[hans030390]

I just recently purchased a Xonar DX. I was really excited about it, as all of the reviews for it were extremely good. However, when I hooked it up, something just sounded off compared to my onboard ALC888 and X-Fi Titanium (which I recently sold so I could get the DX). So, I started up RightMark to test it out. I had to turn the volume down to 50, because otherwise there was tons of noise and such even with the mic in turned way down (it wouldn't let me test it). This is strange considering the X-Fi worked at any volume setting. Once I was able to get everything set up, I ran the tests. The results came out better than onboard, but fell short compared to the results everyone else gets for it. Even the X-Fi did better (except in frequency response, though the left and right channels are a bit separated for some reason). Naturally, I'm a bit disappointed. What might be causing this, and what should I do about it?
 
More info: I was doing more comparisons between my RightMark results and reviewers online. My results are closer than I thought when you directly compare the graphs. For example, the noise graph on mine closely resembles those seen online. However, if you follow the graph from the high to low frequencies, the results get worse the lower the frequency gets. Usually around 100hz you'll see a pretty big incline as you go towards lower frequencies. This is what's throwing my numbers off compared to others, as their graphs are usually pretty linear across the frequency spectrum.

 

[Hybrys]

Measurements really only tell part of the story.  Listen to it, and see how it sounds to you.  If it's better, then you're better off.  If not, then it's a bit of a mistake.
 
If it's noisy, and that's the problem, then something sounds off.  One thing to note, since I often use onboard inputs as loop when needed, if Windows is treating the input as a mic, it's going to add a LOT to that signal.  Mic boost + volume boosters.  Somehow setting it as more of a line in would be better.

 

[epodn]

Well... I did shift from X-Fi Titanium to Xonar DX a while ago. But... I didn't experience what you said. I would give DX a high credit, but...anyway, it's not the highest end model of Xonar series.  

 

[hans030390]

It's not that it sounds bad. It was probably some sort of placebo when I said things sounded "off", or maybe something I made up in my head after running those tests. I'm just wondering why noise and such becomes more of an issue at lower frequencies...

 

[hans030390]

Is it likely an issue with my motherboard? I recall having similar results with my X-Fi, now that I think about it. At the time I figured it was normal considering the RMAA numbers matched up with what I was seeing online. They're using the same PCI-E slot, so maybe there's something causing problems there?
 
I'm wondering if swapping it with a Xonar D1 would solve it, since I could move it to a PCI slot. My PCI slots are further from CPU area of the motherboard, which is a dense area of electrical components...I could see that causing issues. Sadly I only have one slot to put the DX in, and it's the top most PCI-E slot...

 

[sgrossklass]

Quote:

I had to turn the volume down to 50, because otherwise there was tons of noise and such even with the mic in turned way down (it wouldn't let me test it).

Waitaminit, Mic In? That's not the type of input you want to use for loopback measurements. I wouldn't be surprised at all if this accounted for the unexpectedly bad results.

 

[Steve-o27]

I remember my first impressions with the DX weren't so good because I switched from a crappy Audigy SE, which I obviously used with modded X-Fi drivers. First I missed that „cristalyzer” thingy the Creative had but then I started to see the good part having a decent DAC in your PC. It will grow on you, just give it some time.
 
Theoretically the D1 is worse sounding because it uses power directly from the motherboard apart from the DX which needs a separate floppy power connector thus power drawn directly from the PSU is cleaner, that's what I think.

 

[hans030390]

Quote:

Waitaminit, Mic In? That's not the type of input you want to use for loopback measurements. I wouldn't be surprised at all if this accounted for the unexpectedly bad results.

Edit: Wait, thanks for pointing that out! I needed to be using line-in! Wow, I can't believe I didn't see that earlier. I re-ran the tests and my results are good!