Diamond PCI Sound Round-Up

Identical to the Monster Sound MX200 in virtually all areas, the M80 from Diamond provides a little more bang than the firecracker it is named after. The only differences between the M80 and the MX200 lie in the software bundle and a few variations in the hardware used.

The DSP on the M80 is the same exact unit present on the MX200, both capable of processing up to 23 simultaneous audio streams in hardware and the M80 carries the same Diamond Freedom 5600 PCI controller to make the two cards virtually identical. From a physical point of view, the M80 features one less Stereo Line-Level Output making it impossible to connect 4 speakers to the card, the inputs on the board remain unchanged from its more expensive MX200 counterpart.

Once again, by using the Monster Cable you can connect the M80 to your existing legacy ISA sound card for support when running older DOS games. Under Windows, the M80 accelerates all DirectSound and DirectSound3D games/applications and provides the same crisp, clear, and beautiful sound quality that the MX200 does. The only other thing lacking from the M80's package other than the MX200 label is the presence of the 2 CD's containing Outlaws and the special edition of Rage's Incoming.

Provided that those differences don't matter to you, the M80 is a much better buy than the MX200 since it produces the same audio effects as the MX200 (minus the support for a quadraphonic speaker setup) at a price more affordable to most, the M80 will set you back around $99 retail.