Auzentech X-Meridian 7.1 2G Sound Card Review @ [H]

FrgMstr

FrgMstr

Just Plain Mean
Staff member
Joined
May 18, 1997
Messages
55,634
Auzentech X-Meridian 7.1 2G Sound Card Review - Auzentech promises to deliver the second generation high performance PCI audio card that will let you know the difference between audio that sounds great and audio that sounds perfect. We put Auzentech's new card to the test.
 
Glad to see you guys covering soundcards now. I read a rumor somewhere, can't remember where that Auzentech went with Creative chips because CMI was selling everything they produced to ASUS leaving them no other option. I honestly believe that had Auzentech not entered the PC soundcard market years ago that we would still be stuck with Creative Soundblaster POS's. I think they were the first consumer PC soundcard to have swappable opamps, but could be wrong on that one and I think they were the first consumer card to also have Dolby Digital Live so that you could actually utilize optical links. ASUS seems to have picked up where Auzentech left off and brought the tech into the new century (aka Win7). It just doesn't seem like Auzentech think Windows 7 is worth the effort for drivers. You seem to have to give up something or other with newer OS's as they seem to concentrate on older OS's.

I had the HDA Xplosion something or other. The headphone port stopped working reliably so I just went back to on-board audio. DT770Pro's (80 Ohm) don't particularly like onboard sound so I have started looking at new soundcards. This one does not look like it fits my needs. I am interested in the ASUS Home Theater one but wish it had the headphone amp that its other card does.

I haven't looked lately, but Azuentech wasn't known for regular updates to its drivers back in the day but may have improved since then. And IMO it is inexcusable for new card releases to use PCI slots. They really should have gone with PCI-E 1x at least. Kinda disappointed that a soundcard that is supposedly "new" seems to have been created for old systems.
 
Great review guys. I have an Auzentech Forte 7.1 PCIx card in my gaming rig, and couldn't be happier and will definately be looking for another Auzentech in the future.

I agree with every comment you guys said about movie playback, music, and games. While this is not the same as mine, it has been music playback that has me most impressed. The Auzentech is the only sound card i've found that plays back my audio CD's as well as my HD-A1 HD-DVD player. Before anyone laughs, the Toshiba HD-A1 when it came out was widely considered to have better CD audio quality than even $3000 dedicated CD decks.

Watching movies is also a treat as well.

My only complaint is that their driver support has traditionally not been very good as they appear to be at the mercy of Creative delivering newer drivers. However I havn't had any problems so that is a moot point.
 
Will this card work with the built in room correction features in Windows 7?
 
Over the years, I have owned most of Auzentech's high-end soundcards, including the original Auzen X-Meridian. The problem with this company is that they are unreliable. The behavior of Auzentech is proportionate to a company with little capital and few employees. They are incapable of providing any reasonable level of technical support and their forums are devoid of any technical representation. My recent experience with Auzentech was my purchase of the HomeTheatreHD ($230). Auzentech heavily marketed the HomeTheatreHD. After many delays, it was finally released into the retail channel. It took months for Auzentech to develop a working driver and all of the questions/concerns posted in Auzentech’s own “HomeTheatreHD” forum were ignored. In fact, all of my posts within the HomeTheatreHD were ignored. Shortly thereafter, availability became sporadic, prompting owners to believe that the HomeTheatreHD was discontinued or Auzentech went out of business. At or around this time, the Auzen X-Meridian 7.12G surfaced, allegorically kicking the HomeTheatreHD to the curb. Therefore, once again, we have Auzentech with another “game-changing high-performance audio card.” However, referencing the hundreds of ignored posts in the Auzentech forums, we should expect the shelf life and or support of the Auzen X-Meridian 7.12G to last as long as the next “game-changing high-performance audio card” or six months. Whichever comes first.
 
Nice review. I have a sound card related story. My HTOmega Claro Non-Plus card from 2006 died on me about 6 weeks ago. It started out of now where shrieking this loud disgusting sound and I had to kill the PC since I could not control the sound. I contacted HTOmega in California and they replaced the card for free out of warranty with a new HTOmega Claro Plus. Awesome company. I had literally 3 people email me from the company and give me updates and ship dates etc. Incredible customer service.

Thanks for the review.
 
PCI? Shouldn't they be moving onto PCIe, if for nothing else but to get momentum in favour of ridding the legacy stuff?
 
DieU said:
Over the years, I have owned most of Auzentech's high-end soundcards, including the original Auzen X-Meridian. The problem with this company is that they are unreliable. The behavior of Auzentech is proportionate to a company with little capital and few employees. They are incapable of providing any reasonable level of technical support and their forums are devoid of any technical representation. My recent experience with Auzentech was my purchase of the HomeTheatreHD ($230). Auzentech heavily marketed the HomeTheatreHD. After many delays, it was finally released into the retail channel. It took months for Auzentech to develop a working driver and all of the questions/concerns posted in Auzentech’s own “HomeTheatreHD” forum were ignored. In fact, all of my posts within the HomeTheatreHD were ignored. Shortly thereafter, availability became sporadic, prompting owners to believe that the HomeTheatreHD was discontinued or Auzentech went out of business. At or around this time, the Auzen X-Meridian 7.12G surfaced, allegorically kicking the HomeTheatreHD to the curb. Therefore, once again, we have Auzentech with another “game-changing high-performance audio card.” However, referencing the hundreds of ignored posts in the Auzentech forums, we should expect the shelf life and or support of the Auzen X-Meridian 7.12G to last as long as the next “game-changing high-performance audio card” or six months. Whichever comes first.
Click to expand...

I have the exact same impression. Always felt like the company was on its last leg: Frequently out of stock; Empty forums; Lack of updates. Then it comes up with yet another campaign for a new product.

Support and driver updates are non-existent. While I enjoy my Forte, I am so glad I wasn't counting on some of the listed features that folks never saw implemented or were implemented months after release. You have to do some hacking to get the latest versions of Alchemy installed as well.

I never had any of the problems some see with Creative products and I'll be getting the Titantium HD for my next game build.
 
Term-X said:
PCI? Shouldn't they be moving onto PCIe, if for nothing else but to get momentum in favour of ridding the legacy stuff?
Click to expand...
QFT. It is crazy to spend more than $100 on a PCI sound card now when there is good PCI-e sound cards out.
 
2 questions:

1. for the gaming tests, do you use the analog outputs?

2. i wonder how much better this card would be than a soundblaster x-fi
 
Any word on EAX support beyond 2.0? My interest is academic...

No available PCI slot (covered by video card), no support, infrequent driver updates, dated software... I'm not going to be rushing out to buy this one.

Thanks for the good review. Perhaps the employees of Auzentech (both of them?) will read this and get on the ball.
 
mjz_5 said:
2. i wonder how much better this card would be than a soundblaster x-fi
Click to expand...

not sure which X-Fi card you're referring to, but Earl compares it directly to the X-Fi Titanium HD in the review.
 
HangFire said:
Any word on EAX support beyond 2.0? My interest is academic...

No available PCI slot (covered by video card), no support, infrequent driver updates, dated software... I'm not going to be rushing out to buy this one.

Thanks for the good review. Perhaps the employees of Auzentech (both of them?) will read this and get on the ball.
Click to expand...

Not sure why new cards even support EAX anymore. EAX has been deprecated in the developer APIs for several years now.

EAX is nothing more than simple effects like reverb, flange, compression, distortion etc anyways. You can add these effects through all sorts of software in real-time.
 
Hmm.

So do I want this or the Titanium HD...

Tough choice.

I wish you could have switchable op-amps.

You know, two sets installed at the same time, with a switch (either physical or software) allowing you to change them depending on what you were doing. One for games and movies, and another for music, for instance.
 
Zarathustra[H];1036957010 said:
I wish you could have switchable op-amps.

You know, two sets installed at the same time, with a switch (either physical or software) allowing you to change them depending on what you were doing. One for games and movies, and another for music, for instance.
Click to expand...

Too much board space for a small difference. It's easier to stick with DSPs if you wanted to do that.
 
My Auzentech experience:

I bought a Auzentech Forte about a year ago, but found out there were uncorrectable flaws in it that I just couldn't live with. I have a set of Microsoft Digital Sound System 80 PC speakers (analog out), Audio Technica ATH A700 headphones (mentioned in the review) (headphones out), and a Denon 2309 receiver (optical out). The biggest problem for me was that all outputs were always on... outputting. You couldn't switch certain ones off. I may not be the typical user, since I used nearly every output on it... but I found it really annoying, and distracting (read ahead).

1.) Since all outputs are always "ON", their headphone and analog outputs always output a signal all the time. So if you have headphones plugged in, but just want to listen to something on your speakers, it's going to come out your headphones too. So you either have to put up with hearing it come from your headphones also, or unplug your headphones every time you want to listen to speakers alone. Way too much hassle.

2.) Their optical output had a slight "lag" to it. Again, since all audio outputs where always "ON", I could hear both the optical and analog speakers at the same time. The optical out lagged behind the analog out, slightly by noticeably.

3.) The front audio connection for my case (Cooler Master Cosmos 1000) had a slight buzzing sound in the headphones when I tried that connection. My motherboard out doesn't have this problem.

I contacted Auzentech via their ticketing system, and received responses within a day or two. But they weren't able to help fix the problems. They basically said that those things are inherent flaws with the hardware (other than the buzz in the front audio port) that couldn't be fixed with drivers or such. I knew I wouldn't be able to live with those issues, so I returned it. They didn't put up a fuss or anything, and accepted the return and refunded all my money (they removed the normal restocking fee after I confronted them on it). Overall, I liked the quality of the Forte, especially the heaphone amp on it. The bass on my A700s really shined when using this soundcard. One thing to note about this card was I didn't really like the music as much as from my old Audigy 2. The X-Fi chip seemed to have more of an "artificial" sound to it, rather than a soft, natural sound.

I've had my eye on the HT Omega Claro Halo XT, but just don't have the funds for it yet.
 
I own a Auzen X-Plosion 7.1, and it was a fantastic sound card for my HTPC setup. Dolby Digital Live going straight to my receiver was perfect. That is, until I upgraded to Vista, and then eventually to Windows 7.

The driver support from then on was horrible. During Vista, I couldn't change the volume, and had to disable some start up app from C-Media, that would hang the PC. When I went to Windows 7, it got a little better. The only problem I had was that it had problems with Skype. My family uses skype to make cheap phone calls over seas. I ended up removing it, in favor the on board Realtek. No DDL, but I still get 5.1 sound from sources that are ac3.

This sound card sounds good too, that is until Microsoft releases Windows 8.
 
Short warranty, regular PCI, $180 cost, it was obvious from the start this card would get no award from the [H].

Lets get with reality eh Auzentech?
 
Ultima99 said:
Short warranty, regular PCI, $180 cost, it was obvious from the start this card would get no award from the [H].

Lets get with reality eh Auzentech?
Click to expand...

If a board doesn't need the added bandwidth of PCIe, why not use regular PCI?

Most of us have empty PCI slots anyway...
 
SirMaster said:
Not sure why new cards even support EAX anymore. EAX has been deprecated in the developer APIs for several years now.

EAX is nothing more than simple effects like reverb, flange, compression, distortion etc anyways. You can add these effects through all sorts of software in real-time.
Click to expand...

For anyone with a big backlog of older games (especially Steam users), there are often only a few audio modes in these games: stereo, 2.1, and EAX 2/3/4 which meant 5.1 support.

So, I'm not a fan of EAX, but I do like to use ALL my speakers in these games.
 
My Forte worked beautifully for a month, after which it began to pop constantly before no longer outputting any sound at all.

I took me a little more than 6 months (Aug 15 2010 to March 1 2011) to get my Forte RMA process rolling. The only contact I ever had with Auzentech was a forum mod PMing me to let me know that if I continued to "create unrest in the community" I would lose my posting privileges.

If I was in the market for a(nother) sound card, an Auzentech product would not be on my list of choices.
 
Wow I didn't know Auzentech had all these issues >< Times have really changed.

Always been a fan of their cards and never really had many issues with them although my use with them hasn't been to use every feature of the card.

I take audio very seriously and for critical listening I do not turn to my internal soundcard!!

I've noticed they keep releasing more and more new products; what happened to having a simple lineup meeting market needs and maximizing the profits before moving on? Like creative, it's not like there's all sorts of mind blowing innovations that trigger the need for new products...
 
Term-X said:
PCI? Shouldn't they be moving onto PCIe, if for nothing else but to get momentum in favour of ridding the legacy stuff?
Click to expand...

siliconnerd said:
QFT. It is crazy to spend more than $100 on a PCI sound card now when there is good PCI-e sound cards out.
Click to expand...

That's great, until you realize that the only PCI-e x1 slots you have are covered up by those two dual-slot video cards you bought to do Xfire or SLI. And I'm not talking about a legacy mobo either- an Asus P6T X58 that is not even 18 months old yet. I'm looking at this card to replace my onboard sound, so I'm glad that it's PCI because those are the slots I have open.

Speaking of slow or non-existent driver updates, any of us who have been using onboard sound are completely used to that. So if the driver works well out of the box, that's not a big minus to me.
 
Speaking of sound cards, do you guys use onboard sound on if you have a digital optical input? Or are they pretty much for the analog speaker sets? I'm using the onboard optical output from my mobo.

I have a Logitech Z5500 5.1 set and the speakers aren't so great that a good soundcard would pick up any nuances in the sound I think. Mostly gamer and mid-volume movie watching here.
 
I must be the lucky 1 out of the 10 Forte owners in the world:rolleyes::rolleyes:, with the already mentioned ATAD-700s I find it a great card - and I don't have to change drivers all the time;);););):rolleyes::rolleyes: and yes, everything being ON is a pain...I use it for a bit of music, mainly games - I cfg the audio console TM:)rolleyes:) and it all just works...dunno what the fuss is..
 
polive said:
Speaking of sound cards, do you guys use onboard sound on if you have a digital optical input? Or are they pretty much for the analog speaker sets? I'm using the onboard optical output from my mobo.

I have a Logitech Z5500 5.1 set and the speakers aren't so great that a good soundcard would pick up any nuances in the sound I think. Mostly gamer and mid-volume movie watching here.
Click to expand...

you'd be surprised - I also have the Logi 5500 and use a x-fi Fatality card with the bay etc(loungroom pc) - I briefly used the Forte in it and the sound was noticeably better, not as harsh when turned up and the highs were more distinct. I have no doubt that Auzen make good product, unfortunately is let down by QA and lack of support...and very few employees it would seem:eek::eek::eek:
 
LightingGod said:
Speaking of slow or non-existent driver updates, any of us who have been using onboard sound are completely used to that. So if the driver works well out of the box, that's not a big minus to me.
Click to expand...
Most onboard sound is the Realtek chipsets, and they do update often. Probably too often. It's like every 2 months I see they have a driver update.

The good news is that they're problematic free, just doesn't output quality.
 
I have an X-Fi Forte in my current system. When I first got it, it was great. It worked perfectly right out of the box, and for a good year or so. Then I started experiencing some odd problems. The L/R channels were significantly lower in volume than the center, to the point where I could not hear anything from them. Then I started getting the famed distortion problem.

I contacted Auzentech several times to get an RMA and never got a response. Although the card was great when it worked, I'm very hesitant to buy another card from them again. It's a shame too, because I'm in the market for a sound card for my Sandy Bridge build and this really looks like it would fit the bill.
 
hmmm...
i see this has optical input. Would it accept a dolby digital 5.1 signal and decode it to 5.1 analog?

I would like to connect my xbox 360 to my pc and get 5.1 audio on my x-540 speakers, so far it seems impossible, but if this card just came out, maybe it can decode multichannel digital input? maybe...? lol
 
Majinhoju said:
hmmm...
i see this has optical input. Would it accept a dolby digital 5.1 signal and decode it to 5.1 analog?

I would like to connect my xbox 360 to my pc and get 5.1 audio on my x-540 speakers, so far it seems impossible, but if this card just came out, maybe it can decode multichannel digital input? maybe...? lol
Click to expand...

Get a Reciever :)
 
Hellhawk said:
I have an X-Fi Forte in my current system. When I first got it, it was great. It worked perfectly right out of the box, and for a good year or so. Then I started experiencing some odd problems. The L/R channels were significantly lower in volume than the center, to the point where I could not hear anything from them. Then I started getting the famed distortion problem.

I contacted Auzentech several times to get an RMA and never got a response. Although the card was great when it worked, I'm very hesitant to buy another card from them again. It's a shame too, because I'm in the market for a sound card for my Sandy Bridge build and this really looks like it would fit the bill.
Click to expand...

Asus essence stx with brainbits driver is great imho. Way better soundquality than the x-fi I had.
 
What gpu do you have? Use Hdmi. It can carry LPCM which you can hook up to your home theatre. You can still use the Xbox cans with it. If you want 7.1 just set the custom matrix in klite Codec pack.
 
Page 8 has been updated with some Cross Talk data that was previous left out. Just FYI.
 
Excellent review.

I liked the RMAA Testing, thats adds some OBJECTIVE data to the audio mabo-jambo.

And the cross-talk test was nice, showing the "benefits"of using shielded cables for stereo playback.

Keep up the good work:D
 
polive said:
Speaking of sound cards, do you guys use onboard sound on if you have a digital optical input? Or are they pretty much for the analog speaker sets? I'm using the onboard optical output from my mobo.
Click to expand...

I am hardly an expert on this topic, but here is the answer as I understand it.

Most of the improved quality from a good sound card comes from improved DAC's (Digital to analog converters) and how the signal is processed once in analog form.

(yes, they can also support higher frequency (khz, 192 vs 44, etc.) recordings, but the truth is that most sources are not going to be recorded in these frequencies anyway, and the use of this is rather limited unless you are processing audio files for mixing, mastering, etc.)

When you use the digital out port and hook it up to something external, that external device is doing all the DAC, and analogue audio processing instead of the sound card.

So, if you are using a digital output, you will likely see very little difference between the on board sound and a high end sound card.

The biggest difference comes when you hook speakers and headphones up using analogue outputs.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top