Hercules website
claims that whether you are looking at improving
your 3D graphic gaming with impressive surround
sound, creating unique compilations for your music
collection, or trying to get the best sound out of
your PC-based DVD, this audio card has what you
need. Lets see if this is the case.
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The Hot Hardware Test System |
Better
each day... |
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MSI
K7T266 Pro2-RU
AMD Athlon XP 1800+
256MB Micron PC2100 DDR
GeForce 3 Ti 500
Hercules Fortissimo II
IBM DeskStar 80Gb Hard Drive (RAID 0)
Pioneer 16x DVD DVD-105
Windows XP Professional
Cambridge Soundworks Speakers with Subwoofer
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Performance |
Did You
Hear That? |
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GAMES: Eidos Soul
Reaver 2, Lucasarts Starfighter, EA Sports FIFA
2002
After originally hearing a slight crackle and pop
using a SB Live! card while playing Soul Reaver 2,
I was pleasantly surprised to hear a much cleaner
background with the Fortissimo II. The opening
theme, with its Gothic intonations, resonated
nicely, while the footsteps and other eerie noises
kept me on the edge of my seat. From the familiar
opening fanfare to the sounds of laser fire
emanating from my starfighters cannons, I felt
like I was in the theater watching the latest Star
Wars movie. While playing Starfighter and in FIFA
2002, the stadium sounds were just like being
there, with the shrill whistle from the referee
almost sending me to the showers. I did not notice
any hit in frame rates from the processing of the
3D audio although this again is a negligible gain
with todays powerful processors. The sounds were
clear, speech was perfectly audible, and I did not
see any slowdown or stuttering on longer cut
scenes. Overall, I was very impressed with the
sound quality in each of these games.
WINAMP v2.79:
I tried listening to MP3s from such varied sources
as Enya, Ja-Rule, Howard Shore, and Eric Johnson.
The music came across with very clean highs and
decent bass. I liken the effect to when I first
switched from cassette tapes to Compact Discs.
Enyas authentic Irish lilt came through my
speakers crisp and clean, while Howard Shores
symphonic Amon Hen from the movie The Lord of
the Rings filled my living room with violins and
bassoons. I found the bass to be a little soft,
listening to Ja Rules Livin It Up, but a quick
change of my mixer settings put that to rest.
Finally, while listening to the guitar expertise
of Eric Johnsons Cliffs of Dover, I swear I
could hear each string being plucked. Yes, it
actually sounds that good. Each of these
recordings was sampled at 192-320 bitrate, and
that may have an effect to some degree, but this
sound card definitely delivered the goods for my
ears. How this translated on a set of better
speakers, such as the Klipsch ProMedia 4.1 is up
for question and is subject to the listener.
DVD PLAYBACK:
Using PowerDVD XP 4, I sampled three scenes:
the lobby gunfight scene from the Matrix, the
Rave-fight scene from Blade and the unforgettable
opening from Saving Private Ryan. I have to say
that the quality was simply astounding, although
there were a few times that the sound broke up a
little after loud explosions. Hearing the
individual shells drop from Neos gun and clink on
the floor while explosions ripped around you was
impressive, although it should be expected when
watching a DVD. The sounds of war in Saving
Private Ryan made the scene all the more gritty.
I could swear I heard the explosions to the left
and right of me, having bullets whiz by my head,
and this completely immersed me into feeling that
I was actually there on the battlefield. The 3D
spatial effects are amazing, perhaps even better
than what I had been accustomed to with the SB
Audigy and Live!. Now, if I had only been able to
watch these with a set of 5.1 speakers, this
experience would have been golden.
The Hercules
Fortissimo II definitely lives up to its hype; it
is an all-around great audio card for casual
listeners and hardcore gamers and the price is
right. It is fully featured and should give
Creative Labs a run for its money, especially in
light of their recent problems with some of their
cards in Windows 2000 and XP. The DIN cable was an
interesting choice, making setup a relative breeze
and allowing for the S/PDIF connections to remain
on the bracket. In doing so, the user is not
forced to pay for or use a breakout-box such as
those found with the GameTheater XP or SB Audigy
Platinum models.
Add in the nice blue PCB board, and Im sold (my
PC is already a colorful match of red and blue
components.) The only real detraction from the
card is the lack of 5.1 speaker support. This may
turn some buyers away, especially if they have
already invested in a superior speaker system. For
most users, this wont be a real issue and the
quality heard in the games, music, and movies will
justify the purchase. For all of this, I give the
Hercules Fortissimo II a 9 on the Hot Hardware
Heat Meter.
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