It is a card, its just too big to fit on a tiny pci card.
Best sound card for 2.0 stereo setup
- Thread starter fcb
- Start date
It is a card, its just too big to fit on a tiny pci card.
KING_OF_SAND
New member
WOW, what is your definition of the word "card"?
Nope, for a sound card. They both do exactly the same thing, one just sits in your computer case, the other doesn't because it is to large.
Wow, never thought my post would get so many replies. I just thought after awhile seeing no response I kind of gave up....haha.
Yup, I'll have to think about the Asus Xonar Essence STX. I'm using a Creative X-Fi Surround 5.1 USB 2.0 sound card. It does bring a bit better sound quality than the onboard sound. I think my speakers have too much bass even after turning the bass to 0 and treble to 10. It still feels muddy.
Maybe investing in a really high quality sound card like the Asus Xonar Essence will be a major improvement? What does everyone think?
Yup, I'll have to think about the Asus Xonar Essence STX. I'm using a Creative X-Fi Surround 5.1 USB 2.0 sound card. It does bring a bit better sound quality than the onboard sound. I think my speakers have too much bass even after turning the bass to 0 and treble to 10. It still feels muddy.
Maybe investing in a really high quality sound card like the Asus Xonar Essence will be a major improvement? What does everyone think?
I believe you may be right. I've also seen the Opamp kit for it and an additional adapter for different channels. Just the Essence STX itself, is quite expensive. As I live in Canada, it's retailed around $180. If you add the extras, it will be well over $200 mark.....130GBP?
Some say Asus sound cards aren't very good for gaming? I'm not so sure since you don't have to set all those 3D sound effects in-game right? Creative has support for those EAX type effects while Asus has a different design that simulates the same thing....so I've heard. Pls correct me if I'm wrong.
Wondering if I should invest in the regular Essence or the STX. One is the PCI and the STX is the PCI-E version. Since PCI is aging and sooner or later will be completely replaced by the PCI-E, it's probably logical to go for the STX instead.
Will Asus be making any new high end sound cards? Creative released their top of the line Titanium HD not long ago. Wondering how it compairs with the D2X, Essence STX?
KING_OF_SAND
New member
the asus cards also support EAX.
yes it uses PCI-E but you can stick a PCI card in any PCI slot in your computer. i have my STX in my PCIx16 slot. and the stx will play games as good or as better as the creative card. it has a better dynamic range and can power bigger nicer speakers, AND it has a headphone amp which is VERY NICE!
yes it uses PCI-E but you can stick a PCI card in any PCI slot in your computer. i have my STX in my PCIx16 slot. and the stx will play games as good or as better as the creative card. it has a better dynamic range and can power bigger nicer speakers, AND it has a headphone amp which is VERY NICE!
+1 on the headphone amp, always nice to have!
Yup, totally agree with you there!
Hopefully if and when I'm able to invest in the Essence STX, I'll be able to have better audio quality in all aspects of PC audio....daydreaming of how it will sound with my T40 SIIs. As I've mentioned before, I'm wondering if Asus will be making any new high end sound cards soon. The Creative X-Fi Titanium HD is giving Asus quite a bit of competition with the high end sound cards. It's also less expensive. Even so, I have a feeling the STX will still be the top of the line for awhile.
Actually want to try out the Corsair SP2500 2.1 speaker set. I've heard great things about them.
Rastalovich
New member
Had a quick flick through and I don't recall you mentioning your mobo.
If it has anything Realtek ALC888/ALC889 and above, for 2.0 you won't see any benefit.
They do handle 5.1 "well" but in my experience, they seem to lack.
I've stuck the depicted Auzen Prelude in my gaming rig. Simple to use, very good at the surround. (nice annoying green flashing led that you won't see in the case)
Anything additional to the onboard would be molesting the sound. Some cards do it better than others. Most do it the same.
Still sporting the Creative Soundworks DTT 5.1 myself, gotta be 20 years old now !!
If it has anything Realtek ALC888/ALC889 and above, for 2.0 you won't see any benefit.
They do handle 5.1 "well" but in my experience, they seem to lack.
I've stuck the depicted Auzen Prelude in my gaming rig. Simple to use, very good at the surround. (nice annoying green flashing led that you won't see in the case)
Anything additional to the onboard would be molesting the sound. Some cards do it better than others. Most do it the same.
Still sporting the Creative Soundworks DTT 5.1 myself, gotta be 20 years old now !!
Actually I'm still using a P45 motherboard. It's a Gigabyte EP45-UD3P. Even with the Creative X-Fi Surround 5.1 USB 2.0 adapter sound card, the overall quality is cleaner. But, unfortunately, I'm still aiming for an audiophile type sound card that will help my speakers balance out all the sounds well. I think the T40 SII's have too deep/muddy of a bass for my taste. Bass should always be proportional/tight, crisp, and very clear.
Aren't Auzentech sound cards using the same manufacturing as Creative cards? I mean they do have much better driver support as opposed to Creative drivers. I've never tried Auzentech products, so I wouldn't know how they compare with Creative. My friends use Auzentech because they say it's 'bang for the buck.'
I'm using the Creative USB sound card now since it was given to me as a present....Why waste it?
KING_OF_SAND
New member
It seems you best bet here is just to go with the STX. you wont regret it! i know i dont.
Rastalovich
New member
Actually I'm still using a P45 motherboard. It's a Gigabyte EP45-UD3P. Even with the Creative X-Fi Surround 5.1 USB 2.0 adapter sound card, the overall quality is cleaner. But, unfortunately, I'm still aiming for an audiophile type sound card that will help my speakers balance out all the sounds well. I think the T40 SII's have too deep/muddy of a bass for my taste. Bass should always be proportional/tight, crisp, and very clear.
Aren't Auzentech sound cards using the same manufacturing as Creative cards? I mean they do have much better driver support as opposed to Creative drivers. I've never tried Auzentech products, so I wouldn't know how they compare with Creative. My friends use Auzentech because they say it's 'bang for the buck.'
I'm using the Creative USB sound card now since it was given to me as a present....Why waste it?
The Gigabyte EP45-UD3P is a great mobo, making use of the ALC889A. In all honesty, I'd unplug everything and use that for 2.0.
One of the reasons I went Auzen was cos of the driver support back when Vista was new. These days, most of the manufacturers have their acts sorted out now.
Wow, never thought my post would get so many replies. I just thought after awhile seeing no response I kind of gave up....haha.
Yup, I'll have to think about the Asus Xonar Essence STX. I'm using a Creative X-Fi Surround 5.1 USB 2.0 sound card. It does bring a bit better sound quality than the onboard sound. I think my speakers have too much bass even after turning the bass to 0 and treble to 10. It still feels muddy.
Maybe investing in a really high quality sound card like the Asus Xonar Essence will be a major improvement? What does everyone think?
Hey,
You will not hear a massive difference changing sound card. I would get a good set of speakers first. Then worry about audio conversion quality later.
Your much better off running a pair of £20,000 speakers with on board sound than £20 with a £3000 sound card.
Cheers,
Sam
KING_OF_SAND
New member
Thats not entirely true. It doesn't take a very expensive system to make a sound card sound like crap. I had the PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium and i have a Klipsch Pro Media 2.1 sound system. sounded alright but then i bought the STX and there was a HUGE difference in sound quality, and my pro media was only about $150. If you are going for a $20,000+ sound system (Which i happen to have
Thats not entirely true. It doesn't take a very expensive system to make a sound card sound like crap. I had the PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium and i have a Klipsch Pro Media 2.1 sound system. sounded alright but then i bought the STX and there was a HUGE difference in sound quality, and my pro media was only about $150. If you are going for a $20,000+ sound system (Which i happen to have) you are going to have to go with something better than the little STX sound card.
I totally agree with you there. Both software and hardware has to have a sort of balance, other it's kind of a waste if you have something less. But, of course, always go with something in your budget margin.
Asus hasn't been really making anything new except for the Xense that came out awhile ago. I'm still persuaded by the STX though.
The Xonar DX is a good sound card for the budget gaming/HTPC I think. I may use that for a gaming build later on....
Cheers~
Thats not entirely true. It doesn't take a very expensive system to make a sound card sound like crap. I had the PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium and i have a Klipsch Pro Media 2.1 sound system. sounded alright but then i bought the STX and there was a HUGE difference in sound quality, and my pro media was only about $150. If you are going for a $20,000+ sound system (Which i happen to have) you are going to have to go with something better than the little STX sound card.
I would agree to do 5.1 well a better sound card might be worth it. But for a 2.0 or 2.1 setup the vast majority of the sound quality is going to come from the speakers themselves. I seriously doubt most listeners can blindfold test here a difference between one sound card and another. However, a different set of speakers will make much more of an impact.
For my PC I run the audio down the HDMI output on the 6970 into my monitor then out on a pair of phonos into my ADAM A7's. Yes it doesn't sound as good as when I'm playing audio from my Mac via my MOTU 896MkIII but it does still sound really good and I'm pretty sure most people would not hear the difference between the PC and the Mac input.
So yeah... just get a card that has good driver support, the outputs you want and that is 'clean' sounding rather than coloured or 'hyped up'.
A decent pair of smaller speakers are ADAM A3X's. For the price and size they are the best I have heard. KRK V4s are also pretty good. Depends on what sound you like really.
Sound cards... These are meant to be good http://www.emu.com/products/product.asp?category=505&subcategory=491&product=9872
They will do you 192KHz/24bit.
Also.. what are you listening TO? If it's 192Kbps MP3's and you think MP3's sound fine then there is no point buying posh sound gear ^^
Sam
I listen to CDs, WAV/APE/FLAC, 320Kbps MP3s.....from Rock to classical. So I listen to a lot of things. I am an audiophile, but not wanting to spend a fortune on really high end audio hardware that are compatible with PCs.
I've only got space for 2.0 speakers, and I've heard many good things about the T40 SII so I just gave them a try. After awhile, I just realised the bass isn't as good sounding...I may have expected too much from my set of speakers...haha.
KING_OF_SAND
New member
i recommend getting a pair of these http://www.klipsch.com/na-en/products/quintet-satellite-overview/ with a nice sub. the speakers alone are only $200 fir the pair, a nice sub is about $400. $600 may be out of your price range but is a GREAT little audiophile set up! also as i said earlier you can go with the klipsch pro media 2.1, its only $150 and sounds AMAZING!
My pc speaker setup is http://www.klipsch.com/na-en/products/wb-14-overview/
http://www.klipsch.com/na-en/products/synergy-sub-12-overview/
My pc speaker setup is http://www.klipsch.com/na-en/products/wb-14-overview/
http://www.klipsch.com/na-en/products/synergy-sub-12-overview/
How big is the room your listening in? If you only have room for a 2.0 setup then im not guessing very big? If so it's best to not go for big speakers so the A3X's would be a perfect fit for a small/medium room. I wouldn't recommend adding big LF drivers as LF's play havoc in small rooms. Try not to sit in the middle of your room and don't place the speakers too near to a wall for best bass response without treatment. Also try to get your tweeters just above ear level. Listening environment is as important as your speakers themselves as you dont only hear the sound of the speakers but the sound of the sound bouncing off all the surfaces in your room.
Wow, those are expensive. I will definitely look into the $150 speaker system you suggested. Actually, I really want to try out Corsair's SP2500 2.1 speaker system. They're on the expensive side right now. Waiting for Tom's review on them. I'm hoping they'll be winners in Tom's books. It will add another item to my wish list....haha.
You're absolutely right. My computer is in my room, and it's not a very large room. So, you're right, I've only got enough room for my T40 SIIs on my desktop at the moment. Unless I can find somewhere on the floor to put a subwoofer, I'll be staying with a 2.0 speaker system for now.
2.1 systems like the Corsairs will work well with my Asus O!Play media player. My TV room isn't big either, so it will provide sufficient power and audio when I'm watching movies or whenever I decide to build a budget gaming rig.
By the way, do you guys have any suggestions for a low cost, but high quality headphone, only for music or movies. I'm not interested in headsets. I would much rather enjoy the audio from speakers.
