so...
I'm looking for a cheap (> 30 - 40€) but good soundcard for my sister, who is planing to digitalize all of her vinyls.
so far, I tried to get my hands on a Chaintech AV-710 here in Germany. after two days of searching and mostly having telephone calls with computer stores both small and big it seems that Chaintech cards are rare to find here to put it mildly.
according to most stores, Chaintech is having a very unfriendly sales politic, forcing you to buy lots of pieces of equipment without the usual given services (no support, no return for faulty hardware, etc). so all stores I spoke with don't sell Chaintech anymore.
further more, it seems that Chaintech is bankrupt or swallowed by another cooperation?
to sum, I can't get the card in a shop here.

I also tried to following resources too to no avail:
http://www.alternate.de/html/index.html
http://www.mindfactory.de/cgi-bin/MindStore.storefront
http://www.amazon.de
http://www.ebay.de
http://www.newegg.com (not in stock)

the only way would be to buy it online at ebay.com or amazon.com from customers in the USA or from American online stores which would include hefty shipping costs that would add up to a total of 50 - 60€. for that money I could by another good card with an Envy24 chip.


is anybody aware of a possibility to buy this card in Europe (or better Germany)?
thanks.

Hallo, Digga

Seems Chaintech is trying to survive

I am back to my native Russia for a while, and the search trough www.price.ru (the main price on-line resource) gave 0 results for the card you mentioned. Russians are either using just any ac'97 codec their retailer has sold them with a motherboard, or just know only Creative Audigy.

Yesterday, was CeBIT's last day in Hannover, thus it could be a good chance for you to ask Chaintech people about their company and products. Or just complain to managment for their German support service

If I recall correctly, the AV-710 is not great for this purpose anyhow.

from what I remember from the threads here it's by far not the worst solution either, regarding it's price.

anyway, thanks for the comments so far.

so the AV-710 is not available in Europe anymore? somebody esle have a clou?

I have no clue, but it surprises the length people go to get this card.

One should look value the time one spends on things. Considering this after an hour search I switched to M-Audio Audiophile, and I am very happy. Ok it is a bit more expensive (approx 50-60 quid), but it is not such a earth shattering sum.

I would say leave this card behind.

Triza

It's hardly available anywhere anymore. I ordered mine from geeks.com but they don't have it anymore. Was under €30 with shipping from California.

in principal you're certainly right. but my sis has a very tight budget ATM and the Chaintech is the best value I could think of while delivering acceptable quality.

wow, that's cheap shipping. the things I looked at where much more expensive.


well, it seems that the card is not available...
so I'll probably have to use my old Audigy1 for this purpose.

thanks for the input everybody!

Like many i've been looking for an AV-710 in Europe. When I found a shop I ordered ten AV-710 in Estonia.
Total costs including shipping under 25 euro's each. Kept one for myself and sold the other 9 for 40 euros each on an auction site here in Holland

I'ts has been a few months but you can try www.ordi.ee. The site is in Estonish (or something) so if that doesn't help very much... Try to mail (in english) the guy I had contact with max@ordi.ee.

good luck !