Review: Review: Stuart “Veridian3” Davidson
Editor/Design : Allan "Zardon" Campbell

 

Introduction

Gainward have long been known as a manufacturer of quality graphics cards as with any industry it is wise to branch out into other related areas and today we have one of Gainwards first attempts at a non graphics component. Announced at the end of October 2003 the Hollywood @ Home 7.1 soundcard is Gainwards option for mainstream surround sound.

 

The card itself is made from a striking red PCB, the usual outputs/inputs are present as well as a digital optical out and the audio processor is the VIA Envy 24 HT-s. Installation of the card was a breeze, just plug it in, startup your system and install the audio controlpanel/driver. It is worth noting that the drivers on the CD were the same as the most up to date drivers on the Via website http://www.viaarena.com/?PageID=327 , something which is not always the case when we receive hardware to review. This should also be the case for anyone buying one of these cards.

As well as the audio software the card also comes bundled with Win Cinema Pro which is a nice addition considering the price of the package.

The audio control panel offered is currently the VIA reference control panel, it is fully featured and easy to use. You have full control over the volume levels for each speaker set/connection as well as the ability to enable or disable the enhanced modes such as pseudo surround for stereo systems. Gainward have also informed us that in the near future they will be adding their own branding to the panel which although not necessary should make the software that bit nicer looking.

Audio Performance
(for all tests a set of creative inspire T7700 were used)

Max Payne 2: The Fall Of Max Payne

As well as being a feast for the eyes Max Payne 2 also has some excellent sound effects and so makes an excellent choice for testing out the soundcard. Firstly I tried Max Payne 2 on 2.1 mode, the stereo separation was excellent, even spinning the character round fast the audio positioning kept up. Moving to all 8 speakers I fired up the first real level of the game “elevator doors” mainly because it features a couple of interesting gun battles, the ability to create large explosion and finally an outdoor area with rain.
The rain effects in surround sound were excellent, it really was like being in a rain storm. As for the gun battles, the positional audio was very good. Bullets whistled from speaker to speaker and explosions had real force coming through the subwoofer. Finally the speech, of which there is a lot in MP2 was crisp and clear.

Call Of Duty

Call Of Duty has the ability to completely draw you into the game environment, in stereo which is the mode I’ve previously played COD the sound was excellent and I was really looking forward to using it in surround mode. The first thing that struck me using the H@H 7.1 was how rich the orchestral soundtrack over the intro/menu was, the track really filled the room. Moving into the game itself I was very happy with the sound provided, whilst not as impressive as I had expected (there just didn’t seem to be much oomph ) the sound provided was still more than adequate and provided a completely immersive experience.

Need For Speed: Underground

Need For Speed: Underground has an excellent musical soundtrack, and additionally its one of the few THX certified games out there. From a musical perspective the H@H 7.1 provided clear vocals and some excellent bass, very effective when you’re tearing round a track at 150mph and have a hip-hop track thumping in the background. The engine sounds produced by the card were also good, no distortion was noticeable. One of the most surprising things about the audio experience provided by this card was that even when you have several engine noises, a loud soundtrack and all the various crash sounds there was never any muddy sound and all channels remained clear.

 

Music
For our music test the 2.1 speaker setup was used.

Mike Oldfield – Tubular Bells 25th Anniversary Remastered Gold CD

No complaints on the audio quality here, all instruments were clearly defined, adequate bass and even when the volume was increased the sound quality remained good.

Massive Attack – Mezzanine

Again good audio provided by the H@H 7.1, bass was nice and the vocals clear. The overall quality was not as good as my NF7-S soundstorm audio however there was nothing bad to speak of.

 

DVD

The Matrix (Scene used : Lobby Shooting Spree)
The above scene was used primarily because of the huge amount of sounds happening in a short space of time, from bullets whizzing by to thumping kicks and shells hitting the marble floor. Again clarity was the name of the game in this test, each of the above sounds was as expected, the only complaint being that the bass wasn’t as defined or deep as I would have liked.

 

Click image for larger view

 

Conclusion
The Gainward Hollywood @ Home 7.1 soundcard is very good value for money, retailing at £35/$40 you have a card which provides all round good audio and full 7.1 surround sound. Whilst there is no great WOW factor in the sound as with a Creative Audigy 2 this card isn’t aimed at the same market and so when viewed against the products in its category or as an upgrade from an ageing stereo soundcard or onboard sound chip the Hollywood at home should be top of your list of budget cards.

Card is available in the UK at EBUYER