Setup 2: (used for music and game testing)
Sennheiser HD 480 headphones

Setup 3: (used for music and game testing)
Harman Kardon AVR 20II pre-amp
Carver A-500x power-amp
McIntosh LS310 speakers

So we know the FORTISSIMO has quite an impressive array of features, but the question is, how does it sound? First we tested out game performance. Because 3D audio is most important in first-person shooters, we tested out Tribes, Unreal Tournament Demo, Slave Zero and Quake 3 Arena Test. As far as excitement and adrenaline boosting sound is concerned, the FORTISSIMO performed just as well as our other cards (an Aureal 1.0 powered StormVS and an AWE 64). But when it comes to 3D sound reproduction, the FORTISSIMO performs decently but falls behind what you can hear from Aureal powered hardware. While the card supports Aureal 1.0, Aureal 2.0 is much better, and genuine Aureal 1.0 seems better as well. We tested out the card with a four-speaker setup but only Slave Zero made any noticeable use of all four speakers beyond just mimicking the front channels, and it was not a compelling 3D experience either. We did find something interesting though. By hooking up our headphones to the front channels and speakers to the surround channels, even though the sound going to all four channels was identical, the immersion in first-person shooters was greatly magnified. So while the four channels don't improve things much and are not widely supported, matching headphones with speakers can do wonders for your fun. The FORTISSIMO is not the ultimate gamer's card, but with its support for multiple 3D audio formats, it will always give you good sound, even if only from two channels.

After being a little disappointed with the rarity of four speaker 3D in the games we tested, we decided to test out movie audio performance. We used Hard Boiled and The Matrix as our test movies, both of which support Dolby Digital. Ok, we admit it, we like violent movies. We blame it on the video games we played as children! Anyway, we were disappointed to find that the rear speakers had the same signal as the front ones just like with the games, so there was no surround sound effect. If you're looking to turn your computer into a home theater that uses computer speakers, the FORTISSIMO is not your solution. The best it can do in the movie surround sound department is to impart some artificial sounding reverb to things. But if you have or are planning on buying a stereo with a Dolby Digital decoder that can take the optical digital out of the FORTISSIMO then you're set as far as movies are concerned.