Based on your usage scenarios, I assume surround sound would be important for you because gaming and watching movies take you lots of time. I would therefore recommend you Xonar D1/DX, which is 7.1 soundcard with Dolby technologies such as DDL, Dolby Headphone, and Dolby Pro logic llx. These...

Quote: I contacted the retailer and got the reply that this is normal for Benchmark DAC1 USB. He even opened the other one and showed me that my machine is not the only. Well… let’s say this is the “fine-tuned” capacitor.

I finally bought Benchmark DAC1 USB as my external usb sound card. However, removing the cover, I noticed two big capacitors are a little bumped on their caps. Is it the normal? Or should I RMA it? Really thanks.

Trust me, the superior sound quality and the opamp actually worth the extra price!   However, DX is good enough for mainstream use like playing games

Any other recommanded headphone? cuz HD595 is a little expensive for me... I've spent a lot on the xonar essense stx

Thanks for all you guy's replies. May I jumpt to a conclusion that DAC (such as Nuforce uDAC, usually with headphone amp) is targeted at music enthusiastic while external USB soundcards (such as Xonar U1) target at general users who watch movies, listen music, and play games thru laptop?  ...

Really thanks for you guys’ kind replies. It seems many people here recommend an external DAC more than an external USB soundcard.   I check the spec of Nuforce uDac and ASUS Xonar U1, but still a little confused. Are the functions of an external DAC almost the same as those of an external...

I tried to find some info. about uDAC and found it's really small and compact.   But how about its sound quality compared with Xonar U1 or X-Fi Surround 5.1? Actually, uDAC costs more than the other models I mentioned above. If uDAC's high price is mostly credited to its extremely small size...

I now want to upgrade its sound quality with a USB sound card for my laptop (Toshiba M200, the model two more years ago). However, my concern is that whether this kind of rig(USB sound card) did help a lot in better sound quality for a laptop? Or are there any other ways I can do to improve the...

I now focus on an audio card under $100 USD, which is great for gaming (music and movies sometimes). I would like to limit my choice within ASUS Xonar DX and Creative X-Fi Titanium. Anyone here want to share experience with one of the both? Or any suggestion?

Forget about it. Just sent back for repair after Googling all possible solutions but still in vain. Really “impressed” by Creative’s popping sound, unfriendly UI and inefficient customer service… I’ll never go back with Creative again and it’s time to search other soundcards.

Quote: Originally Posted by ROBSCIX If you are refering to those headphones I think we may see those bundled with the upcoming Xonar Xense. I asked you about the Cine5, it is a speaker module to produce virtual surround sound. Really sorry for my mistake (originally talking...

Yes, I'm talking about ASUS CineVibe. Here is the message I can find in the websites: CeBit 2010 Messe Bericht - ASUS CineVibe YouTube - GameInside - CeBit 2010 Messe Bericht - ASUS CineVibe Preview But still no info. about price and launch date...

Hi, have any of you heard of "Cine5" ? I've been keeping tracking this product since CES in this January, and it is really fancy and with accurate 5 channel surround sound in all-in-one design. Recently I've found a news on CrunchGear showing that Cine5 will soon be lunched in June. Did any...

Really fed up with Creative Xtreme Audio PCI-E!!! When turnning up sampling rate to 96khz and depth to 24bit, sounds become terrible noise, and music playing extremely slows down. I try everything I can and make sure this is not the problem of my PC. I bought this due to the Creative's...