Audio Quality

As I already pointed out, you can’t get to modify sound setting deeply as I would have wished, anyway overall sound output volume is significantly lower than with the Live! card, that can’t be considered a bad or good thing though.

I would say music playback quality was on par with Live! cards and a bit better than Vortex2 cards. Highs sound really good with this card, while lows in the other hand aren’t so good for me, but I guess one compensates the other.

I tried out different kind of games for testing the MX400, from racing sims to first person shooter games. I tried games with support for EAX and A3D as well, didn’t had any major problems and the card would be recognized automatically (I mean, games would turn on 3D audio support by themselves, that is).

Headphone and 2 speaker output was good, nothing too special. 4 speaker output is where this card really shines though, positioning was better than anything I had heard before, some people might not notice it but in my very own opinion this is the area where the MX400 beats the competition.

Once and again, we have to complain about the drivers, even with the latest ones we noticed sound stuttering in different games, and it’s confirmed, it’s an specific drivers related problem, that’s something that should have been solved already.

Conclusion

The MonsterSound MX400 is a good product but it must be said, it’s not a real replacement or a “new generation” soundcard, it offers similar features of the Live! and Vortex2 based cards at slightly lower price.

Pros:

• Excellent overall sound quality

• Low Price

• Good API support

Cons:

• What? No fancy control panel included?

• Drivers need a bit of work

• Bundle could have been better

3D Spotlight review score:
8.5/10

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