Daegen's Full Review: Rio Diamond Monster Sound MX300
I've had this card for over a year now, and it is still the best sound card on the market. I was completely surprised when I joined epinions and saw that only one other person had reviewed it. There really is nothing better on the market now. It delivers perfect quality sound. It is gold plated on the back to keep a crystal clear connection to your speakers or headphones. There are 2 output jacks so that you can hook up 2 sets of speakers. This is important because the MX300 has something very special called A3D 2.0. A3D is what makes the MX300 better than the Soundblaster Live. A3D is supported by a LOT of games now, and it enhances the gaming experience by far. If the game supports it, it can tell where a sound is coming from within the game, and then play that sound on the aproppriate speaker. When something happens behind you, you HEAR it from the speakers behind you. If something buzzes around you in a circle, you can hear it move across each speaker. This effect is absolutely amazing. The first games I bought after purchasing the MX300 were half-life and Thief. Half-life has excellent sound throughout the entire game, and this card brought out the best of it. In thief, you are dependent on knowing where a sound is coming from, because the entire game is based around sneaking through buildings and hiding from the guards. This card can really enhance the gaming experience, so that is why I would choose this card over something like the SB Live.
If you are thinking "My current soundcard plays sound perfectly fine, and I'm not into gaming. Why would I ever want to upgrade?", then there are also other features. It has a low CPU overhead, which means your processor isn't working hard when you are playing sounds, so the CPU can focus on more important things. Also, many older soundcards only allow you to play one sound at once. Have you ever gotten the error message "Your audio device is in use by another application"? With the MX300, you can play sounds on as many programs as you like. I once tested this by opening up 30 different wav files and mp3s at the same time and playing them all at once. It sounded nasty but it worked great.
All in all, this is a great card. It isn't often that you can buy a piece of hardware and a year later be able to say that it is still the best. I payed $100 initially for mine, but I checked pricewatch.com recently and this card is going for only $32! What a deal! At that price you can afford to go buy another pair of cheap speakers to plug into the second output port.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
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