ROBSCIX

Hey guys, Thought some of you may find this new card interesting. HT Omega recently announced they will be adding a new soundcard to their line up. This new card is called the Claro Halo.
This card features the 8788 chipset, high quality components and onboard high impedance headphone amplifier.

The Claro Halo base card is designed with headphone listening in mind, this card can drive the higher end headphone easily with built in high quality can amplifier chip.
If your into 5.1 or 7.1 sound there is also the Claro XT version which has a daughter board to allow for full surround sound. This card has impressive specifications and replacable opamps for improving or changing the sound signature.
Claro Halo: LINK
Claro Halo XT: LINK
Specifications
C-Media Oxygen HD CMI8788 Audio Processor:
TPA6120A2 - Built in 120dB Headphone AMP IC from TI supports up to 600ohm headphone
Jumper switch to select different impedance level of headphone.
High Quality RCA connectors for each analog outputs.
24-bit/192kHz AK4396VF (120dB-part spec.) DAC
24-bit/192kHz AK5385BVF ADC for line input
Integrated up to 192k/24-bit S/PDIF high grade special Optical output (up to 5.1ch output)
Integrated up to 192k/24-bit S/PDIF high grade special Optical receiver
Supports onboard Coaxial or CD Digital input connector (An optional Cable (CA-1) is needed for Coaxial input connection)
Supports onboard 2pin digital output connector (An optional Cable (CA-1) is needed for Coaxial output connection)
Standard 10pin Front Panel Audio supports: connectivity for stereo audio output and a microphone input from PC case
Accessories;
- 10ft (3m) optical digital cable
- RCA cable
- RCA-Stereo convertor
- Stereo extension cable
Operating systems: Microsoft Windows VISTA, VISTA (x64), XP, XP (x64).

Do we have any opinions on this new piece of audio tech?

GigaWatt

oh, it's an internal card, i thought it was an external one . although, you might want to change the adresses to the links, they are faulty .

i saw thw specs, the card looks good , although i don't know why they don't make a PCIExpress version of it too, you woun't be able to use that card on a new board in a few years, so it's kind of a problem...

i was reading the specs for the Carlo Halo actually, and the card does support a 5.1 channel output, but only S/PDIF opticaly, so if anyone has a receiver or a an amlifier with a optical 5.1 channel input and enjoys surround sound, this might be thе card for him , optical digital transfer of data means no noise, and from the sound of it, the DAC chip is pritty good too (120dB S/N ratio, AK4396VF DAC). it also has a 2.0 chanel S/PDIF optical input too... .

juts out of curiosity, what would be the price of this thing?

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It's not schisophrenia... it's just a voice in my head...

ROBSCIX

I fixed the Links, There are two version of the card. One with the headphone out and digital optical for surround and the XT version which has a daughter card for full surround sound via 7.1. This card has a MSRP for about $200, basically the same price as all the other high end cards coming out right now.

GigaWatt

$200... not too pricy for a high end audio card, i currently use the Lexicon Omega, so i will not be looking into bying a new card anywhere near in the future, , but the price is tempting . for euro lovers, i think the card in euros will be about 120, 130 euros... something like that...

__________________
It's not schisophrenia... it's just a voice in my head...

ROBSCIX

Yes, that price is reasonable given the price of other modern cards right now.

[hobo]eclipse

does that mean 5.1 over optical mean PCM? Will all recievers accept 5.1 PCM over optical or is that a feature? My X-meridian wont output anything more than 2 channel over optical. (i still havent tried 5.1 analog out to stereo{yamaha htr-5935} w/ the leads) is this because of the card or the reciever or both?

didnt the asus sonar get exclusive rights to the c-media 8788?

looks tasty but im still very happy with the x-meridian and consider myself only a low to midrange audiophile

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ROBSCIX

The X-Meridian can do 5.1 over digital output using Dolby Digital Live or DTS-Connect. Read the manual. The XM is a great card and uses the same chipset...