Guillemot Hercules Gamesurround Fortissimo II Sound Card

Pros: Good value, optical digital outputs, seperate headphone connector

Cons: Odd proprietary analog audio connector. Lose it and you're in trouble.

The Bottom Line: This is the perfect sound card for most computer users. Only if you do digital mastering or editing will you need more than this.

Review: In my search for a sound card to be used in my Home Theatre computer, I had set a few criteria that I wanted to respect. First and foremost, it had to have a digital output to connect to a receiver. That way I can get Dolby Digital or DTS sound while...

Pros: Low price, great sound quality, excellent control panel software, PowerDVD included.

Cons: None.

The Bottom Line: I'm amazed that a fully featured card like the Fortissimo II can be had for $60. This is a hard deal to beat.

Review: While sulking around Tokyo after finding that the one store that sells English software didn't have PowerDVD, the logo caught my eye; it was a badge on the Hercules Gamesurround Fortissimo II sound card box. I had been thinking about buying a new sound...

Pros: Performance Ease of Installation Bundled Software(Power DVD, Yamaha XG,Control Panel) Price

Cons: No Games Included. About it

The Bottom Line: If you are looking for a high-end sound card at low-end prices without the lose in performance and quality, this is a definite buy.

Review: Ran across this card and never heard anything about it but took a chance on it based on the specs on the package. This card installs with no problems. The sound is un-surpassed in richness and clarity of any card I have owned which have been the...

Pros: Cheap, cool blue look, excellent sound quality, slick looking menus. Good features.

Cons: Proprietary cable.

The Bottom Line: If your looking for an excellent 4.1 compatible soundcard, this is the way to go. The sound quality and features of this card make it well worth the money.

Review: I think this is the best card for the money period. The card itself is Hercules standard blue, which is nice. It was very easy to install, as any sound card should be. The option menus for the card are very slick and easy to use. The 20bit DAC makes...

Pros: sound quality. features. price. Seperate headphone jack. Good support.

Cons: Digital output won't sync with Minidisc!

The Bottom Line: Good card for the price. Won't record on Minidisc.

Review: This card gives you a very nice set of features and sound quality for a good price.
It has a nice control panel and it works great. I think it is a very good competitor for creative.
There is also a digital in/out (SPDIF) but DON'T BUY IT FOR...

Pros: Decent four speaker sound. SPDIF ports for connecting to the latest amplifiers

Cons: Digital sound not available for all output, only power DVD DTS stereo for movies

The Bottom Line: Hercules misleads you about the 5.1 support, analog mode is 4.1 only. Digital outputs currently function for DVD movie DTS stereo only and not for any other output.

Review: I was looking for a 6 channel sound card for my backup system. I have a early version of the Hercules Muse which is a decent card but doesn't have all the bells and whistles that some sound cards have. This card uses the Cirrus Logic Sound Fusion...

Pros: optical jacks

Cons: no 64 hardware voice acceleration any more

The Bottom Line: Look elsewhere until Hercules get their acts together. Until they reenable the midi acceleration with the latest drivers I can't recommend the card.

Review: When shopping for a soundcard, I primarily look for support for the latest sound APIs( EAX, directsound, etc.) and how many hardware voice acceleration the card is capable of. The Hercules Fortissimo2 soundcard had all those with an advertised 64 voice...