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Auzen X-Fi Prelude 7.1

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One thing I picked up over from head-fi is that it comes stock with LM4562 op amps instead of the crappy ones creative uses.

Hence the reason I modded my X-fi and put em in! :beer:

The real test will be once someone can compare the Auzen X-fi to the Asus Xonar.
 
Roofles said:
One thing I picked up over from head-fi is that it comes stock with LM4562 op amps instead of the crappy ones creative uses.

Hence the reason I modded my X-fi and put em in! :beer:
Click to expand...
Ah yes, national semiconductor never fails to disappoint; received my second order of LM4562MA samples today for an XtremeMusic
 
Well, I don't really know all that much about this PC sound card stuff. But I have an Onkyo receiver with 5.1 Definitive Speakers as my surround system. I wanted to hook something up that was real nice to those.

I was looking at the bluegears b-Enspirer but it only had up to EAX 2.0 and this has it up to EAX 5.0.

However, my hookup has to be optical. What exactly is the difference between EAX 2.0 and EAX 5.0? Will optical handle it okay? Is this card overkill if I'm using optical?

From what I understand optical being 2 channel only hurts things, but why can DTS and such be sent over optical fine then?

Optical being TosLink.
 
Last edited:
The Prelude is supposedly pushed back until October for release.

You can bypass the opamp issue by using optical/digital out to your HT setup.
 
TTP: October? NCiX is charing for preorders :confused:

At least in the US it is illegal for to charge for something you don't physically have AFAIK. They can't charge for a preorder till you ship it. Now I know they are in Canada, so it may be different for them.
 
This is from the link in the first post:

Current Estimate

Projected Release date: Within days
Date of estimate: August 2, 2007
More info: With production underway, shipping is imminent
 
dudleycpa said:
This is from the link in the first post:

Current Estimate

Projected Release date: Within days
Date of estimate: August 2, 2007
More info: With production underway, shipping is imminent
Click to expand...

Ya, that's what I was going on as well.
 
NCIXUS has it as a 'special order' item ETA 8/10/07- legally they aren't supposed to charge to a CC until it ships. The price is $176 which honestly isn't too bad I though it might be higher than that.

Aside from the opamps and caps I wonder how much better the build quality is than a Creative? It is a custom PCB too afaik. I like the idea of custom drivers to expand the feature set though and maybe optimized to be less crappy than Creative's, as long as they do it! and don't just say 'sales sucked we aren't doing the new driver features.'
 
Velocity said:
Thats a nice sound card. I hope it the best of both worlds.
Click to expand...
Auzentech sound cards have always appealed to audiophiles for their stringent audio quality standards. Until the prelude came out, the sound cards with the best audio quality were typically from auzentech; the fact that they have user-replaceable socket-style op-amps goes to show you how they are oriented towards audio/music enthusiasts.

With the prelude having better hardware and ICs than any of their prior cards, AND with the x-fi chip onboard and full EAX support for gaming, they're getting a good deal of attention on head-fi, and it's safe to say this will likely be the best of both worlds, for music, movies, and gaming alike
 
I wonder how this card would compare to a X-fi modded with blackgates... this card has definitely got me interested
 
Albaholic said:
I wonder how this card would compare to a X-fi modded with blackgates... this card has definitely got me interested
Click to expand...

Assuming you are talking about the power supply capacitor mod for the x-fi I doubt it because its not in the signal path. Your biggest performance increase here is due to the larger capacitance.

The X-fi is still stuck with electrolytic caps in the signal path with is not the best audio practice. Can you tell the difference? Maybe. Auzen and Asus both appear to use film caps which good audio design practice would tell you to do.
 
TTP said:
All they need now is some EM shielding over the card.
Click to expand...
that's what ERS paper is for ;)
Be warned though, shielding your soundcard from EM radiation may significantly change how it sounds (at least this holds true for people who did this with their X-Fi sound cards)

Roofles said:
Assuming you are talking about the power supply capacitor mod for the x-fi I doubt it because its not in the signal path. Your biggest performance increase here is due to the larger capacitance.
Click to expand...
replacing the crap Jamicon capacitors on the x-fi did result in audible improvements in some cases, mainly because the blackgates provide "cleaner" power w/less ripple. whether or not the average person would notice a difference, who knows
 
Solid Condenser for maximum durability & stability
The solid capacitor has been adopted to provide higher durability and stability than usual condensers, and to stabilize the electric power source.
Click to expand...

I look for these on motherboards as well. That's why I went with Gigabyte. First, my Bass Amp needs a new Bass Cab, soon as that's paid for, I'm getting one of these.

I read this forum a lot and rarely post. Sorry shirker, I've listened to all of these cards except the Asus one. I game too much to ever bother with anything from Auzen other than the Prelude. There no #%$^&*$ way I'd use a XPlosion or etc.. over my current X-Fi. Even thought about adding an XMeridian as a Second card just for Music. But changed my mind after hearing one after the LM mod, was nice but not worth it IMHO. More power to those who did.

I like First Person Shooters With EAX 3-4-5 and OpenAL. Quake 4, Prey, BF2 -2142, MoH, CoD and etc.. sucks on CPU based EAX 2.0 sound cards IMHO. Music, I have a Den Downstairs for that. I like;
Auzen for Music or Straight Digital from any of them.
EMU for Music creation.
X-Fi for Gaming.

I have a Pioneer AC3 Receiver and use Analog out from my Computer. I use Infinity on the front, Sony Center and Advents on the rear. Clearly not Audiophile but sounds damned good:)
 
Can I take advantage of the EAX 5.0 with optical out?

I'm trying to decide if I should wait for this because of the EAX3/4/5 but I'll only have optical. If I can't use it, I'd probably be better with something like the Asus Xonar or bluegears b-Enspirer.
 
Maverick0984 said:
Can I take advantage of the EAX 5.0 with optical out?

I'm trying to decide if I should wait for this because of the EAX3/4/5 but I'll only have optical. If I can't use it, I'd probably be better with something like the Asus Xonar or bluegears b-Enspirer.
Click to expand...

Yes, you can use EAX5 with optical out. EAX is just the sound API. How you route the output is up to you. If all you use is optical out then I don't see why you would want the Auzentech card since you're bypassing the output opamps altogether.
 
TTP said:
Yes, you can use EAX5 with optical out. EAX is just the sound API. How you route the output is up to you. If all you use is optical out then I don't see why you would want the Auzentech card since you're bypassing the output opamps altogether.
Click to expand...

hmm, well, I want something that plays Movies, Music, and Games very well. That means I need EAX 5.0 which limits me to Creative chips. From what I understand all the other X-Fi lines are subpar for Movies and Music.
 
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