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Well I was lucky enough to get an e-mail from Tali over at Guillemot about a week ago. She wanted to know if I wanted to try out their Fortissimo sound card. Since I was in the process of ordering parts for the new rig I said ok.
So here are the specs on the card.
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DATA TRANSFER
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- PCI bus (high speed data transfer
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DSP (Audio Processor)
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- New generation Yamaha YMF744 Engine
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CD-Audio sound quality & Pro audio quality
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- 16-bit, mono/stereo 4kHz to 48kHz
- True full duplex Playback and capture with different sampling
rate
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Supports all open standards including industry-standard
two-speaker and multi-speaker 3D audio technology
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- Microsoft® DirectSound™ 3D hardware accelerator , EAX™,
A3D™ 1.0 and Sensaura Interactive Positioning on 2 or 4
speakers or headphones.
- DirectMusic™ hardware accelerator.
- Legacy audio compatibility provides support for older DOS
games
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Yamaha XG built-in synthesizer with 2MB MIDI hardware wavetable
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- GM™ (General MIDI) , GS™ (General Standard) and Yamaha XG
compatible
- 128-voice polyphony (including 64 hardware)
- 676 instrument sounds and 21 drum kits
- Effects: reverb, chorus
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Audio compatibility
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- Accelerates Microsoft® DirectSound™ in hardware
- Compatible with Sound Blaster™ Pro, DirectInput®
- DownLoadable Sound (DLS) level-1
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Connection
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Inputs : Mic-In, stereo Line-In, digital game port/MIDI MPU401
UART port, Internal CD-audio connector
- 2 independent stereo outputs to connect 4 speakers
- S/PDIF Digital output with optical connector (optical cable
not supplied).
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The card supports EAX 1.0 and A3D 1.0. Installation of the card was very easy. Install the card power up and load the cd. I played about 9 games that I use on the same system that has my SBLive in it. The surround sound sounded just like the SBLive. I had some friends over that are hardcore sound guys and the could not tell the difference except for a slight hiss if you cranked up the speakers that the SBLive does not have.
I do not have anyway at the moment to test the digital out, I hope to correct that soon and will come back and do a second look at the card then. My thoughts are for 49.00 you get great surround sound. A nice bundle of recording software. If playing games is your thing Fortissimo is a great card at a great price. As far a Guillemot tech support goes, they are some of the best people I have ever worked with. I think if Guillemot keeps coming up with great products like the 3D Prophet and Fortissimo they are going to go along way in the world.
My final score is a 9 out of 10!!!
Happy Gaming
Scooter
Rating: 90%
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