Friday, July 23rd 2010
Auzentech X-Meridian Back With a Bang in New Second Generation Model
Widely regarded in the audiophile community as one of the best sound cards ever made, Auzentech's X-Meridian 7.1 is being revived in a new second-generation (2G) model. Following engagement with Creative for supply of its X-Fi chipsets, Auzentech had stopped production of the original X-Meridian 7.1 sound card citing shortages of the C-Media CMI8788 Oxygen HD chipset, which it now seems to have come over. The new X-Meridian 2G 7.1 from Auzentech sports the same CMI8788 Oxygen HD chip, backed by a squad of channel-independent enthusiast-grade AKM AK4396 DACs, user-replaceable OPAMP chips, high-end electrolytic capacitors to maintain natural-sounding output in the analogue portion of the card, and high-end solid-state capacitors for the power-distribution and digital output. To ensure the lowest latencies, the card uses the PCI interface, because CMI8788 is a PCI chip, and adding a PCI-E bridge chip would step up latencies. More technical details can be found in the exclusive preview by Guru3D.
Source:
Guru3D
57 Comments on Auzentech X-Meridian Back With a Bang in New Second Generation Model
Anyhow, better sounding equipement will enhance much more ur sound quality than going from 320kbps mp3 to flac, that's for sure :rockout:
And with the cost of storage as low as it is these days, I'll continue to use flac for home listening, and aac for portable/mobile. I already have 7TB available, and plan to add more. Space is of zero concern to me, only audio quality matters. If you are happy with mp3 and Crystalizer, you wasted your money on high end equipment.
EDIT: WAV (CD rip) vs. 192kbps has clear difference even with 40€ Philips SBC HP800 headphones.. WAV vs 320kbps is a bit harder, but then again, this sound hardware is worth about 65€ total.