HT | OMEGA CLARO II 7.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Interface Sound Card

Pros: Sound is very clear. I hear things in music that I never heard before. Underlying beats, harmonies... it's just beautiful. Playing games also feels like the surround presence is better and more distinct.

Cons: I'm not a fan of where they put the connectors for the front audio. I was hoping maybe on the side facing the hard drives or the side facing out of the case. However, they put it on top of the card, so I had to connect it before sliding it in next to a nearby device.

Pros: Excellent sound card! Runs great and offers wonderful audio. the Digital outs work great with my receiver on giving it true 5.1 surround sound. Not just a stretched out 2.1. Easy install drivers from website. Works great on Windows 8.

Cons: Only cons is about drivers, the CD that came with it my Windows 8 wouldn't read. No big deal I just downloaded them off the website very easily. But when I went to install them my AVG seen it as a virus. Just had to bypass that and it installed fin.

Other Thoughts: Got this card when it was on sale for $149.99, planed on getting it anyway full price or not but i noticed it was on sale at the time and took the opportunity. Very satisfied with this card.

Pros: The sound reproduction with gaming and music is incredible. Great Drivers support especially for newly installed Windows 8.

Cons: Nothing I can think of right now. So far so good.

Other Thoughts: I replaced an X-Fi due to hardly any driver support and up to now still beta drivers for Windows 8. I can't believe the sound on this sound card even using analog 5.1 speakers from Logitech. It is truly incredible. Black Ops 2 and Hitman Absolution never sounded better. Last but definitely not least, thank you so much for the fast shipping.

Pros: Sounds good, lots of connectivity, supports lots of different formats

Cons: Good, but doesnt sound great. I used to own a Claro (original) years ago and in my opinion it sounded better than this Claro II. The Dolby Headphone seemed to work so much better back on the old card too. The positioning just seemed to work very well and the sound quality with it was good. Dolby Headphone on this sounds like the speakers got pushed far away and a strong reverb was turned on, nothing more. I remember the old tech being so good I once thought someone was coming down the hallway to the side and behind me, when I looked no one was there and I realized the sound came from my headphones. With this card I had to do some major tweaking to get the sound just right. For the price, users shouldnt have to do that.

Other Thoughts: This card seems above average at best, the Claro and the Halo XT are far superior sound cards.
Dont really know what changed, since this seems very similar to the older model in many ways, yet something just fell apart with it.

Wish this card also had swappable op amp sockets. I suspect that the choice of op amp may be hindering the sound potential of this card. Ill probably do some modding soon to add in better voltage regulation and a swappable amp socket.



The Halo XT is still my favorite sound card.

Pros: 2 things.

No bloat software like creative. Soundcard has fairly basic looking controls, but they work, and they're simple to use/understand which is the most important thing.

Best customer service ever. I had an issue with drivers that made my sound go crazy whenever it awoke from sleep, and so I sent an email to customer service. Guess what? A reply in 2 minutes. Yes, TWO minutes. When's the last time you got instant customer service? Exactly.

Cons: People might wonder if they installed 16 bit windows 95 software onto their windows 7 when looking at the HT OMEGA control panel. I kid. It functions, who cares!?

Other Thoughts: I was using the sound blaster audigy 2 from over a decade ago. Hardware was fine, but guess what, drivers sucked which means, useless hardware.

Pros: Cheap

Cons: Flimsy cheap thin metal. I am now waiting on my third to arrive, the first two were totally bent up to the point they wouldn't sit flat on the floor. The first seemed damaged in shipping. The second one was obviously put into the box bent up.

Other Thoughts: Newegg has been great about RMA's

Pros: Provides great sound. EMI shield should prevent distortion. EQ is good.

Cons: It was a TOUGH fit. I'm pretty sure I had to warp my PCI slot a little. It's partially my fault for getting a PCI card instead of a PCI-e version. I read online that the front panel quality was superior to that of the PCI-e version. What I didn't realize is that people who review sound cards and headphones are complete nutcases that like to write elaborate reviews on things they pretend to hear. Seriously, if you are going for a sound card, you should either go for a budget card, or a pricier one with a built in amp. Everything in the middle is a waste, and a different pair of headphones/EQ adjustment will probably offer a better experience than a new sound card. I'm sure better products will offer a better experience, but it will not be found here.

Other Thoughts: Over the discrete sound card I got with my Maximus Formula X38, the sound improvement was very very minimal. I basically paid for a superior EQ. I run them with a pair of Shure SRH 840's. Very flat headphones, but they don't react well to bass EQ unfortunately. I suggest going for a cheaper card, you won't be able to tell a difference, I promise you.

Pros: This is a very nice addition to my computer build. It have a very nice sound and much better that motherboard supplied audio.

Cons: None

Pros: None that I can think of.

Cons: The fit of the card is off, the thing had to be wedged in to place as the port did not line up. Does not offer individual channels Front right, front Left, only Front and Rear. For the cost of this card it should give you the ability to atleast balance sound level from left to right! Soft ware is very basic, not very user friendly, controls with no description of what each function is or how it works. The book is outdated and does not match the software.

Pros: Great sound, easy fit size (mid tower case), easy driver instal

Cons: price?

Other Thoughts: Thought my M-Audio StudioPro 4 spkrs were getting long in the tooth so i ordered the Corsair SP2500 2.1. Reading the reviews of the spks everyone said to get a sound card. Well the sound card came in first AND~ wow is this what my StudioPro 4 spkrs are supposed to sound like??? Anyone running onboard audio and think 'oh its ok' you're right, it is ok its just that there is so much more with this card.

Everything is crystal clear, mp3, avi, streaming audio/streaming video... Why didn't i get this along time ago.