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HDA X-Plosion 7.1 Sound Card Review - Page 1 of 4

If you're like me, you use your rig for as many things as possible. My rig is for gaming, multi-media, software development, and basically anything else I feel like doing, such as screwing around with my guitar and surfing the web. So, when the opportunity arose to review a sound card with a seemingly endless supply of features, I decided to take a stab at it. Auzentech produced an HDA X-Plosion 7.1 DTS Connect sound card for review, and I will do my best to do it justice. This is one sweet card!

The Box

HDA is HiTec Digital Audio, developed the X-Plosion 7.1 DTS Connect sound card, and its North American distributor is Auzentech. The previous sound card developed by HDA is the X-Mystique, which was previously distributed by Bluegears, and has been reviewed by nV News in the past.

The Contents

FEATURES

  • C-Media CMI8770 PCI chipset (8CH audio single chip with DTS® Connect and Dolby® Digital Live Real-Time Content Encoder)
  • 8CH codec embedded PCI audio single chip
  • Full-duplex 8CH 24bit/96kHz DAC / 2CH 16bit/48kHz ADC
  • Integrated S/PDIF input/output supports 44.1kHz/48kHz/96kHz sample rate and 16/24bits resolution
  • The world's first DTS¨ Connect logo program certificated PCI audio board
  • DTS® Interactive: A real-time 5.1 encoder that takes any 2 or more channel and encodes it into DTS® bit stream. DTS® Interactive provides a single cable connection via S/PDIF digital audio output to a DTS® enabled surround sound system by encoding all audio into a DTS® compatible bit stream at 1.5Mbps
  • DTS® Neo:PC : An up mixing matrix technology that turns any 2 channel audio into 7.1 surround sound. DTS® Neo:PC, based upon DTS® Neo:6 matrix surround technology, transforms any stereo content such as MP3, WMA or CD audio, into a 7.1-channel surround sound experience
  • Dolby® Digital Live(DDL) Real-Time Content Encoder converts PC audio into a 5.1 channel Dolby® Digital bit stream
  • Swappable dual DIP type OPAMP controlled preamp circuit (4pcs output control OPAMP IC with DIY socket, 2pcs MIC input control OPAMP IC with DIY socket)
  • Max 2.8Vrms full swing analog output gain by unique preamp circuit / incredible powerful analog output, improve dynamic range / SNR
  • Proper OPAMP control circuit (+8V, -8V dual power supply circuit) for high quality audio quality, prevent audio distortion at high volume level
  • Package content: HDA X-PLOSION 7.1 DTS Connect Audio Card / MPC to MPC(2pin-2pin) CD S/PDIF audio cable / TOSLINK fiber optic digital cable / installation CD / warranty card / owner's manual

Essentially, if you skipped reading the features, the X-Plosion is the world's first audio card to include DTS connect and Dolby Digital Live, packing the card with quite a wallop. DTS Connect is potentially the hottest reason to purchase this card. It includes both DTS Interactive and DTS Neo:PC. DTS Interactive takes a 2 or more channel audio, and encodes it to a DTS bit stream. You can then pipe this signal to a DTS enabled surround sound system for a richer, more robust sound. DTS Neo:PC can take any 2 channel audio tracks and up convert them to 7.1 surround sound. Dolby Digital Live converts any audio stream into a Dolby Digital bit stream for playback on PC speakers or a home theater system. This card includes everything you could need…including the kitchen sink.

Next Page: Installation

Last Updated on March 3, 2006


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