The X-MERIDIAN 7.1 (Continued)

The rear of the card is positively barren when compared to the front of the product and barring the Auzen logo there is nothing which is that noticeable should you have a windowed case.

On the visible technology front we end the exploration of the board with the main component, the C-Media CMI-8788 Oxygen HD chipset.

The 8788 provides the card with various technologies. Firstly we have Dolby Digital Live which provides 48KHz, 640Kbps signals/encoding via the coaxial or optical outputs to a Dolby Digital enabled sound system. Dolby Pro Logic IIx which processes stereo/ 5.1 signals into 6.1 or 7.1 channel output (including movie and music profiles). The Dolby technologies don’t stop there however as the X-MERIDIAN also includes Dolby Virtual Speaker and Dolby Headphone technology to simulate multi-speaker environments on 2 speaker systems.

As with previous Auzentech products DTS technologies are also present here and first up we have DTS CONNECT which is the latest technology from DTS and is the same sound format currently found in movie theatres. DTS NEO: PC is next up and takes any 2 channel signal (e.g. mp3 track) and converts it to a multi channel sound. DTS Interactive is also employed and is responsible for taking a LPCM signal and converting/encoding it into a DTS bit stream with a quality of 48KHz at 1.5 Mbps which can then be output to any DTS enabled system.

FLEXBASS allows configuration of speaker systems to suit the hardware and environment best. This technology allows the configuration of the cards Bass output to be varied. For example, if full sized speakers are being used the full audio range will be routed to the speakers however if lower quality or smaller speakers are in use the FLEXBASS can be configured to route bass from the main channels to the subwoofer. It also includes technology to ensure that the sub is not over overdriven by the additional signals.

Also present from the X-MERIDIAN is the ability to play back DVD’s with full 5.1 - 7.1 sound via PowerDVD or WinDVD. ( DD 5.1, DD EX 6.1/7.1, DTS 5.1, DTS-ES 6.1/7.1).

The final technologies which are of most interest to most users are full support for ASIO , Direct Sound and A3D 1.0 and EAX 1.0/2.0 all of which cover a wide range of audio applications and games.

 

So how does the Auzentech X-MERIDIAN compare to Creative cards?

For those reading who would like a quick summary of the more important card features in comparison to Creatives X-Fi range here are a list of the more important specs and technologies when comparing to the more expensive Elite Pro Creative card:

	Creative X-FI	X-MERIDIAN
DD Live	NO	YES
DD EX	YES	YES
DD PL IIx	NO	YES
DTS INTERACTIVE	NO	YES
DTS NEO:PC	NO	YES
DTS ES	NO	YES
DTS Connect	NO	YES
THX Certification	YES (with setup console)	NO
COAXIAL	YES	YES
TOSLINK	NO	YES
EAX	Up to 5.0	Up to 2.0
SNR	Up to 116dB (non elite pro are 109dB)	115db
Audio Quality	24Bit 192KHz Stereo 24Bit 96KHz 7.1 Channel	24Bit 192KHz
Recording Quality	24-bit 96KHz	24Bit 192KHz

Specifications
We have covered the majority of the cards main features and specifications above however in the interests of completeness here are the full specifications as listed by Auzentech:

X-MERIDIAN