SCHUBERT 128 A3D PCI Sound Card Reviewed by Matthew Fam Kai Liang (07/06/98)
| Card Specification | 32-bit PCI Bus 2.1 compliant |
| Model | Schubert 128 A3D PCI |
| Wavetable Synthesis | 128-Voice (32 hardware) |
| General Features | 1) Microsoft Direct X
5.0/6.0 Compliant 2) Hardware Direct Sound/Music accelerator 3) A3D Audio Surround |
| Software Compatatibility | 1) A3D Interactive
Sound Postioning 2) Support Win95/Win98/WinNT 3) Sound Blaster Pro/DIRECT X Compatiable 4) MPU-401 MIDI |
| Others | 1) 16 levels,speed
compensated Joystick interface 2) Compatiable MPU-401 MIDI UART |
| Card Package | 1) Aureal Vortex PCI
Audio Accelerator 2) User Manual 3) CD-ROM driver 4) Willowpond Utility Manual |
| Minimum Requirements | 1) Win95/98,Win NT 4.0 2) Pentium 100MHz(200MHz MMX for A3D) 3) CD-ROM driver 4) Willowpond Utility Manual |
Introduction
If you think it's time to dunk
away your chunky ISA based sound card.Perhaps it's time you should look at PCI based sound
cards.And in this review,we bring you a ideal candidate with a thought for your budget
The retail box have a fair mixture of blue & black with a 3D human face as the
forcus.The whole package comes with the card,2 thin manual and a audio utility
instruction.The card have 2 stero input for line-in & mic.Plus line-out & speaker
output.
Installation
Pluging the card into the free
PCI slot requires very little force.When plug-in,do uninstall your previous sound card
driver if any.
The test system was running using Windows 98,the card was promptly deteched by Windows PnP
function.The driver CD will be needed for installation.After finishing installing
driver.You can therefore explore the utility software in the driver CD to install the demo
and others interesting applications.
For full detailed installation procedure,please refer to the user manual.
The Good
To test it's sound quality.The
AIWA SC-CD40 speaker system with Subwoofer & QSound surround was used to provide 320W
of uninterrupted sound effect.
Running the demo game that comes with the driver disc,it produced one of the most
astonishing sound wave into my ear drum.I must say that this card is definately much
better than the AWE64 Value,S3 SonicVibes and the Tertle Beach ISA based card that I
experience before in term of surround sound effect in 3D gaming.But,a demo is never enough
to prove it's quality.Therefore I run the ActiveVision's 'BATTLE ZONE' title which is
certified under Aureal website as A3D compatiable.Really cool surround sound,with strong
bass.
A really interesting feature is the the abilities to actually have many selection of
various source of sound output.From quadratic(4speakers) to even headphone and many more
selections.Plus the demo ability to test the various positions of A3D surround.
The Bad
The bad point of this card is
perhaps of the A3D surround effect which will only be activated in a minimum Pentium
200MHx MMX system.That means if you are still running the slower P133.You will not get to
enjoy the A3D effect,though it's still capable of running with the A3D with minimum P100
systems.The card requires is also very weak in legacy DOS mode as similar to the S3 sound
card reviewed earlier.The MIDI effect is also normal & nothing compared to the DLS
function in the S3 or Tertle Beach PCI cards.But people can go without it as nowadays MIDI
are less used in games.With a much higher price tag over the S3 and ISA based OPL-3
cards.It might not make sense to own this card.
The accompanied YAMAHA XG software are quite interesting in adding more instruments and
MIDI effect,but are quite incompatiable with some games and recording softwares.
Conclusion
As a whole,SCHUBERT 128 A3D card does offer a big boost in surround sound
over many others brands and even current CREATIVE products are no where near A3D surround
effect.Plus the many uprising A3D compatiable games titles coming out.SCHUBERT is also
consider the most affordable A3D card selling in Singapore,with at least $15-20 below the
next economic priced A3D card.
There's nothing to lose in the final rally of advancing into PCI sound era with this
affordable yet powerful card.It' will definately beat the Creative's ENSONIQ PCI card with
similar price tag but without onboard DSP that off-load the CPU load to the sound
card.Plus the wonderful A3D surround sound that the ENSONIQ lacked.
It's consider the BEST BUY for people looking for the best bang for their low budget.But
not recommended for older computer system running lesser than Pentium 200MHz MMX processor
onboard.
SCHUBERT Sound Card RATING
| Installation | **** |
| Performance | **** |
| Price | ***** |
| Game Compatiable Test | **** |
| Bundled Software Value | *** |
| Material Quality | *** |
| Overall Rating | ***1/2 |
Back To SOG Reviews Lab
| Specifications |
| Manufacturer: Pine Group Website: http://pinegroup.com |
| Estimated Price: $68 |
This Product is provided courtesy of,
WELKIN TECHNOLOGY
Copyright © 1998 by Singapore Hardware Zone , S'pore Overclockers' Group & Maxxum Interactive. All rights reserved.
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