The theoretical and practical tests of the capacities of Fortissimo III 7.1 and Digifire 7.1 were all run on both cards. Their drivers and components being virtually identical, some of the results are too, so in this case we shall only publish one set, as with the results for Audio Winbench 99. These are not bad at all, though slightly higher than for Fortissimo II, which is a bit surprising.
Dungeon Siege results are very conclusive and also virtually identical to the odd tenth of an FPS. We should point out though that this game is compatible with EAX 2.0 and EAX Advanced HD, so in theory, if you activate EAX with these cards Hercules should run the game in EAX 2.0. Yet, while the bench tests show a significant drop in performance, the quality results are rather odd: when EAX is active, 3D positioning is practically non-existent and sound effects not very marked, whereas when it is deactivated, positioning is excellent and you are totally enveloped in sound. What's more, the 7.1 mode is amazingly efficient in this game and in Soldier Of Fortune II. Directional effects are focused on the loudspeakers in conventional 4.1 but background and music are on all the surround speakers. It has to be said though that the quality of restitution is sometimes defective on the rear surrounds. More on this later.
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