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Xonar DX vs Xonar DG vs Phoebus Help me decide....

post #1 of 53
10/8/12 at 7:14am
Thread Starter 

Good morning people. This is my first post in this forums. 

 

Until today i was using the onboard card in a P8P67PRO paired with a pair of senn HD598 but the sound is to low, maxed out is barely ok. So i'm planning to incorporate a discrete soundcard. I narrow the search to two options.

 

Xonar DG

Xonar DX

(The DGX is not available in my country)

 

I researched a lot and from what i read  i came  to the conclusion that the DG is the best bang x buck. The issue is that the DG is PCI, while I have an available port it will kill my future plan to get another GTX580 to put in SLI. So the DX is the better way to go.

My concern here is the volume, will i feel the diff between the onboard the DX and the DG?

 

Can it be that the combination of Fiio e11 + Dx is better and louder than DG only?

 

Should i add that i will use it also paired with a 5,1 equipment.

 

Thanks you very much for your answers.


Edited by cba1986 - 10/11/12 at 4:33am
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post #2 of 53
10/8/12 at 10:02am
Thread Starter 

Anybody?

 

More than 25 views and 0 opinions???


Edited by cba1986 - 10/8/12 at 11:17am
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post #3 of 53
10/8/12 at 12:06pm

The Xonar DG would definitely be louder than the onboard audio.

The DX may also be louder, depending on the headphone output impedance of your motherboard, but not as much as the DG.

The DX+E11 is probably slightly louder than the DG, and also somewhat higher quality (both in the DAC and the amplifier section), but you will have to regularly recharge batteries.

 

By the way, if the onboard audio is too quiet, you may be driving your headphones from a line output.


Edited by stv014 - 10/8/12 at 12:09pm
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post #4 of 53
10/8/12 at 12:16pm
Thread Starter 

Thanks for the input. I can't find any info about the alc892 on the p8p67pro. The main problem of the DG is the PCI port and here the dgx is nowhere to be found. So the Dx is my best choice in thar price range the next best thing is the Fatal1ty(no thanks).

 

The ALC892 has a poor output power, my Galaxy s3 can drive the hd598 better. It would be nice to have someone that had tried both alc892 and the dx...

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post #5 of 53
10/8/12 at 2:43pm
Thread Starter 

Wow. 52 views and only three posts.

 

Very nice.

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post #6 of 53
10/8/12 at 3:31pm

I would have suggested the X-Fi Titanium or the Xonar DGX, except that it doesn't sound like you live in the US, where those cards are actually reasonably priced.

 

I could help you with that, but I understand if you'd rather buy locally.

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post #7 of 53
10/8/12 at 3:40pm
Thread Starter 

I can get the titanium hd  but is nearly double the price of the DX. It is really that much of a difference? 

About local. Yeah i would prefer to buy locally for warranty reason exclusively but if i can get a nice price offshore i wouldnt mind.

 

In my country sound's equipment is rare and expensive.

The DX is about 155 USD

The DG is about 50 USD

And the Fatal1ty HD is about 370.

 

Pricey don't you think. For give an example the Essence STX is about 360 USD. Local currency to dollars. Making a quick calculation the DX is about 9 times more expensive than in the US. CAn anybody recomend buying offshore?

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post #8 of 53
10/8/12 at 4:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cba1986 View Post

I can get the Titanium HD  but is nearly double the price of the DX. It is really that much of a difference? 

About local. Yeah i would prefer to buy locally for warranty reason exclusively but if i can get a nice price offshore I wouldn't mind.

 

In my country sound's equipment is rare and expensive.

The DX is about 155 USD

The DG is about 50 USD

And the Fatal1ty HD is about 370.

 

Pricey don't you think. For give an example the Essence STX is about 360 USD. Local currency to dollars. Making a quick calculation the DX is about 9 times more expensive than in the US. can anybody recommend buying offshore?

Your motherboard comes with built in DTS audio, but I'm guessing the DAC is low cost and the headphone jack is more like a line-out jack with high impedance.

For $60, you can get the SMSL SD-793II external DAC/amp (sells on eBay and ships from Asia) and connect it to your motherboard's S/PDIF (optical & coaxial) output.

The SMSL SD-793II comes with a PCM1973 DAC chip and I would "guess" has a low headphone output impedance then you motherboard.

And as you connecting to the motherboard's S/PDIF output, you should still be able to use the built in audio features (like DTS) with your headphones.

I have the older version of the SMSL SD-793, which does not have a headphone amplifier, so I can not really say how good the amplifier is on the SD-793II.

But as the HD598s are only 50-Ohm, they are easily driven.

 

The Xonar DX is a good sound card (CS4398 DAC chip), and comes with Dolby Headphone surround sound, but barely decent at driving headphones.

Where as the Fiio E11 portable headphone amplifier is great from driving headphones, but it is battery driving.

So the Xonar DX/Fiio E11 combo is something I could recommend

 

What is this 5.1 equipment and how did you plan to connect to it?

 

Also, could you add your location, using your community profile.


Edited by PurpleAngel - 10/8/12 at 4:19pm
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post #9 of 53
10/8/12 at 4:28pm
Thread Starter 

Thanks for your detailed answer. My 5.1 setup is pretty basic i have a Microlab X15 (cheap i know) connected via 3.5 analog connector. I found the spec sheet of the alc892 

 

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/datasheets/ALC892-CG_DataSheet_1.3.pdf

 

From your point of you it is worth upgrading from the ALC892 onboard solution to the xonar DX? or i just get a headphone amp for the ALC892?

 

From the quality and quantity sound output point.I'm mainly interested of the features of the DX for better positioning ingame.

 

 

My mainly use is gonna be gaming plus some music listening.


Edited by cba1986 - 10/8/12 at 4:29pm
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post #10 of 53
10/8/12 at 5:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cba1986 View Post

Thanks for your detailed answer. My 5.1 setup is pretty basic i have a Microlab X15 (cheap i know) connected via 3.5 analog connector. I found the spec sheet of the alc892 

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/datasheets/ALC892-CG_DataSheet_1.3.pdf

From your point of you it is worth upgrading from the ALC892 on-board solution to the Xonar DX? or I just get a headphone amp for the ALC892?

From the quality and quantity sound output point.I'm mainly interested of the features of the DX for better positioning in game.

My mainly use is gonna be gaming plus some music listening.

I would have never guessed the prices for those sound cards could be so high, they are twice the USA prices.

I would say to just get the DAC/headphone amplifier for now. As I would guess you would use the headphones a lot more then the speakers.

 

Or get the Xonar DG, it does come with a half-way decent headphone amplifier and Dolby Headphone surround sound (and sold locally).

(besides, is it difficult in your area to buy stuff off eBay and have it shipped from Asia?)

 

The Xonar DX is a good sound cards for speakers, it's only decent with driving headphones (no headphone amplifier and has high impedance).

So $155 seems (to me) just too much to pay for it.

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post #11 of 53
10/8/12 at 5:58pm
Thread Starter 

I know. But buying the FIIO E11 cost almost the same as the DX around  117 Usd. For a little more i prefer changing the soundcard. If the sound quality is worth it. What do you think?

I fear to buy things offfshore mainly beacause customs restrictions and the warranty .The problem with the DG is that i plan to get a second graphic card in the future and i don't get enough space. Really is not a problem to buy offshore is that i have to pay a 15% tax when you buy things in another currency. Just checked ebay and i say the DX for about 102 and the DG for about 40

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Asus-XONAR-DX-7-1-Channel-PCI-Express-2-0-Audio-Card-/350613964268?pt=US_Sound_Cards_Internal_&hash=item51a23885ec

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ASUS-Xonar-DG-Dolby-5-1-Audio-AMP-Digital-S-PDIF-HD-Audio-Gaming-PCI-Sound-Card-/180825534643?pt=US_Sound_Cards_Internal_&hash=item2a1a0ab0b3

 

So there is no much of a difference in these cards. Perhaps because they are old.

 

The thing is that i dont mind paying a little extra for the DX, my doubt is : Is the gain from the onboard good enough to jump to the xonar dx train? or there is only placebo?

My thought is that is have to be. My s3 can drive the hd598 easy while the alc892 doesn't. can the dx drive them better? Also is the quality better?


Edited by cba1986 - 10/8/12 at 6:08pm
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post #12 of 53
10/8/12 at 7:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cba1986 View Post

I know. But buying the FIIO E11 cost almost the same as the DX around  117 Usd. For a little more i prefer changing the soundcard. If the sound quality is worth it. What do you think?

I fear to buy things offfshore mainly beacause customs restrictions and the warranty .The problem with the DG is that i plan to get a second graphic card in the future and i don't get enough space. Really is not a problem to buy offshore is that i have to pay a 15% tax when you buy things in another currency. Just checked ebay and i say the DX for about 102 and the DG for about 40

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Asus-XONAR-DX-7-1-Channel-PCI-Express-2-0-Audio-Card-/350613964268?pt=US_Sound_Cards_Internal_&hash=item51a23885ec

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ASUS-Xonar-DG-Dolby-5-1-Audio-AMP-Digital-S-PDIF-HD-Audio-Gaming-PCI-Sound-Card-/180825534643?pt=US_Sound_Cards_Internal_&hash=item2a1a0ab0b3

 

So there is no much of a difference in these cards. Perhaps because they are old.

 

The thing is that i dont mind paying a little extra for the DX, my doubt is : Is the gain from the onboard good enough to jump to the xonar dx train? or there is only placebo?

My thought is that is have to be. My s3 can drive the hd598 easy while the alc892 doesn't. can the dx drive them better? Also is the quality better?

Here is the Xonar DGX, PCI-E version of the Xonar DG

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ASUS-Xonar-DGX-Dolby5-1-3D-Audio-105dB-Headphone-AMP-Low-Profile-PCIe-Sound-Card-/150825540718?pt=US_Sound_Cards_Internal_&hash=item231de71c6e

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post #13 of 53
10/8/12 at 7:50pm
Thread Starter 

I appreciate your advice. But i saw: Returns not accepted... No thanks.

It is a nice price but i had to wait for seven days for customs te release my sgs3. Plus the non return policy doesn't inspire me confidence.

 

  • But in your opinion the upgrade to the DX from the onboard is worth it?

Edited by cba1986 - 10/8/12 at 7:52pm
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post #14 of 53
10/9/12 at 3:24am

Have you checked that you are using the (amplified) headphone output of the ALC892, rather than a line output, which has more than 200 Ω impedance ? Sometimes you need to use the front panel jack for headphones, although it tends to have its own problems (noise and interference).

 

The Xonar DX alone would be OK, but its 100 Ω output impedance would make the bass response of the HD598 audibly "boomy" (you might already have that with the onboard sound anyway, especially from a line output).
 

Alternatively, you could also use the E11 from the onboard line output. It can drive headphones better than any of the sound cards in your price range. The onboard DAC may or may not be good enough, depending on your luck (the most likely problem is interference, the ALC892 itself is not bad if well implemented).


Edited by stv014 - 10/9/12 at 3:25am
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post #15 of 53
10/9/12 at 4:52am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by stv014 View Post

Have you checked that you are using the (amplified) headphone output of the ALC892, rather than a line output, which has more than 200 Ω impedance ? Sometimes you need to use the front panel jack for headphones, although it tends to have its own problems (noise and interference).

 

The Xonar DX alone would be OK, but its 100 Ω output impedance would make the bass response of the HD598 audibly "boomy" (you might already have that with the onboard sound anyway, especially from a line output).
 

Alternatively, you could also use the E11 from the onboard line output. It can drive headphones better than any of the sound cards in your price range. The onboard DAC may or may not be good enough, depending on your luck (the most likely problem is interference, the ALC892 itself is not bad if well implemented).

 

I didn't know that the onboard has an amped line output. To my knowledge the headphone jack is the line out also there is subwoofer, side speaker, rear speaker, mic and line in jack. Nothing more.

 

From what i reading the DX wouldnt be enough to replace the onboard solution. What do you think about the DG?

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