Drivers Hercules Sound Cards & Media Devices List
Drivers Hercules Sound Cards & Media Devices Download
Hercules Driver Download
Drivers Hercules Sound Cards & Media Devices Free

Hercules Gamesurround Fortissimo Iii 7 1 Audio Card Driver Windows 98se Me 2000 Xp free download - Realtek Lan Driver for Windows XP 5.611.1231.2003.zip, PDF Reader for Windows 7, Windows 7. When I ask to reinstall the C-media drivers a notice tells me I have the best drivers now. Btw, the audio worked perfectly in this machine before the windows reinstall so I am pretty sure the problem is not with the Sound card, drivers or the installation CD. Thanks for any help on this, jim.

Most people associate the brandname of Hercules with videocards. But in November 1999 Herculeswas purchased by Guillemot Corp.,a well known manufacturer of game and audio attachments for computersand game consoles. As a result of such amalgamation the market has receiveda sound card called 'Game Theater XP' - the hero of our today's review. Themanagers of Guillemot have decided to use a renowned brand-name instead ofthe name of their own company.

The manufacturer intends the card for a wide circle of PC users -from hard-core gamers to 'home theater-lovers'. The developers of this cardtried to satisfy all the demands of gamers, first of all, as far as functionalityand convenience are concerned. Let's examine this card and check whetherit justifies its $200 price tag.

Appearance And Box's Contents

In a gigantic box there are the following components:

PCI sound card with an unusual connector DB-44;
External module or rack;
2-meter cable (very thick);
A couple of CDs with software and drivers;
User's Manual in 7 languages;
Gilded adapter 'stereo jack - stereo mini jack'.

Sound Card

This PCI sound card surprises me with its small dimensions and the absenceof a heap of connectors. There are only a 44-pin connector for the cableand a line-in mini jack. It is quite rational that internal connectors, but CD_IN and AUX2_IN, are taken away since they are rarely used.

By the way, a couple of years ago the absence of an internal connector'CD Digital in' could be considered as a disadvantage of the card, buttoday a great bulk of CD/DVD ROM drives can read CD-DA discs via IDE bus.And the software support is provided by WMP of the 7th version, WinAmpvia its plug-in CD Reader.In W2K such support is organized on the OS level. This connector canbe useful only for connecting with another sound card, but gamers and theater-loversare hardly interested in it.

Well, it is our old fellow - the CS4630processor from Crystal Semiconductor.

Many of you might remember it from the SantaCruz review (there was a lot of criticism towards the card taking intoconsideration its price and destination, but a bit later the Santa's driverswere reworked, and starting from the 4071 version the card works, at least,stable).

Let's see what this DSP is famous for:

420 MIPS performance;
140 MHz internal frequency;
32-bit intermediate data storage;
hardware support of DirectSound3D and all current Sensaura technologies(both for 2 and for 4 speakers);
10-band equalizer;
high quality hardware SRC (sample rate converter) which leaves the dynamicrange after conversion higher than 90 dB;
supports up to 2 AC'97 codecs;
PCI Bus mastering;
SB Pro emulation via PC/PCI in a DOS mode and in a DOS window;
digital interface support (IEC-958 consumer version):

32/44.1/48 KHz S/PDIF in
fixed 48 KHz S/PDIF out.

The card is furnished with two 4-channel codecs - the CS4294-JQfrom Crystal Semiconductor.

Drivers Hercules Sound Cards & Media Devices

Let's have a look at the ratings of the codecs:

Common
0 dB level, FS	1 Vrms
Channel isolation	87 dB
DAC
Bit capacity	20 bits
Frequency range, FR	20 - 20,000 Hz +/- 0.5 dB
Dynamic range, DR	87 dB A
Distortions + Noise, THD+N	-74 dB FS A @ - 3 dB FS
DAC
Bit capacity	18 bit
Frequency range, FR	20 - 20,000 Hz +/- 0.5 dB
Dynamic range, DR	85 dB A
Distortions + Noise, THD+N	-74 dB FS A @ - 3 dB FS

The card lacks for a 'professional 20-bit sound', but it is a good solutionas a game card with elements of a home theater. The listening tests beloware going to show the real sounding of the card.

External Module

A 2-meter 44-pin cable connects the sound card with a stylish externalmodule with gilded connectors. The gilding is meant not for theimprovement of the sound but for avoiding an oxide film which can worsen the contact.But as for the home equipment the material used for connectors doesn'tmatter much since its influence on the sound is outweighed by the DAC and amplifying partquality. That is why in this case gilded connectors are some kindof a charm. Why not? :)

Look at the full-sized (1/4') phones and mic jacks. The second line-in(the first one is on the card) is combined with a mic input. In the extremeposition of the mic's signal amplification regulator the switch shifts anelectric circuit to the line-in (two gilded connectors).

Drivers fractal audio sound cards for pc. Besides, on the front panel of the external module there are 2 USB connectorsand one standard Game/Joystick one.

Now as for the rear part of the module:

Output RCA connectors for an active acoustic system are duplicated withminijacks, unlike the center and the subwoofer. The USB hub is introducedwith two connectors on the front panel (1,2) and two on the rear one (3,4).The digital input and output are made both in coaxial electricaland optical implementation. For connection of MIDI/MP3 keyboards and synthesizersthere are standard 5-pin DIN connectors.

On the top cover of the unit is an emblem of the penguin (Guillemot'slogo). A big metallic case (well-shielded) stands on 4 plastic legs. Thecase is very difficult to disassemble; there are more than twenty bolts insideand outside.

Inside there is a great deal of buffering elements and amplifiers. Thereare no any DACs or ACDs, and all the codecs are located on the card. It shouldbe noted that a normal scheme with a transformer is realized for RCA S/PDIFinputs and outputs, it provides a standard signal level and galvanic decoupling.

Installation And Connection

The test system configuration:

CPU - the Intel PIII-733EB (133X5.5, Coppermine);
RAM - 128 MBytes (133 MHz);
the ABIT BE6-II motherboard;
HDD - the Quantum KA, UDMA66 7200 rpm;
DVD-drive - the Creative 5240E (2.5-5x);
CD-RW recorder - the TEAC CD-W54EK;
33 MHz PCI bus (133/4);
the GeForce2MX video card with TV-out;
Ethernet netcard;
the SB Live! Player 5.1 sound card (EMU10K), digital coaxial interface(S/PDIF).

The tests were run under the Win9x operating system with installedDirectX 8.0a.

The CD with drivers includes the following programs:

Sensaura Virtual Ear - a program for adjustment of 3D audio positioningalgorithms;
PowerDVD 3.0 - a soft DVD player
Musicmatch 5.1 Jukebox - mp3, wma player;
Siren Jukebox Express - a program for keeping an mp3 directory on a computer;
Magic Player Jukebox - another mp3 player, with visualization;
Yamaha XG Studio - a soft MIDI XG synthesizer S-YXG50;
Kool Karaoke Lite - a light version of the karaoke player;
ACID Express - a multitrack audio editor for creation of your own compositions

Drivers Hercules Sound Cards & Media Devices