Hot-Rod Soundcard in true audiophile colors!!! Is this it? - Page 3 - Overclock.net

**soloz2** · 4 Weeks Ago

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigstan

to me, a USB dac is just an external soundcard. it's not a magic black box that somehow corrects error, noise etc.

As long as it's a good soundcard, internal, external, same.

not necessarily. Computers are major sources of interference. Think about how many fans and other components are crammed in there. Removing the audio processing from this environment is almost always a good thing.

musicPC · 4 Weeks Ago

Finally received it!

Hot-Rod Soundcard in true audiophile colors!!! Is this it?-img_2976.jpg

The box looked brand new and without any sign of tampering by Partsconnexion. : )

Inside was the same, everything was sealed in original wrappings! After striping off a few layers, the fully modified Audiotrak Prodigy HD2 was revealed!

Hot-Rod Soundcard in true audiophile colors!!! Is this it?-img_2977.jpg

Hot-Rod Soundcard in true audiophile colors!!! Is this it?-img_2980.jpg

The first noticeable features were those Burson Audio opamps. They were beautifully built! 3 dual opamps each built with over 70 transistors and resistors... soldered in a very condensed but perfectly neat way. With the Burson opamps added, by component count, this soundcard must be one of the most complex ever built.

Hot-Rod Soundcard in true audiophile colors!!! Is this it?-img_2981.jpg

Hot-Rod Soundcard in true audiophile colors!!! Is this it?-img_2984.jpg

Other modifications that I have noticed include an upgrade of RCA connectors, a few soldering marks here and there which I presumed related to the power supply upgrade mentioned by Chris Johnson from Partsconnexion.

musicPC · 4 Weeks Ago

Installation:

Fitting the Audiotrak / Burson HD2 into my PC was easy enough. Yes, it did take up 2 slots. But that was it. 2 slots. : )

The installation CD worked perfectly with Windows XP. A few clicks and one reboot later it was singing.

Hot-Rod Soundcard in true audiophile colors!!! Is this it?-img_2985.jpg

Hot-Rod Soundcard in true audiophile colors!!! Is this it?-img_2986.jpg

The Sound:

Before this purchase I worried about noise and interference issues. But trying it with my headphone eased that concern completely. Through the headphone, I couldn’t hear any noise at all. I have maximize the volume and yet it was dead quite compared to my old soundcard which produced a hissing noise at the same level.

The sound was breathtaking! I could hear more of everything and I heard details on familiar tracks that I never thought existed. Drum kicks became more real and packed more punches. Not just more bass but more details in the bass! With this soundcard the difference between MP3 and lossless became painfully obvious.

The improvement in vocal amazed me the most. It was so much more realistic that it was live-like. This coming weekend will be one hell of a listening session.

PCX mentioned that it takes 100 hours of break-in before this soundcard reaches full potential… I can’t wait to hear it. As someone who enjoys music in two channels, this soundcard will stay with me for years to come.

Hot-Rod Soundcard in true audiophile colors!!! Is this it?-img_2988.jpg

**soloz2** · 4 Weeks Ago

it's smaller than I had imagined. Still I don't think I could fit one in my rig without getting a new case, or putting it up tight against my gfx card.

dean0 · 4 Weeks Ago

Heres a prelude I 'beefed up' a while back;

Sounds improvment was noticable, but problem with soundcards is interferance (noise), being inside a pc case. IMO better to get external DAC for music and soundcard for gaming (eax effects etc.).

tombom · 4 Weeks Ago

This looks cool, but honestly I have no idea what all this is about. :[

bigstan · 4 Weeks Ago

Thanks for the amazing review and impressive photos. : ) I will buy one too in the near future.

wirehead · 4 Weeks Ago

Nice! I can use one for my media centre. : )

W
A
N
T
!

duocpu2.4 · 4 Weeks Ago

Found another one on a Korean forum.

http://www.parkoz.com/zboard/view.ph...c=asc&no=16328

musicPC · 4 Weeks Ago

Quote:

Originally Posted by dean0

Heres a prelude I 'beefed up' a while back

Sounds improvment was noticable, but problem with soundcards is interferance (noise), being inside a pc case. IMO better to get external DAC for music and soundcard for gaming (eax effects etc.).

Hi Dean, I see you have changed those caps on the card what cap are they

4 Weeks Ago	#22 (permalink)
musicPC New to Overclock.net Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 87 Rep: 9 Unique Rep: 8 Trader Rating: 0	Finally received it! The box looked brand new and without any sign of tampering by Partsconnexion. : ) Inside was the same, everything was sealed in original wrappings! After striping off a few layers, the fully modified Audiotrak Prodigy HD2 was revealed! The first noticeable features were those Burson Audio opamps. They were beautifully built! 3 dual opamps each built with over 70 transistors and resistors... soldered in a very condensed but perfectly neat way. With the Burson opamps added, by component count, this soundcard must be one of the most complex ever built. Other modifications that I have noticed include an upgrade of RCA connectors, a few soldering marks here and there which I presumed related to the power supply upgrade mentioned by Chris Johnson from Partsconnexion. Last edited by musicPC : 4 Weeks Ago at 07:17 PM Reason: more info

4 Weeks Ago	#23 (permalink)
musicPC New to Overclock.net Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 87 Rep: 9 Unique Rep: 8 Trader Rating: 0	Installation: Fitting the Audiotrak / Burson HD2 into my PC was easy enough. Yes, it did take up 2 slots. But that was it. 2 slots. : ) The installation CD worked perfectly with Windows XP. A few clicks and one reboot later it was singing. The Sound: Before this purchase I worried about noise and interference issues. But trying it with my headphone eased that concern completely. Through the headphone, I couldn’t hear any noise at all. I have maximize the volume and yet it was dead quite compared to my old soundcard which produced a hissing noise at the same level. The sound was breathtaking! I could hear more of everything and I heard details on familiar tracks that I never thought existed. Drum kicks became more real and packed more punches. Not just more bass but more details in the bass! With this soundcard the difference between MP3 and lossless became painfully obvious. The improvement in vocal amazed me the most. It was so much more realistic that it was live-like. This coming weekend will be one hell of a listening session. PCX mentioned that it takes 100 hours of break-in before this soundcard reaches full potential… I can’t wait to hear it. As someone who enjoys music in two channels, this soundcard will stay with me for years to come.

4 Weeks Ago	#25 (permalink)
dean0 New to Overclock.net Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 63 Rep: 15 Unique Rep: 15 Trader Rating: 0	Heres a prelude I 'beefed up' a while back; Sounds improvment was noticable, but problem with soundcards is interferance (noise), being inside a pc case. IMO better to get external DAC for music and soundcard for gaming (eax effects etc.). __________________ http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k1...rjosh/logo.gif

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Hot-Rod Soundcard in true audiophile colors!!! Is this it?

4 Weeks Ago	#27 (permalink)
bigstan New to Overclock.net Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 53 Rep: 3 Unique Rep: 3 Trader Rating: 0	Thanks for the amazing review and impressive photos. : ) I will buy one too in the near future.

4 Weeks Ago	#28 (permalink)
wirehead New to Overclock.net Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 100 Rep: 2 Unique Rep: 0 Trader Rating: 0	Nice! I can use one for my media centre. : ) W A N T !

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