - would never of touched it otherwise.

On the flip side, back then I didn't know there would be people out there who would mod creatives drivers, but as I was never going to buy another Creative card at the time, I never bothered reading up about it - might be worth some research IF you are 100% set on a creative card.

Nox

[matz]

LOL at this.. Killer NIC

[Nox]

hehe aye :) Only got it last week - decided i'd make my own mind up about it as I had some spare cash. Was either that or another Raptor :D

One day i'll put a mini review/thoughts about it here. Still messing though, has a nice hardware firewall in it and lotro hasn't got stuck at loading, please wait... yet. But for speed, i'm not 100% convinced. But thats quite an expensive hardware firewall so far!

Nox

[Jonny2Bad]

No cant attach the front panel audio to the card at all i tried there is not the usual connections for it, there maybe an adapter somewhere for them but havent found it yet.

[matz]

No cant attach the front panel audio to the card at all i tried there is not the usual connections for it, there maybe an adapter somewhere for them but havent found it yet.

are you sure, coz on the right side of the card while its in the case is two connections, hopefully they fit either ALC888 or AC97

[Jonny2Bad]

Nope they dont fit at all unfortunately

[matz]

Nope they dont fit at all unfortunately
which connections was this, one or both of them?

[Jonny2Bad]

google it then you dont seem to trust my judgment on it lol

[matz]

google it then you dont seem to trust my judgment on it lol
ive tried but they dont zoom in on the pins :P any chance of you taking some snapps for me :mrgreen:

[Jonny2Bad]

Lol no im getting it all out of my case just to take photo's for u :roll: And im frankly shocked that you dont trust my word on it. I tried when i 1st fitted the card and unless the creative fairies have been in the night i doubt very much whether things have changed. :shock:

[Jonny2Bad]

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/so_muc ... ront_panel (http://www.maximumpc.com/article/so_much_for_that_front_panel)
Ok this was the 1st thing on my google search, what did u google? :roll:

[matz]

Lol no im getting it all out of my case just to take photo's for u :roll: And im frankly shocked that you dont trust my word on it. I tried when i 1st fitted the card and unless the creative fairies have been in the night i doubt very much whether things have changed. :shock:
sorry :) but do you have one or both connections on yuor case?

[Jonny2Bad]

Jeez this is the last time i answer you about this matt ok i have both connections the only way to do it is do a mod on the card did you not read the link i posted.

[matz]

cheers geting the one with front pannel from ebuyer most probz