asus xonar vs creative x-fi

You've made it abundantly clear on several threads that you're not planning to buy either anytime soon, so I see no purpose to keep on creating threads.

Then don't buy.

Xonar is any day better than the creative stash.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sushantV 

Xonar is any day better than the creative stash.

Based on what? Oh right, it's just mindless bashing. Carry on.

Hmm, wonder what's better about it. I use my X-FI HD for a USB to S/PDIF,  and S/PDIF to USB interface, as well as for ADC, and DAC functions; and, using it in any one of those roles,  for computer audio to and from Sony TA-E9000ES,, I cannot distinguish betwwen computer audio and SACD direct. How could anything be better than that?

A topic I've heard many times on many forums...with many different answers.

The general consensus is that the Xonar cards tend to be more ideal for music (if you're not just going to get an external DAC), but the true X-Fi cards with the CA-20K1 (PCI) or CA-20K2 (PCIe) APU still have the edge for gaming. Proper EAX support is less of a selling point these days (though still important to those who play older games), but since this is a headphone forum, HRTF technologies play a huge role when it comes to imaging (pinpointing sound location) in games.

This is where the CMSS-3D Headphone vs. Dolby Headphone debates come in. Some actually prefer the latter for gaming and will buy Xonar cards because of that, while others say it sounds flat compared to CMSS-3D Headphone, especially in DirectSound3D or OpenAL titles. There's a lot of variables involved (with CMSS-3D, you have to make sure that Windows is set to 5.1 or 7.1 speakers while the X-Fi drivers themselves are set to headphones), and HRTFs are inherently your-mileage-may-vary due to everyone have a different head.

Drivers are another big reason. Creative generally isn't regarded for good drivers (though the ones they provide for Auzentech's X-Fi cards fare a bit better), but I've also heard my fair share of unsavory things about the Xonar drivers too, albeit to a lesser degree than Creative. I won't comment on Xonar drivers since I've never had one, but my X-Fi Prelude has mostly been humming smoothly, albeit with a few driver quirks depending on version (mostly concerning the microphone input).

All in all, though, none of you never said exactly what you were going to use the sound card for in the first place. For music playback only, the Xonar line seems like the way to go if you can't justify the cost of an external DAC, but for gaming, if a proper X-Fi card works in your system (no chipset incompatibilities or anything like Creative's been historically infamous for), that's still the way to go.

Quote:

Originally Posted by NamelessPFG 

A topic I've heard many times on many forums...with many different answers.

 

The general consensus is that the Xonar cards tend to be more ideal for music (if you're not just going to get an external DAC), but the true X-Fi cards with the CA-20K1 (PCI) or CA-20K2 (PCIe) APU still have the edge for gaming. Proper EAX support is less of a selling point these days (though still important to those who play older games), but since this is a headphone forum, HRTF technologies play a huge role when it comes to imaging (pinpointing sound location) in games.

 

This is where the CMSS-3D Headphone vs. Dolby Headphone debates come in. Some actually prefer the latter for gaming and will buy Xonar cards because of that, while others say it sounds flat compared to CMSS-3D Headphone, especially in DirectSound3D or OpenAL titles. There's a lot of variables involved (with CMSS-3D, you have to make sure that Windows is set to 5.1 or 7.1 speakers while the X-Fi drivers themselves are set to headphones), and HRTFs are inherently your-mileage-may-vary due to everyone have a different head.

 

Drivers are another big reason. Creative generally isn't regarded for good drivers (though the ones they provide for Auzentech's X-Fi cards fare a bit better), but I've also heard my fair share of unsavory things about the Xonar drivers too, albeit to a lesser degree than Creative. I won't comment on Xonar drivers since I've never had one, but my X-Fi Prelude has mostly been humming smoothly, albeit with a few driver quirks depending on version (mostly concerning the microphone input).

 

All in all, though, none of you never said exactly what you were going to use the sound card for in the first place. For music playback only, the Xonar line seems like the way to go if you can't justify the cost of an external DAC, but for gaming, if a proper X-Fi card works in your system (no chipset incompatibilities or anything like Creative's been historically infamous for), that's still the way to go.

Good points there.

I would just like to add that people sometimes don't run through all possible configuration settings within a given driver version, and hop around different versions without taking any care whatsoever regarding different leftover types, which end up causing more issues than there were in the first place.

For gaming, a X-Fi powered card (Creative, Auzentech or others) is a necessity for anyone who intends to play games with any sense of positional awareness and added detail (read, increased number of effects and/or their quality), while for music, Xonar cards perform admirably and certainly better than most X-Fi cards, with the exception of the Titanium HD and X-Fi HD USB (excluding the entire E-MU line as they're a different segment), which perform at least on par with the best Asus offerings, and when modded, things get serious. I won't say that, music wise, Xonar cards are better or X-Fi cards are better, but that their top offerings easily match each other, with enough expandability to suit everyone, as well a different stock signature. The fact that the Titanium HD is lower priced, same audio performance as Essence ST/STX and top gaming audio performance is offsetted by the fact that the Titanium HD has stereo output, compared to the 7.1 output on the Essence STX.

As a person who've owned both the Asus Xonar Essence STX and the Creative X-Fi Titanium HD I feel qualified to answer your question without relying on technical details but purely listening experiences. Mind you, that the list below purely consists of my own impressions.

Essence STX compared to X-Fi Titanium HD:

• Essence STX seems slightly more detailed at midrange (it was too harsh for my taste, but I know many people like it).
• Titanium HD has considerably better bass output all-round (meaning more present and deeper, the detail level of the bass frequency range on both cards is equal)
• Sound stage is indifferent.
• Titanium HD emulates surround sound better with stereo input.
• Titanium HD is considerably better at downscaling surround input to stereo.
• Creative Volume Panel offers more control options than Xonar Audio Center (not that you'd necessarily need the options though).

What I concluded from my comparison was that the Essence STX would probably work better with genres such as rock, metal, classical and the like; non-basshead genres.

On the other hand Titanium HD would probably work better with edm and the like; basshead-genres. The virtual surround capabilities of the Titanium HD also benefits gaming and movies a lot. As such I ended up returning my Essence STX and kept the Titanium HD, but it was mostly about the bass and not as much about the virtual surround. I get why one would choose the Essence STX over the Titanium HD, and especially if one does not have an external amp.