What Sound Card to pick for Gaming/Music/Cinema

D

djwhitfield

New member
[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Hello,[/font]

[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]I got my Logitech Z5500s set up in my bedroom and I set the layout of my room perfectly so I am in the center of the room with all my speakers surrounding me.[/font]

[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Also I like to lay in my bed and watch films, I have my bed positioned directly behind my chair so the sound is almost center when I am watching my films.[/font]

[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]However I had this set of speakers for years and I still havent been able to get the most out of them because of onboard sound.[/font]

[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Just over a year ago I picked up a [/font][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro 7.1 Soundcard[/font]. My friend owned it and said alot of good things about it, until he upgraded to Windows 7.

When I tryed it I thought it was worse than my on board sound of my motherboard and the drivers were awful.

I got my money back for it and was left upset and disapointed because of it. I even tryed loads of tutorials on the net to try get it working but it never worked or sounded any better than Realtek.

I would like a very good enthusiasts card that I can get the most out of my speakers with. I use my PC alot for gaming, movies and music and I would like I soundcard that can handle all of it with perfection. A soundcard with good EAX for example.

I toke alook at ASUS Xonar Essance STX and I was extremely tempted to buy, but then I started hearing bad reviews about drivers and terrible EAX.

Please help me find a card that will be perfect for my set up and needs
smile.png
!

Thank you very much!

- Dave
 
Are you using optical? If so, then you won't be able to hear the difference between onboard and a dedicated card. Dedicated cards do support more audio formats though like DTS etc.

If you are using analogue, which by the way is the best option because of the better DACs in dedicated cards compared to those in the Z5500, there won't be any point in getting a 2 channel card like the Titatium HD and STX, as your Z5500 is a 5.1 system.

EAX is pretty much dead. I don't know any recent games that support it. Pretty much only Creative cards support it.

I'd recommend a Xonar D2X. It's 7.1, it supports a lot of audio formats, the drivers work really well and easy, and i haven't had any problem with it yet.
 
Dolph said:
Are you using optical? If so, then you won't be able to hear the difference between onboard and a dedicated card. Dedicated cards do support more audio formats though like DTS etc.

If you are using analogue, which by the way is the best option because of the better DACs in dedicated cards compared to those in the Z5500, there won't be any point in getting a 2 channel card like the Titatium HD and STX, as your Z5500 is a 5.1 system.

EAX is pretty much dead. I don't know any recent games that support it. Pretty much only Creative cards support it.

I'd recommend a Xonar D2X. It's 7.1, it supports a lot of audio formats, the drivers work really well and easy, and i haven't had any problem with it yet.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply.

I did use optical with the soundcard + direct. I only use direct with my onboard sound because my optical doesn't seem to work with onboard, its strange.

But like I said the soundcard I brought was just terrible to me and everyone on the net was raging about it not working properbly with Windows 7 so I thought that was the problem.

I was also tempted to buy a Creative Sound Blaster HD, but since I had a bad experiance with Creative I don't know if to risk it.

But then I started to hear similar feedback about the ASUS Essance STX but maybe not as bad as the Creative one got. ahaha
 
[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]I am in debate between a ASUS Xonar Xense or [/font][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]ASUS Xonar D2X [/font]
 
I really don't know the difference between the Xense and the D2X, other than the Xense having a better headphone amp. The Xense is newer though, so i would probably have gotten that one over the D2X if i could get it without the headset.
 
I have Asus Xonar D2 and its PERFECT sound card!! Great for games and for music, you just cant compare that to normal sound card. Is the same card as D2X but have PCI interface and doesnt need extra power(so less cables inside your case).
 
Steer clear of Creative if I were you the Xonar range from Asus is a better choice. The XD, D2 and D2X are solid choices with an external amp the Xense has one built in, so any are a good choice.
 
djwhitfield said:
[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]I am in debate between a ASUS Xonar Xense or [/font][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]ASUS Xonar D2X [/font]
Click to expand...

Get the D2X, i own one and quite frankly I'm annoyed i didnt get one sooner. makes the world of difference with speakers. The Xense is made for headphones, not for audio systems. If you google the xense and look at its outputs you will see that. The D2X also has lights in each of the outputs that are colour coded (that ones down to taste and no they cant be turned off)
 
If I was to buy a soundcard now, it would most likely be the [font=Verdana, sans-serif, FreeSans]Asus Xonar Essence STX.[/font]

[font=Verdana, sans-serif, FreeSans]The new range of Creative Recon3D Soundcards are not as good compared to the previous ones they released such as the X-Fi Titanium etc.[/font]

[font=Verdana, sans-serif, FreeSans]Also don't worry about EAX, it's not something that game developers bother with anymore.[/font]
 
I would definitely recommend the Asus Xonar DX. It's by no means a budget card. The functionality and quality of the sound card is comparible with some of the higher level cards out there. Asus has done a good job with their driver support as well.
smile.png


You may take a look at Asus' website for info on the product.

http://www.asus.com/Multimedia/Audio_Cards/Xonar_DX/
 
Thank you for all your helpful comments. I went for the D2X and it will arrive at my house tomorrow morning. I will post a comment up when I had chanse to get familar with it and post my reaction here.
 
Nelly said:
If I was to buy a soundcard now, it would most likely be the [font=Verdana, sans-serif, FreeSans]Asus Xonar Essence STX.[/font]

[font=Verdana, sans-serif, FreeSans]The new range of Creative Recon3D Soundcards are not as good compared to the previous ones they released such as the X-Fi Titanium etc.[/font]

[font=Verdana, sans-serif, FreeSans]Also don't worry about EAX, it's not something that game developers bother with anymore.[/font]
Click to expand...

[font=Verdana, sans-serif, FreeSans]I was going to get the Asus Xonar Essence STX[/font], however I found out it does not support 5.1 surround sound, so it is of no use to me unforunately.
 
djwhitfield said:
Thank you for all your helpful comments. I went for the D2X and it will arrive at my house tomorrow morning. I will post a comment up when I had chanse to get familar with it and post my reaction here.
Click to expand...

waiting mode : please review it bro. thank you
 
Traldera said:
Get the D2X, i own one and quite frankly I'm annoyed i didnt get one sooner. makes the world of difference with speakers. The Xense is made for headphones, not for audio systems. If you google the xense and look at its outputs you will see that. The D2X also has lights in each of the outputs that are colour coded (that ones down to taste and no they cant be turned off)
Click to expand...

Actually the Xense does have muiti channel analog outputs, it uses a Analog I/O cable which has the 7.1 analog outputs on it. Which what the Forte also uses for its muiti channels outs.
 
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