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Topic: ESS Solo-1 or Ensoniq es1371 (Read 6628 times) previous topic - next topic
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ESS Solo-1 or Ensoniq es1371

I have the Ensoniq in my computer and my dad has the ESS in his computer. My dad's computer sounds approxamatly 65456154324 times better than mine. And his is embedded into his motherboard (its a no-name montherboard from a shitty compaq computer). I'm thinking the ensoniq should sound better because it isn't embedded and a no-name brand (I think). Doesn't embedded audio have a reputaion of being shitty, especially on older boards? I've tried everything to tweak my card to make it sound better, but nothing works. Is it just a better card? I know nothing about sound cards.

His computer is a Penyium III 450MHz, 392MB RAM and mine is a Pentium 754MHz with 64MB RAM. Although, I don't think processor has any effect on sound card quality.

ESS Solo-1 or Ensoniq es1371

Reply #1 –
I have an es1371 here too and even though it's far from what I'd consider optimal, it is a damn good, simple (!), analog output card.
Even though it does, contrary to popular believe, resample everyting to 48khz.
The non-resampling ensoniq chip is the es1370.

dev0
"To understand me, you'll have to swallow a world." Or maybe your words.

ESS Solo-1 or Ensoniq es1371

Reply #2 –
dev0 - if you play a sound through your card that is rather quiet (such as the heart beat at the begining of Dark Side of the Moon my Pink Floyd) does it sound all distorted?

When I use the WaveOut output mode on my dads computer (foobar2000 .7 RC7) it sounds fine, but if I change it to DirectSound, it will sound exactly like my ensoniq; all distorted and buzzy. I'm thinking my card is somehow not optimally configured...

ESS Solo-1 or Ensoniq es1371

Reply #3 –
I have the ES1371 too (SB PCI128), and never had a complaint about sound quality (although measurement-wise my Audiophile 24/96 is much better).  Always loved the simplicity aspect.

One complaint I do have is that the SB PCI128 implementation doesn't seem to add any dither on the analog input jacks -- if you amplify the background residual noise, it's just EMI whine from fans.  This may vary between ES1371 cards, of course... but it would make the PCI128 a poor choice for analog recording in many cases, at least without adding dither manually.  Also, some driver revisions of the PCI128/Win9x use a "virtual surround" function on the output jack that defaults to "on" everytime the OS is booted (very annoying).

P.S. thanks for the info dev0, that would have been handier before I got my M-Audio card but still good to know.

ESS Solo-1 or Ensoniq es1371

Reply #4 –
i have had many budget soundcards but have always gone back to the ensoniq 1371 i pulled from a throw away, the quality is excellent, no noise and just made all my files sound so much better, especially on the high end.  Also uses very little CPU time
Chaintech AV-710

ESS Solo-1 or Ensoniq es1371

Reply #5 –
for some reason, my es1371 sounds like shit unlike everyone else's. Does anybody have any ideas on how to make mine not sound so horrible?

ESS Solo-1 or Ensoniq es1371

Reply #6 –
maybe its just because i am used to crappy cards 

I am just using the drivers the Windows XP installs and winamp with directsound output

the card does not support all the 3D game stuff, but i don't care about that
Chaintech AV-710

ESS Solo-1 or Ensoniq es1371

Reply #7 –
I have an ESS Solo in my computer (sorry, but I don't know exactly which number) and I am experiencing some small problems with it. It is not that the sound is bad or whatever, but when no sounds are played and I turn up the volume of my loud speakers, I can hear some strange noise, especially when the CD-ROM drive is showing activity. I guess this happens because I have connected the CD-ROM with the sound card, but anyway... Beside that, like dev0 said, the card is very simple but not bad.

ESS Solo-1 or Ensoniq es1371

Reply #8 –
I have one Solo-1 based card - BAD quality, easily audible.
SB Live Value with its resampling is much better...
ruxvilti'a

ESS Solo-1 or Ensoniq es1371

Reply #9 –
hmm. what OS are you using?
which is your father's OS?

ESS Solo-1 or Ensoniq es1371

Reply #10 –
Quote
I have an es1371 here too and even though it's far from what I'd consider optimal, it is a damn good, simple (!), analog output card.
Even though it does, contrary to popular believe, resample everyting to 48khz.
The non-resampling ensoniq chip is the es1370.

dev0

So do all soundcards that use AC97 codecs and many others too.  The core technology of a soundcard is the sample rate converter.  I also question your statement about the es1370 not resampling.  Where did you get that information?

ESS Solo-1 or Ensoniq es1371

Reply #13 –
Quote
hmm. what OS are you using?
which is your father's OS?

dad: Win98
Me: Win95

ESS Solo-1 or Ensoniq es1371

Reply #14 –
According to the testing here: http://www.pcavtech.com/soundcards/compare/index.htm , the Ensonic should sound better.

Have you tested with the same equipment connect to the soundcards at both computers? Used the same headphone or speakers?  On the Ensonic, were amplified speakers plugged into the amplified output jack instead of the line level output jack?

Are you using the same software player and plugins on both computers?

If you want to compare soundcards, make sure you aren't really comparing speakers, players, plugins, etc.  Remove as many variables as you can.

ESS Solo-1 or Ensoniq es1371

Reply #15 –
I am using foobar2000 on both stsyems. The ensoniq sounds horrible when I plug my headphones directly into the back of the card. When I plug the phones into the back of the ESS, it sounds the same (although less bass). I can't transfer the ESS into my computer because the ESS is onboard, but I can transfer the ensoniq. I'll try that tomorrow.

I should add that before I got the ensoniq, my computer had an even older ESS 688 that had the same buzzing / distortion problems that I'm having with this card. I'm thinking it has something to do with my motherboard, or some other hardware. Hmm, but then again, the buzzing and crap only occures when sound is playing. When the music stops, the buzzing stops...