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The
Hercules Digifire 7.1 Sound Card
360o
Of Sound Emersion
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By
Jay
Gibson
December 11, 2002
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Since
our last look at a
Hercules
sound card, the
Gamesound Fortissimo II, there have
been a few advances in the technology that audiophiles
will rejoice over. As Hercules'
flagship product, in their audio line-up, the Digifire
brand sports the leading edge audio
processing capabilities, as well as a
host of other features, including of
course, Firewire connectivity. With support for 7.1 digital
surround sound and FireWire DV Editing, this card should cover
just about ever aspect one could ask for
in a sound card. But, the thing to keep
in mind is that quantity of features
does not always mean quality, or vise-versa.
So, lets throw this card into the
machine and see what it can do.
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| Specifications
/ Features Of The
Digifire 7.1 Sound Card |
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Full Frontal Audio |
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Technical Specifications
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Data
Transfer |
·
PCI 2.1 bus |
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DSP
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·
Cirrus Logic SoundFusion CS4624
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Audio
Quality |
·
CD and professional audio quality
· 20-bit quad output and 18-bit dual stereo input codec
· Up to 48kHz sampling rate |
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Game
Compatibility |
·
Sensaura based 3D positional audio
with support for Microsoft
DirectSound? 3D, EAX? 1.0, EAX? 2.0,
A3D? 1.0, I3DL2?, MacroFX?,
MultiDrive?, ZoomFX?, EnvironmentFX?
· Sound Blaster® |
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Audio
Compatibility |
·
Microsoft® DirectSound?&
DirectMusic?
· Dolby Surround?
· Dolby Digital? / Dolby Digital? EX |
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Software Wavetable Synthesizer
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·
DSP accelerated engine for an
unlimited number of voices (64-voice
hardware)
· 8MB General MIDI/GS? sample set
· DLS 1.0 compatible
· GM? (General Midi) and Yamaha XG? compatible
· Yamaha S-YXG50:
- 676 instrument sounds and 21 drum kits
- Effects: reverb, chorus, variation ? |
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External Connectors |
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Analog output connectors:
· Front speakers out
· Rear speakers out
· Centre / LFE out
· 7 & 8 channels / Headphones out
· Line in / Mic in
· MIDI / Game port (MPU 401? compatible)
· Digital S/PDIF out (optical)
· 3 FireWire® ports, 2 external and 1 internal |
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Internal
Connectors |
·
CD-in; CD-in 2; Aux-in; S/PDIF in
· FireWire port |
Click
images for full view
Included
with the Hercules Digifire 7.1 Sound
Card full retail package, we found the
following list of accessories:
- Digifire
7.1 PCI Card
- MIDI/Game Port Bracket
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- Installation CDROM
- User Guide
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Upon opening the well-festooned box, we
found the soundcard neatly wrapped in your
typical anti-static bag. The card itself
is made of Hercules's "trademark" blue
PCB, which should be familiar sight to
anyone who has ever owned one of their
products. Included are also a MIDI/Game Port Extension bracket, User Manual, Installation
CD, and three (3) Certificates of
Authenticity for the programs on the CD, PowerDVD Pro EX,
PowerDirector Pre 2.5 ME and one from the
Yamaha Corporation. Working our
way down from the top of the bracket on
the card we found plugs for, Front
Speakers, Rear Speakers, Center Speakers
and Subwoofer, Headset or Back Left and
Right Speakers, Line-In/Mic-In, Optical
Out, and lastly two FireWire ports. The
connections on the PCB were for the CD-In
1, CD-In 2, Aux-In and a S/PDIF 2-pin
connector which, is used for digital
connection to a CD or DVD drive.
Overall the construction of the card
looks good. Components were aligned well
with precision solder placement and
nothing seems loose or flimsy. Our
initial impression of this card was a
positive one. But lets see how the
card holds up to the tests before we pass
any judgement...
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Setup,
Installation and Software
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