Turtle Beach Montego™ DDL? anyone used it

peterosesbookie · May 29, 2005, 10:44 PM

I was just looking at this on their site since I still use my santa cruz. I have not seen any reviews on it yet or if it is going to be a good buy or not.

I am going to upgrade but I dot not need the firewire port on the SoundBlaster Audigy 2 series of cards.

later

pete

thaerin · Jun 2, 2005, 05:53 PM

I almost went with one when it came time to finally upgrade from my aging Santa Cruz, but I ended up going with the M-Audio Revolution 7.1 (Envy24 chipset). The Montego is based on a C-Media chipset (8768 to be exact) whom I've never been a fan of, but then again it's gotta be better than anything Creative puts out.

Necrosis · Jun 2, 2005, 05:59 PM

Hmm the Revolutions are based on the Via Envy series chips.

thaerin · Jun 2, 2005, 06:24 PM

Heh, I should probably rephase that sentence, I reread and it notice it does make it sound like the M-Audio is C-Media based when it actually is Envy24 as Necrosis pointed out. I actually meant that the Montego is based on on the C-Media 8768 chipset.

peterosesbookie · Jun 3, 2005, 11:20 AM

well is it worth the upgrade

Necrosis · Jun 3, 2005, 03:28 PM

To be honest the Santa Cruz is still a great card, and if you're happy I wouldn't upgrade.

dryloch · Jun 24, 2005, 03:51 AM

I too owned a Santa Cruz. I switched out when I got my Nforce 2 System with Dolby Digital encoding. I kept waiting for Turtle beach to make a DDL type card so I could switch to Athlon 64. I eventually switched anyway and got a crummy SB Audigy. As soon as I saw this card was available I ran to Micro Center to buy it. I threw the Audigy 2 in the garbage so as not to torture anyone else with it. This card sounds insanely good and crystal clear on my Logitech 5500s using the Optical cable to do Dolby Digital encoding. You can individually adjust all the speaker levels. I would definitely reccomend that any Turtle Beach fan go for it but the true quality probably only comes through if you have a DD receiver or speakers like the Logitechs with a built in decoder. You can get the Logitechs way below retail at somewhere like Newegg. They are under 300.00 which is a straight up steal.

Lowfat · Jun 24, 2005, 06:51 PM

how does the montego compare to soundstorm? I too have been waiting for some more dolbly digital live cards to hit the market to switch to an a64 patflorm.

joe22 · Jul 1, 2005, 01:29 AM

When using S/PDIF Digital Out in Montego, there is a problem with a difference of timing (latency problem) when hearing sound and watching the image with it.
I will go with BlueGears/HDA X Mystique

**dj_stick** · Jul 1, 2005, 01:45 AM

is the sound too early or too late?

Stop It · Jul 5, 2005, 10:04 PM

Unless if you really really want EAX, avoid creative cards, good for gaming, and dvd, but there are much better cards for music/dvd out there, if you want a decent EAX card though, get the audigy 2 value, nearly all of the features of the Aud 2 series, yet is £15/$25 cheaper, good luck with whatever you decide.

Lowfat · Jul 5, 2005, 11:26 PM

I really want a DDL card, and i can only find one poor review of this thing. showing the cpu resources it takes but nothing on the quality of the sound.

**dj_stick** · Jul 5, 2005, 11:47 PM

Turtlebeach are known for quality soundcards. But it is subjective, the best recourse is to go to your local store, and hear one for yourself

May 29, 2005, 10:44 PM	#1
peterosesbookie HardwareHeaven Senior Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: OHIO Posts: 556 Rep Power: 0	Turtle Beach Montego™ DDL? anyone used it I was just looking at this on their site since I still use my santa cruz. I have not seen any reviews on it yet or if it is going to be a good buy or not. I am going to upgrade but I dot not need the firewire port on the SoundBlaster Audigy 2 series of cards. later pete

Jun 2, 2005, 05:53 PM	#2
thaerin DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: 127.0.0.1 Posts: 41 Rep Power: 0	I almost went with one when it came time to finally upgrade from my aging Santa Cruz, but I ended up going with the M-Audio Revolution 7.1 (Envy24 chipset). The Montego is based on a C-Media chipset (8768 to be exact) whom I've never been a fan of, but then again it's gotta be better than anything Creative puts out. Last edited by thaerin; Jun 2, 2005 at 06:24 PM.

Jun 24, 2005, 06:51 PM	#8
Lowfat Xtreme Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Grande Prairie, AB, Can Posts: 4,254 Rep Power: 101	how does the montego compare to soundstorm? I too have been waiting for some more dolbly digital live cards to hit the market to switch to an a64 patflorm. __________________

Jul 5, 2005, 10:04 PM	#11
Stop It HHs' Resident Kitty Lover Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Biggleswade, UK Posts: 1,431 Rep Power: 78 System Specs	Unless if you really really want EAX, avoid creative cards, good for gaming, and dvd, but there are much better cards for music/dvd out there, if you want a decent EAX card though, get the audigy 2 value, nearly all of the features of the Aud 2 series, yet is £15/$25 cheaper, good luck with whatever you decide. __________________ Sig Courtesy of Mousey

Jul 5, 2005, 11:26 PM	#12
Lowfat Xtreme Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Grande Prairie, AB, Can Posts: 4,254 Rep Power: 101	I really want a DDL card, and i can only find one poor review of this thing. showing the cpu resources it takes but nothing on the quality of the sound. __________________

Jun 2, 2005, 05:59 PM	#3
Necrosis HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Ohio Posts: 8,838 Rep Power: 131 System Specs	Hmm the Revolutions are based on the Via Envy series chips.

Jun 2, 2005, 06:24 PM	#4
thaerin DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: 127.0.0.1 Posts: 41 Rep Power: 0	Heh, I should probably rephase that sentence, I reread and it notice it does make it sound like the M-Audio is C-Media based when it actually is Envy24 as Necrosis pointed out. I actually meant that the Montego is based on on the C-Media 8768 chipset.

Jun 3, 2005, 11:20 AM	Thread Starter #5
peterosesbookie HardwareHeaven Senior Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: OHIO Posts: 556 Rep Power: 0	well is it worth the upgrade

Jun 3, 2005, 03:28 PM	#6
Necrosis HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Ohio Posts: 8,838 Rep Power: 131 System Specs	To be honest the Santa Cruz is still a great card, and if you're happy I wouldn't upgrade.

Jun 24, 2005, 03:51 AM	#7
dryloch DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 1 Rep Power: 0	I too owned a Santa Cruz. I switched out when I got my Nforce 2 System with Dolby Digital encoding. I kept waiting for Turtle beach to make a DDL type card so I could switch to Athlon 64. I eventually switched anyway and got a crummy SB Audigy. As soon as I saw this card was available I ran to Micro Center to buy it. I threw the Audigy 2 in the garbage so as not to torture anyone else with it. This card sounds insanely good and crystal clear on my Logitech 5500s using the Optical cable to do Dolby Digital encoding. You can individually adjust all the speaker levels. I would definitely reccomend that any Turtle Beach fan go for it but the true quality probably only comes through if you have a DD receiver or speakers like the Logitechs with a built in decoder. You can get the Logitechs way below retail at somewhere like Newegg. They are under 300.00 which is a straight up steal.

Jul 1, 2005, 01:29 AM	#9
joe22 DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 1 Rep Power: 0	When using S/PDIF Digital Out in Montego, there is a problem with a difference of timing (latency problem) when hearing sound and watching the image with it. I will go with BlueGears/HDA X Mystique