Thread: Turtle Beach Roadie Review

I hated my SoundBlaster Live! USB soundcard, and decided to give the Audio Advantage Turtle Beach Roadie USB. Link
I couldn't find a true review of it anywhere on here (pertaining specifically to CarPC use) so I figured I'd document my thoughts so far. For non-CarPC reviews check this out.

First, my system specs are in my sig for reference.

I am by no means an SQ competitor, but I am picky about my sound. I have high quality components and know what they should sound like. I also don't want/need surround sound. I want 4 speaker quadraphonic sound, like a standard deck outputs. So, take this review with that grain of salt.

Pros:

-Hibernates with no problems

-There is no discernable "pop" when the computer finally engages the soundcard. (SoundBlaster’s was terrible)

-The sound quality seems a lot more powerful than the SoundBlaster. I needed alot less gain on my amps with the unit at full volume to acheive the power I was looking for. And less gain is a good thing.

- The Roadie, when in 4 speaker mode sends equal signal to all four speakers. There is no simulated surround sound. It seems to do less processing of the signal. I had a problem where the SoundBlaster made it's rear output muddy and clipped in the low range. This does not exist in the Roadie. You get 4 channels of the same signal and volume.

-The size is significantly smaller than the SoundBlaster.

-The control panel has, for the most part, all of the options contained in one application. The SoundBlaster had multiple application windows that would pop up.

-"Per Speaker" equalizer and volume. I have the rear channel feeding my subwoofer, so this means I can change the EQ and volume of my sub indepenent of my front speakers.

Cons:

-The unit seems to be USB bandwidth hungry. I had random popping and clicking, like rice krispies in my music. After some reading, I figured out it was because the unit was starved for bandwidth. I added a PCI USB card and dedicated it the Roadie, problem solved. (Note: I switched motherboards at the same time I switched soundcards. The new motherboard could have USB bus management issues. )

-Some of the sliders within the application are too small to change by hand using the touchscreen.

-The sliders in "per speaker" EQ screen do not lock to each other for front and rear. I'm not sure of any application when you would want your front/left to have a different EQ than you front/right, so they should be able to be locked together. It's tedious to match them up manually.


Overall, I would highly recommend the Roadie over the SoundBlaster Live! I have never tried a PCI soundcard b/c of space uses, nor have I used the Audigy, but you can read the woes people have had with that by searching.

Hope this helps someone.

_______________________________

Lilliput 7" touchscreen

System:
AMD Athlon XP 1700+
1 GB RAM
Windows XP Pro

Audio:
Front:
CDT HD-62 Component Speakers
MBQuart RAA2400
Sub:
Dayton RSS265HO-4 10"
MBQuart RAA2400 bridged