PureAudio USB-SA Sound Card Review

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Today we are looking at the PureAudio USB-SA sound card. The device plugs into a vacant USB port and improves the sound quality for notebook and desktop computers significantly.

If your notebook or desktop has flat, puny sound when you watch movies or listen to your music, the PureAudio USB-SA sound card is exactly what you need. Read more

Posted on Tue, 14 Oct 2008 13:45:14 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Notebook Sound Card and Wireless receiver Announced

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Creative has announced a new notebook sound card called the Sound Blaster X-Fi Notebook sound card that is aimed at making your mobile music sound better. The device fits the ExpressCard slot on some PCs. The card also improves the quality of movie sound and comes with Power DVD software.

Other features of the sound card include X-Fi CMSS-3D and EAX Advanced HD audio for gaming. Creative also announced a Creative Wireless Receiver that sends audio from your notebook wirelessly to other speakers in your home with a 100-foot range. The sound card will retail for $99.99 and the wireless receiver will sell for $69.99. Read more

Posted on Thu, 18 Sep 2008 08:45:06 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Hi-Fi USB Sound Card Debuts

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Andrea Electronics has introduced the PureAudio USB High Fidelity External Sound Card to improve the quality of PC sound. The sound card uses Andrea's patented noise cancelling technology for dramatic sound improvements.

The Andrea USB-SA device replaces the onboard sound system of a notebook or desktop computer, eliminates external sound, and increases the stereo microphone input and stereo speaker output. Andrea says that the device will help improve the quality of speech recognition in applications like Dragon Naturally Speaking. The USB sound card retails for $44.95. Read more

Posted on Wed, 10 Sep 2008 09:36:28 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Creative Launches New PCI Express Sound Cards

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Creative announced today that it has launched a pair of native PCI Express sound cards for gamers. The pair includes the PCI-E Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series and the PCI-E Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion Series.

While images of the new cards are unavailable, Creative says that the design of the cards will scream high-performance. What’s not clear from the description of the cards is if the cards are designed to work in the underused x1 PCI-E slots. If so the nature of PCI-E slots would mean the card will work in any vacant slot. But if designed for the larger x16 or x8 full size slots the cards won’t work in an x1 slot. Read more

Posted on Fri, 16 May 2008 09:43:44 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Asus Xonar DX Sound Card Review

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The tester at TechReport publishes a review of the Asus Xonar DX sound card and compares it to a girl he dated.

Quote from the review: "I used to date a girl who was a little obsessive about what she ate. At every opportunity, she would buy fat-free, low-calorie, or otherwise diet derivatives of common food items. Now there's nothing wrong with foods that are naturally fat-free or low in calories, but when you strip out the fat, salt, sugar, and delicious-but-carcinogenic chemicals, something is usually lost in the translation. Fat-free ice cream, for example, lacks the all-important creaminess that fat provides. Unsalted potato chips fall flat precisely because they lack salt. And Diet Coke, well, that just tastes wrong. Read more

Posted on Tue, 8 Apr 2008 12:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

ASUS Xonar D2 Ultra Fidelity 7.1 PCI Sound Card Review

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Asus introduced the Xonar D2 sound card at the CeBit 2007 in March. The Xonar D2 sells for $183.99 on Amazon.com.

Quote from the review: "The ASUS Xonar D2 Ultra Fidelity 7.1 PCI Sound Card itself is built around a 24-bit ASUS AV200 High-Definition Sound Processor that boasts a SNR (Signal-to-Noise Ratio) of 118dB, which is the best SNR we could find, scouring the market for comparable solutions. The card supports 44.1, 48, 96 and 192kHz sampling with floating point filters claiming near lossless conversion. The card is also equipped with four Burr-Brown PCM1796 24-bit D-A Converters for digital sources while a single Cirrus-Logic CS5381 24-bit A-D Converter handles analog signal. Read more

Posted on Thu, 25 Oct 2007 02:46:28 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

ASUS Xonar D2 Sound Cards at Computex 2007

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Asus already announced their entry into the sound card business at the CeBit 2007. At the Computex 2007 the officially announced the ASUS Xonar D2 7.1-channel audio card.

The Asus audio card is based on the AV200 audio chip, which integrates multiple sound-enhancing technologies from Dolby and DTS to transform almost any PC into a high-quality digital home media center. Read more

Posted on Wed, 6 Jun 2007 07:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

HT OMEGA CLARO Sound Card Review

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Benchmark reviews the HT OMEGA CLARO 7.1 Channel 24-bit 192KHz PCI Sound Card.

Quote from the review:
"HT Omega is among the first companies to offer authentic high-fidelity sound at a true 24-bit level of performance. The world class Oxygen 8788 based audio processor by C-Media supports most all industry standards for 3D computer sound; including EAX, A3D and DirectSound. Read more

Posted on Thu, 17 May 2007 13:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Asus Introduces Premium Sound Cards at CeBit 2007

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Asus enters the sound card business with premium sound cards aimed at gamers.

The new Asus sound card Xonar D2X feature 3D sound processing and support Dolby Digital Live, DTS and 5.1 surround sound.
The Xonar D2X records and reproduces sound in HD (192 KHz/ 24 bit).
Read more

Posted on Fri, 16 Mar 2007 11:05:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Creative Audigy2 Platinum eX Sound Card Review

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Digit-Life has a review about the Creative Audigy2 Platinum eX Sound Card.
Excerpt:
"The Creative Audigy2 Platinum eX sound card coming with an external unit is the most expensive and advanced model of the Audigy2 family and it's launched half a year after the Audigy2 Player and Audigy2 Platinum. The manufacturer promotes the Platinum eX as a solution for musicians and gamers underlining the studio quality of its external unit."
Full Review

Buy the Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum eX Sound Card at Amazon.com for $223.99.

Read more

Posted on Sun, 31 Aug 2003 19:10:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

New 7.1ch Surround Sound Card

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Japans M-Audio announces availability of its Resolution 7.1 sporting a 192kHz/24bit DAC.

The Revolution 7.1 features 7.1 DVD digital output. It uses the new Envy24HT audio controller.
The Card supports Dolby AC-3, Dolby DTS, Dolby Pro-Logic and Dolby EX, SRS TruSurround and SRS Circle Surround II.

Additionally it supports the following software systems. DirectSound3D, A3D1.0, and EAX1.0/2.0.
The Card supports Mac OS X and Windows XP with Windows Media Player 9.

Anticipated price: 16,625 yen

Read more

Posted on Sun, 6 Apr 2003 13:18:03 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr