also be aware that the A7V600 is the ONLY board that uses SoundMax with the AD1980 codec which is the only one that can offer EAX and A3D onboard along with Virtual Theater which is the Dolby Digital equivalent.
If I'm wrong or if another board uses the AD1980 plz correct me. BTW the AD1985 is the Intel equivalent.
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FYI
About SoundMAX from Analog Devices
SoundMAX Digital Audio Systems from Analog Devices are premium-performance PC audio solutions that exceed the functionality of sound cards. Offering outstanding audio quality and state-of-the-art technologies for playback of music CDs, MP3/WMA files, DVD movie soundtracks, MIDI music, Internet audio and enhanced game audio, SoundMAX delivers the ultimate audio experience on today?s PCs for business professionals, audio enthusiasts, musicians and gamers.
SoundMAX offers a flexible feature set, giving PC OEMs, motherboard manufacturers, and integrators the opportunity to customize the functionality of their audio solution. Residing on the PC?s motherboard, the SoundMAX-class of audio CODECs are available in both 2- and 6-channel configurations and offer variable sample rate conversion (SRC), professional quality 103-dB output with 94-dB SNR, software-configurable speaker EQ, and analog enumeration capability. Integrated into the PC?s audio subsystem, the SoundMAX feature set includes a state-of-the-art DLS2 MIDI synthesizer with the popular Yamaha DLSbyXG sound set, the award-winning Sensaura 5.1 Virtual Theater? surround sound, and support for all major game audio technologies, including Microsoft DirectX? 8.0, Microsoft DirectSound 3D?, A3D, MacroFX, ZoomFX, MultiDrive 5.1, A3D, EAX and SoundMAX SPX?