No problem, both are great cards but have differing features.

Greetings fellow Bravura owners, need some inputs on this card as I'm a noob.

Can I connect the Bravura digital output to my audio-gd compass using the supplied cable? Will the sound from this connection be better than using usb from the pc? I'm having a AKG K702 for gaming and music listening.

Comments greatly appreciated.

It depends on the soces of the DAC's USB input. Using the Bravura will allow all effects etc to be passed through to the DAC.

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You can and should use the digital output comming from your sound card!
When you are using an USB sound "card", the processing is being done by the computers CPU, even if you have a real sound card attached. When you use your compass with the USB (compass uses a PCM2707) you are actually (most likely) using the default drivers for sound output, that lack all of the benefits of your Bravura (bit matched playback, EAX effects etc.), meaning you are not using your sound card at all.

If you got the same accessories that I got with my Forte, you should have an Optical S/PDIF cable and a small transparent plastic adapter that plugs into the other end of the cable, just plug the adapter on the end of the cable that connects to your sound card and the other end to your compass and use the Bravura as the output device (and remember to unmute the digital output in the Bravura control panel/drivers).

If a Compass uses a 2702 then you are looking at 16/48khz audio when using USB IIRC.
In that case alone you are better off running through S/pdif output.
If you use the S/pdif output on the Bravura then you still have all the featurs of the Bravua 7.1 available through the DAC.
The Bravura 7.1 is also transformer coupled for the S/pdif output which is the prefered design for many.

id like to know if the cmss-3d feature in this card has any difference from the one in a hardware x-fi DSP,like CL xtremegamer,in terms of the effect or performance. also,has anyone compared this card to audiotrak prodigy 7.1e? by looking at the rmaa charts in the reviews done by guru3d, it seems bravura performs slightly better. is it correct to assume so? thank you

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I've the same accessories like what you have listed. With this type of connection, will I be able to use my 5.1 speaker setup? Or, only the Compass for my AKG headphone.

Pardon for my many questions as I'm a noob in this sort of thing

The compass would only allow you stereo output to a set of stereo speakers or headphones. If you wanted full surround sound, a DAC solution is not the right way to go. You can conenct the DAC to the digital output on the card and have all the features through the DAC such as CMSS3D..EAX..etc.

@Palanoid, The effects are exactly the same, I have heard both hardware and software based examples and hear no difference between them.

For the last little while I have been testing out the Bravura using some production discrete opamps and some custom built units and getting great results. The Bravura has a very "analog" type sound IMO so the discrete help bring more of that aspect out of the signature. I will post more details of what I am hearing when I get some time for those interested.

So I bought a pair of OPA627AU from ebay from (lawrence chan aka biglawhk), and I swapped out my front channel I couldn't hear the difference. I decided to use RMAA to get some numbers to compare the OPA627AU against the stock generic opamps. The result is that there's a minute difference between the two... Anyone with a pair of 627au or 627bp want to run RMAA and share the data? I'm really curious to see some more data on this.

Btw, i'm using a pair of Audioengine A2 on my front and my sub (polk psw111) is connected to the speakers via rca cables. I can't seem to get the sub going when it's connected to the cnt/sub out from the bravura via 3.5mm to rca.

I'm attaching my test results. [DirectSound] Speakers (Auzen X-Fi Bravura 7_1) 24-bit, 48 kHz.sav

I also found some RMAA result from the japanese Auzentech website. It loosk like they ran the same test I did with the headphones port... My results are no where near these. They're along the same line as the results i posted above for my front channel.

Here is the link: http://www.auzentech.jp/site/company/a_news25.php

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Well as many know what you can measure and what you can hear is usually very different. If you are running RMAA tests on a headphones output you need to load the output. Headphone outputs distortion measurments can change based on what the load is connected to it.
You cannot get the sub working unless you are in 5.1 to 7.1 mode and have the card set for Bass redirection.
Also, for what you hear is based on what you are using for your playback gear. If you are using lower grade speakers or amplifiers, chances are you are not going to hear any difference between similar sounding opamps.

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Good point. Speakers do matter. But I think my A2 are decent enough to project the differences. I spent all morning listening to Norah Jones's first album, and so far it's a better experience than yesterday. I am noticing more details that I could not hear before but was able to hear on my headphones.

Speaker, phones...they are major parts of the equation. Also, if you pop in a new opamp chances are your not going to hear a major difference unless somthing is really out of place. Opamps offer more of subtle changes, some offermore then others. You will need to spend some time listening to the new opamp. Give yourself a chance to hear the new response.

Hi there, I have just got the azuentech bravura, but I have only notice tiny increase in performance with my HD555. I think I need better headphones to take advantage of the card. I was thinking of getting a HD595, would I see a decent improvement compared to HD555? Someone also recommend me the SRH840 which I do not know much about.

I am looking to spend somewhere in the $200 and flexible within an extra $50-$75. Or should I get some new opamp for the card?


I am currently using foobar2000 with its default settings on Window 7.

If you gonna get headphones if you dont mind closed back then you can grab some Ultrasone HFI 580/ Pro 650 off amazon. I own a HFI-780 my self its another choice for closed back headphones as well but you just have to find it under 200 if your lucky.

As for op-amps, I suggest some OPA 2111KP that you can get as samples from burr brown which I use for my speakers op-amp sockets. While I use OPA2111AM(Metal can) with my headphones op-amp sockets.

Also some LME 49720NA's would work in your headphone amp, i actuall suggest you get a couple and try them out on your setup.