The bottomline of Windows 8 is crystal clear, there is a new UI forced onto users by default along with some features removed since Windows 7. However, restoring all removed features is easily done without adding any sort of overhead to Windows 8. More importantly (the true gem about Windows 8)...

I'll just say the following (as pointed on the previous post), the currently highest quality OpenAL renderer uses up to 15% on a quad core CPU (which is far from negligible). 15% of CPU cycles is a rather significant performance hit, one that would be entirely avoided by offloading it to the...

Quote:   Indeed, software OpenAL is available on all devices, while hardware OpenAL is limited to Creative Audigy and X-Fi cards. And due to being an open standard, it's used not only on Linux but also on mobile devices, even on walled gardens like iOS.   About games that run on...

Believe me, I do understand what you mean. Audio hardware is also overpriced around here, and international orders aren't always desirable.   Just make sure you enjoy your card as much as you can

Relatively close results are to be expected, with the Essence STX being slightly better, as well as having swappable opamps, which allows for further customization.   Bottomline is, the Phoebus is a good card, just a bit overpriced, IMHO.   Also, I find it quite odd that you see the...

Hum, I was under the impression the timer dropped to 1ms when in use, and custom settings were required to lower it to 0.5ms.   Do you happen to know of any method to lower it below 0.5ms?

Well, for gaming and gaming alone, the Xonar Phoebus will provide a more stable gaming experience than the Essence STX, due to better software compatibility, which I believe is what you got your Xonar Phoebus for.

Quote:   Don't worry too much about it. None of those external DACs would've been a better option for gaming because most external DACs lack any sort of gaming audio support. The Xonar Phoebus does have some gaming support and will work acceptably with modern games, that have software...

It should be noted that on supporting Windows OSes as well as supporting hardware (not all hardware is capable of), HPET is disabled by default and has to be manually enabled. It should also be noted that while HPET can help with latency, it introduces issues on video related tasks, so that...

Quote:   Actually, positional cues are used on a lot more genres, not just FPS games. For instance, RTS games become much more immersive when better positional cues, as well as helping with competitive gaming by being able to easily pinpoint incoming units or even distinguish friends from...

Quote:   Yes, it's the same card.   Quote:   All Asus soundcards have poor gaming audio support, with no hardware acceleration of OpenAL, EAX support higher than version 2 and no positional cue improvement algorithms. Not recommended.

Through careful component selection, you can get a very high quality transport through a PC. However, you would have to pick some components that are geared towards purposes other than audio, but some of its features are relevant for audio playback. And despite some people saying digital out can...

Gaming wise, the only thing the Phoebus has over the Essence STX is a less buggier implementation of GX mode. Aside from that, the Essence STX is a superior card. Also, GX mode doesn't emulate any EAX version higher than version 2, it just increases voice count without any filtering at all...

You can also look into the Ultrasone Pro 550 (or its counterpart, the DJ1 Pro), it fits your criteria and is within your specified budget.   Amp wise, the PA2V2 is a solid performer for its price, and pairs up nicely with Ultrasones.

Quote:   If you're using Windows XP, volume should be at 50%. If you're using Windows Vista or newer, volume should be at 100%. Only lower it if clipping occurs.     Quote:   He does PC gaming, where the Mixamp isn't suitable for, given that there are better and cheaper...

Quote:   Ah :)   Well, in theory it would make sense regarding treble, but its reported effects on bass aren't good, IMHO. Also, I'm a bit puzzled at how it could change the whole headphone position relative to the head.

XAudio2 is just so... awful.   Still, it should be noted that aside from being hardware accelerated, X-Fi cards still provide improved positional cue accuracy through their audio renderer agnostic algorithms. While the improvements aren't as large as running pure hardware audio renderers...

Quote:   Something like this?   This could also be of interest to you, pad wise.

Quote:   I'm afraid you lost me there :)

250 euros for the Pro 2900 is a great deal. They handle metal very well, and overall it's a deal worth getting.

Quote:   If you get an external DAC-amp unit, you can't connect it through USB or it will bypass the internal soundcard, therefore negating all the soundcard's features. A good priced portable amp to get is the PA2V2, for ~$60. I recommend it over the Fiio E11 because the PA2V2 has better...

Quote:   No worries, the HFI-580 isn't going anywhere :) It just got updated to come with a 1m straight cable and a 4m extension cable instead of the original 3m cable.

Quote:   Well, the D7100 might look more modern but its looks certainly don't match the price tag, IMHO.

Creative is known to have subpar marketing when it comes to advertising supported features on their cards, with something similar happening with the whole DTS support situation.   Also, keep in mind that CMSS-3D is a surround virtualization tech, whose purpose is to add surround to the...

It is recommended to add a headphone amp to the DT 990 Pro 250 Ohm. Given your specified budget, the Fiio E9/09K is your best option.