Mikael Hagén puts
Aztech's PCI 368DSP to the test.
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PCI 368DSP - Mikael Hagén - Last updated February 12, 2001
Important Info:
Sound Card By :Aztech Price : ~$69.00 list but street price may be much less API Support : DirectSound, DS3D, EAX 1.0 and A3D 1.0 (by translating to DS3D
calls, works with most but not all titles) S/N Ratio : >90dB SBR
Minimum System Requirements:
PC-based computer with Pentium ® 166MHz MMX processor
(Pentium ® 233MHz MMX-based processor or better is highly recommended)
PCI Bus slot
16MB RAM (32MB RAM and above for computers with Windows NT
® )
minimum 15MB hard disk space (system files and audio drivers
only)
CD-ROM drive
Active (amplified) speakers
Windows ® 95/98/NT ® 4.0
Reviewer PC:
Mikael
- Win98
- Celeron
300a o/c 450
-
128MB PC100 ram
-
Creative TNT
-
6.4 GB Quantum SE
-
For four speaker testing purpose I hooked the card up to Videologic's
Digi Theatre speaker system using the analog inputs and later in testing I also
tried Altec
Lansing's ACS54. For two speaker testing purposes I used the same speaker systems but
only connecting to the front channels and for headphones testing I used a set of
Sennheiser HD5570
PCI PERIPHERAL PCI Bus Master for optimized multiple streams operation
Compliance with PCI Bus Specifications Revision 2.1
DSP-BASED ARCHITECTURE
Full hardware acceleration of all 3D audio, music synthesis,
DirectSound™ and game port functions
True DSP power to simultaneously perform wavetable
synthesis, 3D positioning and special effects on 64 channels with independent sample rates
and resolutions up to 48kHz, without consuming significant host bandwidth
3D POSITIONAL AUDIO
QSound® QInteractive3D™ (QI3D™) hardware
accelerated 3D positional sound for 3D interactive audio playback using 2 or 4 speakers or
a pair of headphones
QSound®’s 2D to 3D positional remapping technology
allows 2D audio applications to be played in full positional 3D
3D positioning of 64 DirectSound™ streamsCompatible
with Aureal A3D™ positional sound technology
FULL DIRECTSOUND® AND DIRECTSOUND3D™ HARDWARE
ACCELERATION Supports Microsoft DirectSound and DirectSound3D™ hardware acceleration up
to 128 channels (64 in hardware and 64 in MMX host)
EAX™ COMPATIBILITY Compatible to Environmental Audio Extension™ (EAX™) using
QSound®’s Q3D2.0 technology
WAVETABLE SYNTHESIZER
320-voice wavetable synthesis engineCompliance with DLS
(Downloadable Sound) 1.0
Per voice effect processing and effect controlling for
reverb, chorus and filtering
360 degrees positioning of each voice around the listener
using MIDI commands
Per channel volume and envelope control, pitch shift,
tremolo and vibrato
4MB General MIDI (GM) / General Sound (GS) sample set with
optional 1MB and 2MB PC quality sample sets
MULTI-CHANNEL OUTPUT
Supports two and/or four speaker output
Supports output through stereo headphone
QSOUND® MULTI-SPEAKER SYSTEM™ (QMSS™) Expands normal stereo sources to four channel audio
QSOUND® QXPANDER™ Conversion of ordinary stereo signal to 3D output signal with dramatically
widened stereo imaging and enhanced realism
LEGACY AUDIO COMPATIBILITY
Full legacy audio support in Windows DOS Boxes and Real-Mode
DOS Environments
Supports OPL3 FM Emulation
Supports Legacy Address MPU401 MIDI and Joystick
HIGH QUALITY AUDIO & AC’97 SUPPORT
High quality Sample Rate Converter and Digital Mixer
High quality audio with SNR > 90dB using an external
AC’97 codec
3D STEREO ENHANCEMENT Hardware-based 3D stereo enhancement (AC’97 Codec)
FULL DUPLEX AUDIO Supports simultaneous full duplex record and playback at independent sampling
rate
PLUG & PLAY
WDM STREAMING AND USB READY
POWER MANAGEMENT ACPI and OnNow Power Management
SYSTEM AUDIO HARDWARE
SYSTEM AUDIO SOURCES
Mono Mic-In
Stereo Line-In
Stereo CD-In
Stereo AUX-In
TAD Connector
Stereo (PCM) Digital Audio
Wavetable Upgrade Header
MASTER VOLUME AND MIXER VOLUME CONTROL Individual Volume Control for sources listed in (4.1) and Stereo Master Volume
SYSTEM AUDIO OUTPUT
Front Channel Buffered Line-Out / Headphone-Out
Rear Channel Buffered Line-Out
INTERFACES
MIDI INTERFACE
MPU401 UART Mode Interface
Full duplex interface for connectors of MIDI instruments
(need optional MIDI kit)
MIDI I/O goes through the joystick port connector
GAME PORT
MIDI port doubles as game port providing support to two
standard PC joysticks
Digital enhanced game port enabling analog joystick to
emulate digital joystick performance, eliminating CPU overhead
CONNECTORS ON BOARD
Audio Internal
4-pin MPC (70553 – Black) connector for CD Audio-In
4-pin PH04 (White) connector for CD Audio-In
4-pin PH04 (Blue) connector for AUX-In
4-pin PH04 (Red) connector for TAD
Audio External
3.5mm jack (Red) for Mono Microphone Input
3.5mm jack (Blue) for Stereo Line-In
3.5mm jack (Green) for Stereo Front Channel buffered
Line-Out / Headphone-Out
3.5mm jack (White) for Stereo Rear Channel buffered Line-Out
Game Port
D-SUB 15 connector for Joystick and MIDI interface
DRIVERS SUPPORT
Windows 95
Windows NT 4.0
Windows 98
Real-Mode DOS
Windows 2000 Ready
BUNDLED SOFTWARE
AZTECH CLEF STUDIO VER 3.0 (32-bit application software)
Clef MIDI Player
Clef MIDI Tracker
Clef CD Player
Clef WAVE Player
Clef WAVE Editor
Clef OLE
Introduction:
Update: We still think this card works fine with most games
released today but the lack of EAX 2.0 support is still a major disadvantage. Another
major problem is the lack of WDM drivers which means it won't offer more than basic
functionlity when used with Windows2000 and future versions of Windows. With basic
functionality I mean just plain stereo, that is no 3D sound or 4-speaker support. We have
some doubts there will ever be anther driver release for this card but it's still
possible. For more details about this we suggest you check out our driver/support page.
Aztech was founded in 1986 in Singapore and while not having a significant retail
presence in US is worldwide considered to be one of the leaders in the multimedia
industry, selling graphics cards, modems, speakers and of course soundcards. When it comes
to soundcards they last year sold a soundcard based on the Vortex 1 chip. Early this year
they decided to go with VLSI’s (now bought by Philips) Thunderbird 128 instead of
Aureal’s Vortex 2 chip.
In this review we will test this card which for 3D sound and reverb uses QSound’s
Q3D 2.0 engine which supports DS3D and EAX 1.0. It also features QSound’s stereo
expansion technology, QXpander, 2D-3D and the 4-speaker expansion technology QMSS.
Technical Overview:
The 368DSP offers these key features:
64 DirectSound streams in hardware and 64 in MMX host;
64 DirectSound 3D streams with sample rates up to 48 kHz
Uses QSound’s Q3D 2.0
EAX 1.0 using QSound’s QEM reverb engine.
4-speaker support
QSound® Multi-Speaker System™ (QMSS™) and QSound® QXpander™
Professional 320-Voice Wavetable Synthesis
DLS1-compliant Downloadable Samples support
Legacy game audio support with SoundBlaster™ Pro
As you see the 368DSP feature list is quite impressive with 64 3D sound channels,
support for EAX 1.0, SoundBlaster support in DOS, 320-Voice Wavetable Synthesis, QXpander
and QMSS. All the 3D channels is done in hardware while the reverb (EAX) is done on the
host, that is using the CPU. Just like the cards using Sensaura and the Live cards the
368DSP in addition to DS3D also supports A3D 1.X by converting the A3D 1.X calls to DS3D.
It works in most A3D 1.X games but not all. The only ones I’m aware of also supports
DS3D but it’s not any guarantee. The 368DSP uses QSound’s QEM engine for reverb
effects and with current drivers support EAX 1.0 but may in the near future supportI3DL2
and EAX 2.0.
If you need them the board has a stereo line in, mono microphone in, midi/game port on
the bracket board. Internal connectors on the board includes CD-in (both MPC and PH),
wavetable header, TAD (for modems) and Aux.-in.
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