VOGONS


Aureal Vortex vs Vortex 2

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First post, by DrSpock233

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Hi,

I've been out of the retro scene for a while now. I'm putting together a new AMD build for some retro gaming, particularly DOS and some Windows games. Will be running 98SE. Unfortunately my motherboard doesn't have ISA slots, I'm afraid I will be using PCI. I've heard good things on the Vortex cards, what is the difference between the two?

Thanks

Reply 1 of 27, by cyclone3d

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What chipset does your motherboard have? What is the brand and model of the motherboard?

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Reply 3 of 27, by chinny22

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Vortex supports A3D 1.0 but so do loads of other soundcards (like the SBLive!)
Vortex2 supports A3D 2.0 and is the only card that does.

That's in Windows, In dos both will act exactly the same

Reply 5 of 27, by appiah4

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There is also Vortex Advantage which sounds like the cutdown budget chipset but is actually a midtier card chip betwen 1 & 2.

Retronautics: A digital gallery of my retro computers, hardware and projects.

Reply 8 of 27, by appiah4

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DrSpock233 wrote on 2020-01-16, 08:36:

Thanks appiah4. Oh ok, I'm looking at a Diamond Monster Sound MX300 on ebay, I assume that has an authentic chipset?

It's one of the best known Aureal 2 cards. How much are you looking to pay for one? Locally I have an indefinite supply of these for about $17 a piece.

Retronautics: A digital gallery of my retro computers, hardware and projects.

Reply 9 of 27, by dionb

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Out of interest: what makes the MX300 better than other Aureal2 cards? And how would it compare to say the Turtle Beach Montego II (that I also hear good things about)?

Reply 10 of 27, by appiah4

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dionb wrote on 2020-01-16, 09:29:

Out of interest: what makes the MX300 better than other Aureal2 cards? And how would it compare to say the Turtle Beach Montego II (that I also hear good things about)?

I have both, and to be honest there is no difference between the two AFAIC.

Retronautics: A digital gallery of my retro computers, hardware and projects.

Reply 11 of 27, by MrSmiley381

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Personally, I'm running some sort of Aureal Vortex 2 SuperQuad card in one of my machines and it works fairly well. Do other Vortex cards support four speakers natively? The card I have can run digital output but the manual says that if I go digital all four audio channels are mixed down to two. I'm not even sure what the real difference is at the end of the day.

I spend my days fighting with clunky software so I can afford to spend my evenings fighting with clunky hardware.

Reply 13 of 27, by appiah4

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DrSpock233 wrote on 2020-01-16, 12:04:

Appiah4, as cheap as possible. Ebay is a bit on the expensive side. I can get one for around $70ish.

That's a ripoff I would say.. I don't know where you live so I can't promise I could get one to you for half of that, but if you are in Europe I could try.

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Reply 15 of 27, by kolderman

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MrSmiley381 wrote on 2020-01-16, 11:55:

Personally, I'm running some sort of Aureal Vortex 2 SuperQuad card in one of my machines and it works fairly well. Do other Vortex cards support four speakers natively? The card I have can run digital output but the manual says that if I go digital all four audio channels are mixed down to two. I'm not even sure what the real difference is at the end of the day.

Vortex 2 is better with stereo, headphones in particular. If you want 4 speaker surround, a sensaura based card like the turtle beach Santa Cruz is best.

Reply 17 of 27, by Intel486dx33

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I use the AU8830 in my Halloween build. It sounds great and comes with allot of software.
I think it is the same as the Vortex2 Super Quadzillia.

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Reply 18 of 27, by terrormiah

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appiah4 wrote on 2020-01-16, 09:24:
DrSpock233 wrote on 2020-01-16, 08:36:

Thanks appiah4. Oh ok, I'm looking at a Diamond Monster Sound MX300 on ebay, I assume that has an authentic chipset?

It's one of the best known Aureal 2 cards. How much are you looking to pay for one? Locally I have an indefinite supply of these for about $17 a piece.

Sorry to necro this thread but I do not have the ability to PM yet and was wondering if you still had a source for MX300 cards and if I could buy one from/through you.

Reply 19 of 27, by appiah4

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terrormiah wrote on 2023-05-07, 00:53:
appiah4 wrote on 2020-01-16, 09:24:
DrSpock233 wrote on 2020-01-16, 08:36:

Thanks appiah4. Oh ok, I'm looking at a Diamond Monster Sound MX300 on ebay, I assume that has an authentic chipset?

It's one of the best known Aureal 2 cards. How much are you looking to pay for one? Locally I have an indefinite supply of these for about $17 a piece.

Sorry to necro this thread but I do not have the ability to PM yet and was wondering if you still had a source for MX300 cards and if I could buy one from/through you.

No longer have it. I helped a few vogoners get a few of these cards before the seller wisened up and stopped selling to me. No idea if he still has the stock or sells to someone else, but he won't respond to my messages anymore.

Retronautics: A digital gallery of my retro computers, hardware and projects.