Chaintech AV-710 7.1 Sound Card Review

Rob Williams

Rob Williams

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Are you looking for a quality sound experience at a great price? We are looking at Chaintech's AV-710 card, which is based on the proven Envy24 chipset. Does it have what it takes to compete with the big boys? Let's check it out.

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After you have read the review here, feel free to leave a comment in this thread! Suggestions and general comments are welcomed.
 
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U

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The review says that the AV-710 costs "more than half" what the Audigy 2ZS does, but $24 is "less than half" of the popular Creative card.

the Chaintech AV-710 is quite popular among music listeners, such as on www.head-fi.org
 
U

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make sure you use the newest drivers on via website. for envy24

ive owned this card for about a year. ive never had a sound,driver, or hardware issue once.

it has no hardware accel for games. so youll take a hit on fps. but a little less then most onboard sound.

-make sure you put the sound into hisample 2channel rate when your not using your microphone.

-other then that for 24$ i couldnt be happier. i havent bought a creative card since audigy 1. i really dont miss creatives bulky software and glitchy drivers.
 
Rob Williams

Rob Williams

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Unregistered said:
The review says that the AV-710 costs "more than half" what the Audigy 2ZS does, but $24 is "less than half" of the popular Creative card.

the Chaintech AV-710 is quite popular among music listeners, such as on www.head-fi.org
Click to expand...

Doh, how did I miss that. Thanks, and fixed up!

I am using the latest drivers, and they seem to work great. I haven't seen a hit in FPS yet. You said it though, for the price, it's awesome.
 
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L

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Yeah

As posted by others, I moved away from Creative labs because of there ridiculous software bundles, and as well the problems that at least I had with Via chipsets - my audigy snapped crackled and popped like a bowl of rice krispies.

I run an M-Audio Revolution 7.1 which is based on the same chipset, and dont even consider Creative Labs when building systems.
 
Rob Williams

Rob Williams

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Yes.. crackling is not something I'd want either. With my other card, the Philips PSC724, based on the Envy24GT chipset, I'd get worse problems than that even.

It would sometimes jolt the volume to max, even when my speakers were turned all the way down. I know it's not the speakers, because I've used many other sound cards with them, and never had a problem.

It's not good at night, when the families sleeping, and your sound goes max without warning ^^
 
U

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I heard that the AV710 is so cheap mainly because they don't use very good components on the rear and surround channels compared to the front. That would seem to fit with your review that the music was excellent but the card was only OK in games.
 
Rob Williams

Rob Williams

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Rob, can you retest the AV-710 with this setup? I'm sure you'll be pleased even more with it.
Click to expand...

Thanks, you kick ass. Sadly, even on the CD-Rom with it, I could not get that Audio program.. which sucked. I didn't feel like installing all the Intervideo software to see if that was included.

I will look further for that software tomorrow and will review that thread. Thanks a ton!
 
U

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It's the VIA Drivers control panel, you access it from the icon in your Systray, surely you have noticed the VIA control panel icon in the Systray?
 
Rob Williams

Rob Williams

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Unregistered said:
It's the VIA Drivers control panel, you access it from the icon in your Systray, surely you have noticed the VIA control panel icon in the Systray?
Click to expand...

No, that's what I mean, it's not there. I installed the drivers fine, even new ones I downloaded, and it didn't seem to install that.
 
U

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Great sound!

I bought this card awhile back, I paid CAD $36.00, I have the creative 5500 Digital set of speakers and man do I get my walls shake with half the volume, the digital output of this card is so clean, as far as Software I have tested all kinds of players even the expensive ones, and nothing sounds like the Plus version of JetAudio, foobar is Ok except that the interface is cheese, JetAudio is very nice looking too and so far I have not found anything that sounds better!
 
U

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Great sound!

I bought this card awhile back, I paid CAD $36.00, I have the creative 5500 Digital set of speakers and man do I get my walls shake with half the volume, the digital output of this card is so clean, as far as Software I have tested all kinds of players even the expensive ones, and nothing sounds like the Plus version of JetAudio, foobar is Ok except that the interface is cheese, JetAudio is very nice looking too and so far I have not found anything that sounds better!
**sorry ** forgot to add that the envy chip also has drivers for windows X64 and the control panel for the vinyl configuration looks better then the regular windows one
 
U

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20/48?

Ideally a soundcard test ought to plug the line out into a real stereo amp,some real speakers. The best "computer" speakers are no match for a mid-grade stereo. It seemed to say the analog in/out is just 20/48 rather than a 24/96 like the M-Audio. To me,that's major. A card like the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz can do 20/48. Why is this important? I don't play games BUT I have a lot of music on analog. I also have friends who are musicians. Ability to digitize or record at 24/96 or 24/192 is big to me,and while the Envy supports that-there seems to be cost cuts at the ADC and input circuits so the card is limited. I'd hope too to see a signal to noise ratio posted-curious that Chaintech had no SN specs...actually,few specs on site. My hunch is this is perhaps a cut above most Creative cards-in some areas,maybe much better,but is no rival to the semi-pro stuff like the M Audio cards. Nice at the price.
 
U

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The AV-710 IS capable of 24/96 (stereo) out, enabled in high-sample-rate-mode via the Wolson DAC.

For stereo audio, the AV-710 isn't just a 'cut above' Creative's offerings, it's miles above them, and is why the AV-710 has acquired an almost cult following amongst audiophiles looking for accurate audio reproduction without a ridiculous price tag.

If you cruise through head-fi forums, many people rate the stereo capabilites of the AV-710 above those of the M-Audio Revo 7.1; although the M-Audio 5.1 is a step above either, ;)
 
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