Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

AOpen Debuts The Funniest Motherboard Ever

Posted by chrisd on from the if-this-is-real-i-will-buy-it dept.

Anonymous Coward X-11 writes "Has AOpen gone flipping nuts by putting vacuum tubes on its motherboards? AX4B-533Tube No, it's not replacing logic ICs with discrete components. The tubes are part of the on board audio. Not sure if they are serious about this. April 1 was two months ago." As an owner of a tube headphone amplifier I applaud AOpen's move to accomodate the high-end audio enthusiast, while simultaneous wondering about the ability of a switched psu to properly drive a tube amplification stage cleanly. There's no way this is for real, right? Right? Here's a link that seems to work pretty well. And this looks pretty, well, real. Update: /. reader Jedi1USA noted that HardOCP has more pics of the board.

3 of 473 comments (clear)

  1. Comments in a Nutshell by Quadraphonic · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    > Why?

    For the same reason some manufactures one-uped their competiors with volume controls from 0 to 11.

    > Could this give me the high quality audio I'm looking for?

    If you're looking for hi-fi (id est true to the source) sound reproduction, than no, it can't. High quality audio can not be reproduced in electrically noisy environments such as those found inside a PC case. If high quality audio were desired, one would remove all analog sound components from the computer. Obviously this would require using an external amp. (Have you ever considered why even plasitc cases have metal on the inside? Does the term "EMI shield" ring a bell?)

    It could be that you are looking for the "warm" sound delivered by tube amps. In this case a circuit could be designed to reproduce this [...] soft clipping.

    It can therefore be concluded that this is a "great gimmick to sell to idiots."

  2. I smell BS by teamhasnoi · · Score: 1, Flamebait
    There are many guitar effects, ect. out there that use a tube to sound "warmer". Crap. Gimmicks. Marketing dudes saying, "Tube amps are good, tube walkmans are better!" Blah.

    If you want real quality sound, you had better go out and get something that is made for it. This is the solution that I purchased, and it rocks. (I do not work for them, and my needs/wants may differ from yours, so YMMV.) Their soundcard is completely shielded, and silent. I love it.

    If you want "tube" warmth, go and get a real tube pre and/or amp. Tubes make a big difference, but not here.

  3. Pointless. Just use digital output. by TheLink · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    It's probably a joke. And will be a bigger one if anyone buys into it.

    As far as I know, most music/sound stored on a PC is digital not analog.

    So if you are an audiophile and somehow still want to pay extra to have better stuff coming out of your computer just use digital sound outputs (some soundcards have these) and use external DACs of your choice. And then the output from those DACs can go to whatever amplifier/preamp you like - tube, transistor etc.

    As for the DVD/CDROM drive's analog sound output - you don't want to use that - the drive probably has a cheap DAC (might be ok for people like me, but I'm sure those with golden ears won't be satisfied). So rip your CDs a few times to get as correct data as you can get, and use that. If after a few rips the data is still inconclusive (or conclusively bad), get a new CD.

    Cheerio,
    Link.

    --