Strengths: * A host of advanced features for a fraction of the price* Great sound quality* Smooth software/driver installation (on Windows XP)
Summary: My Creative Audigy 2 recently died. To replace it by a comparable product from Creative, would cost me more than a hundred dollars. This sound card provides all the features that I need and then some. My classic music collection sounds great! A big difference from using the built-in audio card.
Reviewed by: jdnjo on 03-Jan-06Rating:
Strengths: OPTICAL OUT!! Won't find a Creative card with it. Does everything I need. Blows the old onboard sound away. Drenches you in all the sound effects while gaming or listening to music.
Summary: I was looking for a card that could perform great with Battlefield 2 and couldn't stand the Creative prices. Don't forget that Creative has cornered the market and very few manufacturers can compete, but Turtle Beach has stayed afloat and has come up with a great card for a fraction of the other's cost. I use my old home entertainment receiver and wanted to use the optical input for the crisp pure digital experience and found one manufacturer that met my needs. While Battlefield 2 was created and tested with Creative cards (wonder how much Creative paid for that advertisement??), the Montego offers everything I was looking for. Sounds come from everywhere and you are immersed in the experience.
Reviewed by: serge99 on 30-Nov-05Rating:
Strengths: Awesome On-the-fly Dolby Digital encoding.
Summary: This is definately the best sound card right now, considering the price. It is comparable to the SoundBlaster X-Fi but costs a lot less. The soundblaster x-fi doesnt even do on-the-fly dolby digital encoding like the Montego DDL does, so you can even argue that the montego is better. This sound card is best paired with the logitech Z-5500 speakers, using a digital optical cable.