Auzen X-Fi Prelude 7.1 Sound Card Did the Auzen X-Fi Prelude 7.1 live up to the hype? In my view, very much so! For one thing, you get seriously excellent audio quality, rivaling that of a Creative X-Fi Elite Pro at just around US$200. Sure, you don't get as many inputs, but the most important thing is the audio quality is just the same. A good contender would be the EMU-1212M that is about the same price as the X-Fi Prelude. It has the balanced outputs and other professional goodies that the X-Fi Prelude does not. The Auzen X-Fi Prelude, of course, boasts the same audio quality and at the same time, add EAX and multi-channel support. Undoubtedly, this is a superb sound card at a nice price. It's great for those that want a card like the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro, but without its ugly breakout box. Of course, it has its weaknesses here and there. Nothing is perfect. The lack of support of some formats is also somewhat disappointing, but don't let that put you off this card. If you're in the market for an audiophile-grade sound card with gaming capabilities, this is the card for you. Because of its superb audio fidelity, great connectivity options and value for money, we would like to award it our Reviewer's Choice Award. Congratulations, Auzentech, and keep up the great work! For more details, read our Comprehensive Review! MSRP  US$ 199 Lowest PriceGrabber Price Review  Comprehensive Review Audio Processor  Creative X-Fi CA20K Analog-to-Digital Converter  One AKM AK-5394 ADC (96 kHz, 24-bit) Digital-to-Analog Converter  Four AKM AK-4396 DAC (96 kHz, 24-bit) Built-In Memory  64 MB SDRAM Analog Input/Output OPAMPs  TI OPA2134 Front L/R Output OPAMP  National LM4562NA (user-replaceable) S/PDIF Support  Dual-mode S/PDIF receiver and transmitter I/O Connectors  One 3.5 mm microphone input connector in rear panel

 One 3.5 mm line input connector in rear panel

 One 4-pin AUX connector on board

 Four 3.5 mm 8-channel line output connectors in real panel (FL/FR/C/SW/RL/RR/RSL/RSR)

 One S/PDIF combo input connector in rear panel for receiving coaxial or optical digital

 One S/PDIF combo output connector in rear panel for transmitting coaxial or optical digital

 One 10-1 pin front panel connector on board for microphone and headphone input

 One 40-pin digital extension header on board for AD-Link and other digital functionality Signal-to-Noise Ratio  20 kHz (low-pass filter, A-weighted) Stereo Output  120 dB (part spec) Front & Rear Channels  120 dB (part spec) Center  120 dB (part spec) Subwoofer & Side Channels  120 dB (part spec) Total Harmonic Distortion & Noise @ 1 kHz (-3 dBFS, A-weighted)  0.001 % (part spec) Frequency Response (+/- 0.01 dB, 24-bit, 44.1 kHz input)  20 kHz (part spec) Frequency Response (+/- 0.01 dB, 24-bit, 96 kHz input)  43.5 kHz (part spec) 16-bit to 24-bit recording sampling rates  32 kHz

 44.1 kHz

 48 kHz

 96 kHz Provided Software  Creative X-Fi driver Our Review System Tech ARP is committed to developing new ways to improve your experience with us. As part of our continuous efforts to improve the value of our reviews to you, we are implementing a multi-tier review system. This review system is designed to allow you to quickly receive information on the latest hardware or software. This new system also allows you to quickly get the gist of the review without reading through it. This can be very useful, especially in situations where you need to make a quick purchase decision. In this new system, we start with a Product Overview whenever a company sends us a press release about their latest product. We shift through extraneous PR-talk to create a straightforward summary of the product's features as well as specifications. This allows you to quickly find out all the pertinent details about the product, without reading through official press releases. When we receive the product for review, we will quickly take photos of it and create a Pictorial Review. The purpose of a pictorial review is to allow you, the reader, to quickly examine the product visually. It may help you make better purchase decisions, especially if you cannot wait for the full review. After thorough testing, we will post a Comprehensive Review of the product. This adds on to the pictorial review with comprehensive test results and our final conclusion on the product. But no matter whether you are reading a Pictorial Review or a Comprehensive Review, you can always read the summary of the review as well as examine the product's specifications right on the first page. In all our new reviews, we will maintain the first page as a Product Overview page. If the product is listed in PriceGrabber, you can also check out the lowest price online. We hope this new review system will make your experience a lot more enjoyable and informative!

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