A3D 2.0 allows sounds in software to be generated with either a two or four channel system that accurately reproduces the sound's location on the X, Y, and even the Z axis.

It's important that the positional sounds are accurately sourced for gamers, principally in first person shooters like Quake3 and Half-Life where opponent's footsteps create noise and hence can help you determine which direction they're coming from.

It also helps when doors within multi-player games open and close, let's say you're camping in a room where the enemy could enter from either side, yet your point of view is only able to monitor one door. 3D positional audio helps you hear if the opposite door is opening, which allows the camper to spin and fire.

Not that Sharky Extreme staffers ever have to resort to camping or anything, this is just a story we heard from someone else…*cough*

In any case, the advantages of 3D audio are clear, whether it's in a racing sim, a first person shooter, or almost any possible entertainment app, 3D audio helps to make the experience more real and A3D 2.0 is our preferred API to do so.

Both the main Montego II card itself and the included daughtercard add-on are small in size. We had no problems installing the two in a standard mid-tower ATX case.

Win98SE instantly detected the Quadzilla combo and we installed the drivers from the included CD-ROM without issue.

The drivers that Turtle Beach includes with the Quadzilla aren't the standard Aureal Vortex 2 drivers that some cards have been paired with, instead they've been reworked slightly to add rear speaker volume controls as well as a nifty audio troubleshooter that walks you through potential problems on the way to audio nirvana.