Guillemot Maxi Sound Muse - Guillemot Maxi Sound Muse
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Product: Maxi Sound Muse soundcard
Price: $29.00 retail
Availability: Online and in stores such as Best Buy
Installation Screen
Software: By far the coolest app in this software package was the Yamaha XG Player/Synthesizer. I have been a winamp fan for awhile now, but I'm liking this Yamaha player quite a bit. It even comes with a few skins to play around with, that look very nice and professional. Below is the base model skin.
Sorry for the size, but I wanted you to see this app in it's full glory. VERY nice indeed. Even showing you the CPU usage per song being played. Unfortunately this only works for MIDI, but still very unique. You can even email the current song directly to a friend via the open mail button. Below are some pics of the many different Skins I mentioned.
Default
Orange Titan
Minimized
The more I played with this application, the more I liked it. But I will not dwell on this further, since this IS a sound card review. Another item of interest in the console settings are the Properties tabs, which let you adjust Wave Table Polyphony and even Maximum CPU Usage, as well as Quality and Direct sound. A welcome set of tools for the system tweaker to play with.
Ok, enough of the excellent Yamaha software. Lets see what else comes bundled.
Guillemot MultiStation
Acid Express
Kool Karaoke
I usually treat software packages like red-headed step children. However, I was very happy with the bundle that came in the Maxi Sound Muse. You could literally spend hours playing with all the software packaged here, and for your money, that is always a bonus. There were also two additional apps called EarJam IMP and Siren Jukebox Express. I'll let you discover those on your own, should you choose to purchase this card. Lets move on and finish this review up.
Conclusion: The last thing I will touch on here is sound quality. I am by no means a studio engineer and do not claim to be. But I do have a relatively nice home surround stereo system and have always enjoyed listening to quality music. I was previously very happy with the sound quality and output of the Diamond MX-300 card. From a technology standpoint, I believe the MX-300 is actually a superior product. But again, unsupported and it's days are numbered. If not already over.
The sound quality of the Maxi Sound Muse is very close, if not identical in quality as the MX-300. And with the additional software enhancements provided by Yamaha, I am very happy with the output of this card. Recommendations? Lets see.
Highs:
Very low price
Available in most of the bigger retail outlets
Respectable sound quality
Excellent software package
Small footprint
Lows:
Also as a final note. I could not find ANY updated drivers on the Guillemot website. I even went so far as to call the Toll-Free technical support, and all I got was the option to leave voice-mail. And unfortunately their voice-mail was FULL, and I could not even do that. Even though I am relatively pleased with the sound card, the lack of updated driver support is NOT a good sign, and gives notice for concern.
So, while I would recommend this card to someone building or upgrading their PC on a budget, leaving more money to priority items, such as a video card or CPU. I cannot whole heartedly recommend this to someone looking for the "complete" package. Which to me would be Top-Notch sound quality, excellent driver support, all at a competitive price. I checked pricewatch, and the SoundBlaster Live Value, can be had for around $42.00 with an additional $7.50 for shipping. If you can afford around $50 for a sound card, I would probably have to recommend the SBLive value. If you are just looking for something to get you by. The Guillemot Maxi Sound will do just that.
UPDATE: Some excellent OCA Junkies just informed me that the chip manufacturer has their own updated drivers, and from what I understand, they may indeed be working on A3D 2.0 and EAX 2.0 drivers! If that's the case, I would be VERY pleased with this card. Check the CMedia site HERE.
I have also received several letters on how the SB Live is NOT compatible with the KT133A chipset type mobo's. If that is indeed the case, I would have to give a slightly higher recommendation to the Maxi Sound MUSE, as it has given me NO trouble whatsoever running WIN98se and Win2k.
I'd like to thank everyone for checking out this review and if you have any suggestions, flames or propz, please send 'em HERE.
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