SOLVED good sound card within $100 (preferably ASUS)

I'm going to put this sound card in my primary rig, which has ALC898. So far, I'm liking the ASUS Xonar DG since it has GX, Headphone Amp(I use both headphones and speakers) and Dolby Surround on Headphones. I've had bad luck with Creative Speakers and Sound Cards. Right now, I have an i-ball 5.1 speaker and an i-ball stereo headset. Any good ASUS sound cards within $100?

The DG will do fine, but you do not need GX as EAX is non-existent in any remotely modern titles. As for the headphone amp, not needed unless you have headphones that make use of an amp. Mind linking to your exact headset?

My headset is an average i-ball stereo. Thanks for letting me know about the EAX and the amp. "The Xonar DG sound card features Dolby Headphone 5.1 high definition surround"-this point looks good. If its true then it means that my stereo headphones can provide me with 5.1 surround sound thanks to the Xonar DG, right? I think ALC898 does not have this feature. Please correct me if I'm wrong, since I'm totally noob in the sound card department.

Dolby Headphone is essentially a simulated surround sound, you can achieve a similar effect with your Realtek using Razer Surround which is a free download for anyone just that way you can get a feel for simulated surround.

I am personally not the biggest fan of using that surround crap with my quality headphones, but there are a lot of people that actually enjoy it, so it comes down to personal preference. The DG is a good sound card with some quality components on it, regardless what you decide to use, it IS a good card especially for the price.

thanks a lot sobe, i'll check out the Razer surround. By the way, in Realtek, there is an option for Headphone Virtualization...is this the same as Surround? and sorry for this dumb question, but will the Xonar DG produce better sound that the ALC898?

I believe that would also be simulated surround. As far as how good the Realtek is, in all honesty onboard has come a LONG way from what it was, but the Xonar DG is the better.

The only dumb question is the one not asked

I've still never tried an ASUS sound card over time, and I'm an ASUS FanBoi more or less.

I've been happy with the Azeuntech in here over time, even bought an adapter recently for it, as the MOBO doesn't support PCI. But if I was ever going to try a new one I probably would.


But not really needed at the moment, I still like the sound on this old thing.