3DsoundSurge Review: Guillemot's Maxi Sound Fortissimo

Important Info:

Sound Card By : Guillemot
Price : $49
API Support : DirectSound, DS3D, EAX 1.0, EAX 2.0 I3DL2 and A3D 1.0 (by translating to DS3D calls, works with most but not all titles)
S/N Ratio :

Minimum System Requirements:

Intel Pentium® MMX 233MHz & higher or 100% compatible.
PCI 2.1 slot, 16MB RAM.
Windows® 95/98 and higher.
CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive

Reviewers PC:

Mikael (using the similar Hoontech Digital-XG)
- 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 VideoLogic's Sirocco Crossfire. 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

Mark
- Win98
- Celeron 333a o/c 416
- 64 MB PC100 ram
- Creative TNT
- Creative Voodoo Blaster 12 M
- 6.1 GIG EIDE HD
- For four speaker testing purpose I hooked the card up to the Klipsch ProMedia v.2-400 speaker system using the analog inputs and for COAX SPDIF out testing I used the Cambridge Soundworks DTT2500 digital. For two speaker testing purposes I used the same system with the rear inputs removed as well as the Sonix S2000 flat panels from AVB. For headphones testing I used a set of Sennheiser HD525s

Specifications

DATA TRANSFER	- PCI bus (high speed data transfer
DSP (Audio Processor)	- New generation Yamaha YMF744 Engine
CD-Audio sound quality & Pro audio quality	- 16-bit, mono/stereo 4kHz to 48kHz - True full duplex Playback and capture with different sampling rate
Supports all open standards including industry-standard two-speaker and multi-speaker 3D audio technology	- 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
Yamaha XG built-in synthesizer with 2MB MIDI hardware wavetable	- 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
Audio compatibility	- Accelerates Microsoft® DirectSound™ in hardware - Compatible with Sound Blaster™ Pro, DirectInput® - DownLoadable Sound (DLS) level-1
Connection	- 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).

Introduction
In 1984 Guillemot made its start selling multimedia software in France. Just a few years later, in 1988 Guillemot became a distributor of computer peripherals and launched its first sound card for PC. Now just 16 years after they started the Guillemot Corporation group employs 374 people worldwide. Helping the company immediately capitalize on the latest technological innovations, the research and development laboratories are situated in North America, Asia and France. Marketing subsidiaries in France, Belgium, Holland, England, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Canada, USA and Hong Kong speed its product distribution in 35 countries that span five continents. With a world-class distribution network and global brand name recognition, Guillemot Corporation not only distributes its own products, but provides distribution to a number of accessory manufacturers, and game, educational, and cultural software publishers, all of whom rely on Guillemot Corporation for international marketing. Guillemot’s product lines (Maxi Sound and Maxi Gamer hardware, Jet Leader and Race Leader accessories) are now very familiar names , set the standards for their markets.

In this review will take a look at Guillemot's Maxi Sound Fortissimo which as uses the Yamaha YMF744 chip. The version of the board has a built in optical out. For 3D sound and reverb it uses the Sensaura engine which can support DS3D, I3DL2, EAX 1.0 and 2.0 and 32 3d steams. We based the review on the latest 2013 drivers that offer all this support and even though Guillemot just released these new drivers yesterday we have been using them for some time thanks to Hoontech's own driver upgrade for their Digital-XG.