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Before we begin, I
would like to give you a little background
information because this is my debut appearance on HotHardware. I have been working
on and with computers for most of my life (as I am
sure most of you reading this can say the same)
and consider myself somewhat of a techno-geek. New
hardware always makes me a drool, even when I have
no need for it. My first IBM clone was a sleek
486DX50 with a whopping 4MB of RAM. Being a novice
to clones at the time, I bought this one with only
two words in my head as a requisite: ?SOUND? &
?BLASTER?. All of the advice I heard said that you
needed one of these cards to play the latest
games, and I fell in love with them. Over time, I
upgraded from my original SBPro, to the SB16, then
the AWE32, AWE64, PCI 128, and finally the SB
Live! and Audigy. At one point in my career, I
even contemplated working as field representative
for Creative Labs, although that never panned out.
At any rate, I had recently run into bouts with my
Athlon XP system, and what I thought was the
infamous ?squeal of death? from my Audigy. At
last it seemed like it was time for something new?
Enter the Hercules
Gamesurround Fortissimo II, a soundcard that is
advertised as being made for both the "hardcore and
casual gamer". Priced at around $60 U.S., it fits
in nicely between Hercules? high-end GameTheatreXP
($150) and their entry-level MuseXL ($30). The
original Fortissimo was based on the Yamaha YMF744
chipset that worked admirably at the time, but is
not sufficient for today?s demanding user. The
Fortissimo II is based on the Crystal SoundFusion
4624 audio processor, a slightly scaled down
version of the SoundFusion 4630 processor found in
the GameTheatreXP and Turtle Beach?s Santa Cruz.
The comparison between the two is not unlike
comparing an AMD Duron with an Athlon. What is
missing then, you ask? Well, with the 4624
chipset, you only get 4 channel gaming, and no MP3
acceleration where the 4630 supports 6 channels
and MP3 acceleration. What this means is that you
won?t get any 5.1 speaker support, which may lead
to some consternation among audiophiles,
especially those who watch DVDs (and paid extra
for that center channel speaker). MP3 acceleration
is not really a concern, however, since just about
every modern PC has enough power to use ?software?
decoding for MP3s. Let?s look at the
specifications:
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Specifications / Features of the
Fortissimo II |
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Full
Featured Audio |
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DATA TRANSFER:
PCI 2.1 bus
AUDIO PROCESSOR (DSP):
Cirrus Logic SoundFusion CS4624
AUDIO QUALITY:
CD and Pro Audio quality 20-bit quad output
and
18-bit dual stereo input codec
Up to 48kHz sampling rate
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?
Legacy audio support for older DOS games
AUDIO COMPATIBILITY:
Compatible with Microsoft? DirectSound? and
DirectMusic?
Compatible with Dolby Surround?
SOFTWARE WAVETABLE
SYNTHESIZER:
DSP accelerated engine for unlimited number
of voices (64-voice hardware)
8MB General MIDI/GS? sample set
GM?(General MIDI) and Yamaha XG? compatible
Yamaha S-YXG50?:
676 instrument sounds and 21 drum kits
Effects: reverb, chorus, variation...
EXTERNAL CONNECTORS:
Analog din with: mic-in, headphones, front
and rear speakers
Digital In / Digital Out
Game Port
Line-in |
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CLICK ANY IMAGE FOR AN
ENLARGED VIEW
Opening the
well-adorned box, I found the soundcard itself
(made on the standard Hercules blue PCB, which
anyone familiar with their video cards should be
used to seeing), a driver CD, a DIN cable with
four connectors, an installation manual and a
manual for PowerDVD 3.0. The card has everything
that users are looking for, with a few twists.
At the top if the bracket, is a DIN connection,
replacing the usual input jacks for the
microphone, speakers, etc. A single cable attaches
to the DIN port and splits into four cables, one
each for front and rear output, microphone, and
even a separate one for headphones, saving
valuable space on the card's back plate. Then there are the
line-in connector, two S/PDIF TOSLINK inputs and
output connectors, and finally the game port. The
connections on the PCB were for CD-IN and AUX-IN,
but noticeably missing was a S/PDIF 2-pin
connection, used for digital connection to a CD or
DVD drive.
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Quality & Installation
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