Sound card options using the VIA24 Envy chipset.

I am looking for sound cards that use the VIA24 Envy chipset.

I have one of these Chaintech's...It uses the VIA24 Envy but it seems there are different versions with some being better than others...Is this one of the better versions ???

http://www.directron.com/av710.html

I am also looking at the M-Audio 5.1 Revolution...I have heard but have not been able to confirm it uses a VIA24 Envy chipset.

I have owned the Revolution 7.1 but have heard the 5.1 has better DAC's.

I am not concerned with gaming performance as I no longer game on my computer...X-Box 360 and Wii handles all that business...So music is what I am looking for.

I would like a "audiophile" type sound card...Any suggestions other than Creative as I gave up on them after fighting with X-Fi Vista drivers.

i have the revolution 5.1 and iirc it does have the via24 envy chipset. i got it for basic music production purposes. with this card and kilpsch promedia gmx 2.1 speakers, itunes sounds very good. i listen to a lot of music, and i would recommend this card for that purpose. the control panel seems to be lacking features, such as an eq, but it's not that big of a deal. also, when i got it i was surprised to find out that you can't put windows xp in sleep mode or else you will have to reinstall the sound driver when you boot back up. you have to straight up shut down.

edit: this review shows an up close picture of the via24gt chipset- http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/multimedia/m-audio-revolution51.html

I have an AudioTrak Prodigy HD2. It has stereo RCA outputs, perfect for hooking to an amp. It also uses 3 socketed opamps. I swapped out the stock opamps and put in 3 National Semiconductor LM4562NAs. Theres also the AKM4396 DAC, same thing found on the X-Fi Prelude, X-Meridian, and in some later revisions of the 1212M. It uses the Envy24HTS. The AudioTrak supplied driver is very nice too, using it in WinXP x64 running a 176.4KHz sampling rate...music sounds fantastic. Here it is for $75.

Thanks for the reply Sir Barton...I have been forced to wait on buying a sound card to pair with the AudioEngine 2 speakers Lodrin hipped me to...Here is a link to an article for those speakers.

http://www.stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/1207ae/index1.html

My original plan was to buy 2 pairs of the AudioEngine 2's...That would come out to 398.00 dollars for 4 speakers...Versus 349.00 dollars for the AudioEngine 5's.

I ordered the AudioEngine 2's tuesday and have decided to buy the AudioEngine 5's to pair with the 2's.

Seems the only other viable chipset option is the cMedia Oxygen 8788 chipset...Here is a card using it.

http://directron.com/benspirer.html

Here is a review of that card.

http://www.penstarsys.com/reviews/sound/bluegears/b-enspirer/index.html

Are there any other chipset options I should be looking at besides the VIA Envy and cMedia 8788 ?

The AudioTrak look's like a great match for the AudioEngine speakers...One question for you...Will using RCA splitters affect sound quality once I get the AudioEngine 5's and have need for 4 RCA inputs???

Thanks for helping me out...Tired of Creative stuff and have time to look beyond the M-Audio 5.1...Directron does not have it in stock.

Thanks again !!!!!

Hookem said:

The AudioTrak look's like a great match for the AudioEngine speakers...One question for you...Will using RCA splitters affect sound quality once I get the AudioEngine 5's and have need for 4 RCA inputs???

Click to expand...

Youd lose sound quality splitting the RCAs, but you could toss an RCA splitter on the headphone out. The beauty of the HD2 is that is uses 3 opamps for the output stage as opposed to one like most other soundcards, which really cleans up the sound. Other than the 2 RCAs, theres 2 3.5mm minijacks, one for line-in, and the other for headphone out. You could get a 3.5mm to RCA cable and run your other speakers off of that. I replied to your PM on where to get the opamps . One thing about the LM4562NAs, they will sound harsh at first, so they will need to be burned in for a good 48 to 72 hours. When I did that, I just muted my setup while I was away at work but had it play throughout my music library in the meantime.

EDIT: As for the B-Enspirer...its a nice card and the CMI8788 is no slouch, but that card dont support opamp rolling without a soldering iron, and the DAC isnt nearly as good as whats on the HD2. You can mix and match different opamps and get a different sound signature to suit your needs.