Sound card died need advice on upgrade

Ace9908 · Jul 11, 2011

Hello,

I recently had my Creative labs X-Fi Fatality champion series card die. Can't say I am that sad as I had some driver issues with it that were a pain. I currently am Looking for a replacement. I am using the sound on my motherboard an Asus P8P67 Deluxe. I would like to get something that is better than the motherboard sound and is probably the equal or better of the creative card. I will use it mostly for gaming and listening to music....possibly some movie watching but that is a secondary concern. I currently have the original Klipsch pro-media 5.1 computer speaker set that is several years old and i don't think is made anymore. It has analog connections all the way around. I have some sennheiser HD-250II headphones I use for music and a creative Fatality Professional headset I use for gaming that came bundled with my old soundcard. I would like to stick with an Asus soundcard if possible but they have a lot of options and I am not sure what would be the best to get.

Maxvla · Jul 11, 2011

Any of the flavors of the Asus Xonar cards would be fine. There are a few flavors of their top tier cards depending on your connection needs (one has headphone amp, one has digital input/output, one has separate connections for analog surround speaker sets, etc).

Theocnoob · Jul 12, 2011

Asus isn't as good as Auzen. You won't beat a Meridian 2 and it's cheap. If you just can't find one get a Xonar D2 or something but make sure it's a higher end card.

Ace9908 · Jul 12, 2011

So I was looking at this Xonar DX Card http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132006 In terms of gaming is there a card that would give me more features or quality in terms of game audio quality or are most of the upgrades for multimedia stuff like movies ect?

Theocnoob · Jul 12, 2011

I'd go higher than that. That card is using an inferior DSP. Go at least 8788.

Try to find a D2 or D2X or an Auzen Meridian or Meridian 2. If you can't

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...9271003&cm_re=HT_omega-_-29-271-003-_-Product

that's a good 8788 based card also.

freeagent · Jul 19, 2011

Another xfi failure... Ive had 2 go on me

I havent heard any of the new auzen stuff lately, but I have a prelude that feeds an analogue setup.. Its a really nice card, pci tho..

I had an auzen xplosion and it was a total pos. Auzen's higher end stuff is realllly nice tho. Unfortunately thats all I have experience with

Ace9908 · Jul 19, 2011

It seems a lot of the sound cards out now have been on the market for a while. Is there anything new audio wise down the road. I am planning on doing an upgrade 1st qtr or early 2nd qtr of 2012 and can live with my on-board audio till then would it be worthwhile to wait or not make a difference. I know in computer parts terms technology moves so fast but audio doesn't seem to have changed much.

Maxvla · Jul 19, 2011

The principles of electronic audio reproduction haven't changed in decades. The media and mechanics of the gear we use has to some degree, but audio is already at such a high level that it can't really progress like the rest of the computer. You are actually starting to see this same thing happen with processing power to some degree (in regards to personal computing). Overclocking used to be something you used to make a cheaper system run like a more expensive one because the difference was very noticeable, but now processors are so fast overclocking is now a hobby just like drag racing, just something to do which has no real impact on normal use.

My speaker amp is from 1983 and it sounds better than any others I've heard and they were all new with fancy tech, etc.

Domino · Jul 20, 2011

Best PC soundcard for gaming and music is the Creative HD. Nearly matches the STX in music but produces much better sound positioning on games.

GreenJelly · Jul 27, 2011

Personal Opinion -- Ive used allot of these cards... As for gaming, sound quality is less important then you would think (unless your wearing headphones). If you are playing desk top speakers then your speakers are going to be the week link. The problem is the positioning of the speakers and the environment they are placed in. So it is relative.

If you spend a ton of money on a high db/noise ratio, then you better have some good speakers. I have yet to find a surround sound set of speakers that make the audio grade level of some of these cards.

If you are using headphones, then the choices change. An $80 pair of Gredo's will sound as good as $8000 speakers... So buying some of the high end headphone based cards are well worth it.

Reality -- If it makes you happy, spend what you want! I like Soundblaster, and have not abandoned them except for My HTPC. I never had a Soundblaster card dye on Me and that means I have some pretty old cards

Theocnoob · Jul 27, 2011

$80 pair of Gredo's will sound as good as $8000 speakers.

Absolutely not.

To get the equivalent of an $8000 speaker out of a headphone you need to spend about $1200-1800. It's Grado btw. :popcorn:

GreenJelly · Jul 29, 2011

MAYBE if you had a $8000 pair of speakers, With a Macintosh Amp, a Sound Deadened Room with the speakers placed perfectly (which usually require around 6" of space around them), then you will get better sound. But lets face it the main issue with high end speakers is controlling the environment and that can cost many magnitudes more then the actual speakers and is usually counter productive to daily living.

I have heard $10,000 speakers in ideal conditions, and I come away marginally more impressed then the $1600 Thiels I use to own. I love the 3.6's though the power source will cost you more then the speakers, and I am impressed by the warm sound. They are by far the best speakers I have ever heard, and they where under $4K new.

With that said, Head Phones are always in an ideal environment, and thus do not need to deal with all the imperfections of a room, and as anyone can tell you, speaker placement will provide more gains then multitude increases in cost.

So from MY experiences, and hundreds of hours of testing high end audio equipment, I disagree.

Domino · Jul 29, 2011

GreenJelly said:
MAYBE if you had a $8000 pair of speakers, With a Macintosh Amp, a Sound Deadened Room with the speakers placed perfectly (which usually require around 6" of space around them), then you will get better sound. But lets face it the main issue with high end speakers is controlling the environment and that can cost many magnitudes more then the actual speakers and is usually counter productive to daily living.

I have heard $10,000 speakers in ideal conditions, and I come away marginally more impressed then the $1600 Thiels I use to own. I love the 3.6's though the power source will cost you more then the speakers, and I am impressed by the warm sound. They are by far the best speakers I have ever heard, and they where under $4K new.

With that said, Head Phones are always in an ideal environment, and thus do not need to deal with all the imperfections of a room, and as anyone can tell you, speaker placement will provide more gains then multitude increases in cost.

So from MY experiences, and hundreds of hours of testing high end audio equipment, I disagree.

I think the budget your suggested was off, but the point remains the same. A more realistic estimate would be 1'000-2'000 dollar equipment won't sound much different then 8'000+ dollar equipment.

GreenJelly · Jul 30, 2011

I had a HUGE long post analyzing speakers, headsets, equipment, speaker character, and the law of diminishing return. But the truth is that only my conclusion was/is important.

The experience of enjoying music is such a unique experience that it is always enjoyable to engage in new experiences and discussions regarding the technology.

Some people refuse to acknowledge differences of opinions, and they come out as arrogant snobs. It may even dirty the reputation of the rest of us. Personally I decide to accept and embrace the passion we all share even if that enjoyment comes out of a $20 clock radio... Though If you like your clock radio, you might want to come over to MY house

In the end, we can all give each other our advice and feelings, but you really need to go out and LISTEN for yourself. So Domino is absolutely right, but he is as right as me...

...Well I am always a bit more right then the next guy, but we will keep that between us

Sound card died need advice on upgrade

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