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Which Xonar sound card for the Sony DR-GA500 headset?

post #1 of 5
10/3/11 at 10:51pm
Thread Starter 

My friend has a Sony DR-GA500 headset (review here) and is looking for a sound card for his new computer. I'm not very familiar with audio technology, but my understanding is that the decoder box that comes with the headset takes in an analog 7.1 signal and sends a "virtual" 7.1 signal to the headset. Does this mean that the headset is just receiving 2 channels but with 7 channels worth of audio data? Is the decoder doing the same thing that a Xonar sound card with Dolby Headphone would do?

 

I'm trying to decide between the Xonar DG or DX. I know the DG has a built-in headphone amp and 5.1 channels, while the DX has no amp but 7.1 channels. Both have Dolby Headphone. Which one should I pick and is there anything else I should consider? Thanks.

 

 

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post #2 of 5
10/4/11 at 12:19am

Might want to hold off for a sound card, for a month.

Creative labs is launching 2 new sound cards.

 

I've used an Xonar DG, DS, DX and now Essence STX (with op-amp upgrades for the headphone amplifier).

And I've been pushing Asus Xonar's for the past year.

Creative Labs might be coming out with a decently priced sound card with a built in Headphone amp.

Just want you to have a chance at all options.

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post #3 of 5
10/4/11 at 10:10am

I found the DG amp very capable, for my HD555 the middle setting (Pro gamer mode 32-64 ohms) its enough, clean sound, no distortion..

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post #4 of 5
10/4/11 at 8:46pm
Thread Starter 

Interesting, could you provide me with the source you got the info from?
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by PurpleAngel View Post

Might want to hold off for a sound card, for a month.

Creative labs is launching 2 new sound cards.

 

I've used an Xonar DG, DS, DX and now Essence STX (with op-amp upgrades for the headphone amplifier).

And I've been pushing Asus Xonar's for the past year.

Creative Labs might be coming out with a decently priced sound card with a built in Headphone amp.

Just want you to have a chance at all options.



 

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post #5 of 5
10/7/11 at 12:48pm

He's talking about the Sound Blaster Recon3D cards that Creative's about to release. They're based on the Sound Core3D DSP, which appears to be an X-Fi EMU20k2 DSP with an integrated DAC and ADC. I'm not sure what they'll offer over the existing X-Fi cards yet in practical terms.

 

The DR-GA500's decoder box takes analog 7.1 and apply its own binaural HRTF surround filter akin to Dolby Headphone or CMSS-3D Headphone, in which case you DON'T want the sound pre-processed by the sound card already. I would also expect it to act as an amplifier. It can also act as a USB DAC, in which case it IS the sound card.

 

A better source would be an improvement in terms of cleaner analog output and more gaming features (if EAX is important to you, presumably because you play a lot of older games as well as newer ones), though the other big reason to get a sound card is CMSS-3D Headphone or Dolby Headphone, and with the GA500's decoder box, that becomes redundant (though you may prefer one or the other in the end).

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