Pristine Sound, and a Bargain!
Written: Jan 30 '00 (Updated Feb 27 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Stellar sound quality
Cons: Aureal is no longer in business. No new drivers for Win2K (use default Aureal)
The Bottom Line: Buy it if you can get it for less than $30.
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| richlt's Full Review: Turtle Beach Montego II Quadzilla |
As a person who has tested many cards for use in a computer music studio, the TB Quadzilla is the BEST!
First let me give you my frame of reference. I have been creating and editing digital audio since before MP3 conversion could even be done in DOS! Let me show you the evolution of sound cards I have owned that led up to my purchase:
1. Sound Blaster Pro-8bit stereo card which had FM synthesis and basic audio, 1991.
2. Sound Blaster 16-16bit audio, the standard 16 bit card for some time.
3. Turtle Beach Tahiti-a 16 bit card with 18bit converters, still ISA, that worked the best with Windows 3.1. Sound quality for recording was excellent. I added a Yamaha XG daughterboard for high quality MIDI, 1994.
4. Turtle Beach Tropez-Lower quality mass market version of Tahiti with wave table synthesis (sampled sounds for MIDI), 1995.
5. Generic Vortex Aureal PCI-Accelerated sound for games, seemed okay, 1998.
6. Diamond Monster MX200-An Aureal accelerated PCI sound card with good quality, low use of CPU time, 4 speaker output, 1999.
7. Turtle Beach Tahiti-Aureal 2.0, 4 speaker output, coax SPDIF (digital) output, PCI, FANTASTIC SOUND QUALITY, built in noise gate to mute any unwanted sounds during gaps in recording.
I like this card so much I replaced the MX200 and generic Vortex boards I had in two computers. During games the 3D effects are stellar, especially with a 4 speaker setup. With my Cambridge Microworks speaker system (also reviewed), I honestly believe the sound quality cannot be matched! Simply playing a CD through this card is a night and day difference between other cards!
The included audio management software has a console with an equalizer which will let you tweak the sound real-time as it plays. In addition you can play CD's audio files, etc. I won't use this much, but I really like the equalizer so I can customize the output for two different speaker systems (on separate computers). I also like the driver update that gives me real time VU (input/output) meters to monitor the signals coming in and out of my card.
I can't believe my ears! I thought I had the 'best' back when I was recording audio with my Turtle Beach Tahiti. Technology advances continue to improve quality to almost professional levels.
Bottom Line: I love this card; if you have excellent speakers for your computer system, don't skimp on the sound card. You will not be disappointed.
**UPDATE...I just replaced my Quadzilla with a SoundBlaster Live! The sound quality is close but not as good, however, new drivers are being developed and Creative Labs is still in business!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 49.99
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Epinions.com ID:
richlt
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Member: Richard Thomsen
Reviews written: 50
Trusted by: 11 members
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