R600 sound card's identity exposed
 

The real question is what is it? The short answer? Realtek.

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=38738

or in other words, it's ****

GREAT JOB ATI

Realtek HD audio not quite bad; you'd be hard pressed to hear the difference.

not quite bad isnt enough for something you bundle with a highend product


Just as the onbord audio on the i680 chipset should have been a next gen soundstorm to justify the price.

yes and no, VGA isn't supposed to be soundcard, including realtek onboard is quite a convenience if you're building HTPC machine.

So you would rather prefer ATI sided with Creative Labs for an X-Fi solution?

You'd actually wish that kind of driver headache/problems on people? ;) What is the point of X-Fi vs a Reltek's HD Azalia option when only an audiophile or someone with great speakers can notice the difference? Hardware sound acceleration isn't an option anymore with Vista, at least currently. And Realtek by far has a much better driver situation than Creative anyway. Using an X-Fi ISP would most likely have raised the end MSRP even higher.

I am thinking of HTPC usage, where I demand soundquality like a better stereo system for MP3s and top notch 5.1 in movies.

Why would I want to cripple an expensive speaker setup with the soundcard like most people with a HTPC have? We aren't talking about those 50$ DVD player people.


I DEMAND Auzentech and M-Audio level from a solution mounted to a possible 500+ $ card.

you can have that on a $500 soundcard:)

So... you are going to put the most powerhungry, hottest graphics card into your HTPC for the sound, if ATI puts a X-Fi DSP on it? There are half a dozen very good sound cards in addition to Creative's out there better suited for HTPC life anyway, not including better suited GPUs. Both of which together cost much less than an R600. :)

I never said anything about creative or a soundcard costing 500$ :(