[raymond555]

Hey All
Best cheap combination for the ZXR,after rolling A LOT of different opamps, the best,and most warm and enjoyable sounding combo is,2XuPC4570(NEC) for the I\V,with 2XJRC5534DD(not TI or an other brand,only JRC,TI 5534 sounds like crap).--stereo direct,set speakers to full range and enjoy!

 

[raymond555]

Hey All
Best cheap combination for the ZXR,after rolling A LOT of different opamps, the best,and most warm and enjoyable sounding combo is,2XuPC4570(NEC) for the I\V,with 2XJRC5534DD(not TI or an other brand,only JRC,TI 5534 sounds like crap).--stereo direct,set speakers to full range and enjoy!

 

[igytech]

I use OPA627AP for buffers and AD827SQ for I/Vs. ZxR sound nice to me.

 

[Garzhad]

Alright, as this seems to be one of the most recent, detailed and in-depth threads on the cards in question and replacement op-amps, which do ya'll think is the absolute best? I'm submitting a pcpartpicker build for the $3000 msi system giveaway, so money isn't really an object for the card itself, while it is for replacement op-amps that i'd have to buy myself.
 
What I use it for: 80% gaming and 20% listening to music on iheartradio/pandora/youtube/spotify/downloaded tracks where i'm using headphones exclusively, so EAX 5.0 or equivalent surround sound effects and the like are desired.
 
The available cards through pcpartpicker:
Asus brand: Xonar Essence STX($226), Essence STX 2($232), Xonar DX($88)
 
Creative Brand: SB ZxR($210), Xfi-Titanium HD($180), SB Zx($90)

 

[seamon]

Alright, as this seems to be one of the most recent, detailed and in-depth threads on the cards in question and replacement op-amps, which do ya'll think is the absolute best? I'm submitting a pcpartpicker build for the $3000 msi system giveaway, so money isn't really an object for the card itself, while it is for replacement op-amps that i'd have to buy myself.

What I use it for: 80% gaming and 20% listening to music on iheartradio/pandora/youtube/spotify/downloaded tracks where i'm using headphones exclusively.

The available cards through pcpartpicker:
Asus brand: Xonar Essence STX($226), Essence STX 2($232), Xonar DX($88)

Creative Brand: SB ZxR($210), Xfi-Titanium HD($180), SB Zx($90)

Creative ZxR is the best with burson op amp upgrade.

Asus stx ii is best without any upgrade

 

[Garzhad]

Creative ZxR is the best with burson op amp upgrade.

Asus stx ii is best without any upgrade

So ZxR w/ V5i's > STX 2 w/ V5i's as well? What about with the budget solution proposed by raymond for them?
 
So I take it the Xfi titaniums no longer a contender then? Recall someone earlier in the thread asking if it was worth upgrading to a ZxR from it and someone told him no.
 
And is the ZxR greater just from a hardware perspective or are its software features also better? Or do they both have roughly equivalent game-oriented surround sound software like dolby headphone and the like?

 

[igytech]

For me as user Creative and more Asus cards can say that both drivers are bad.
Creative have problem with daughter board drivers. 
Asus have unofficial Uni drivers which make things better but you lost some functionality...

 

[Garzhad]

I've heard the daughterboard can have troubles being detected properly by motherboards and needs some finagling to get to work but ultimately im just using headphones and dont really card about the daughter board.

 

[seamon]

I've heard the daughterboard can have troubles being detected properly by motherboards and needs some finagling to get to work but ultimately im just using headphones and dont really card about the daughter board.

I have had no issues with ZxR firmware whatsoever.

 

[igytech]

I've heard the daughterboard can have troubles being detected properly by motherboards and needs some finagling to get to work but ultimately im just using headphones and dont really card about the daughter board.

I think it is driver problem, not moherboard because daughterbord is not connected to motherboard yet to soundcard.

 

[Garzhad]

It was in a few newegg reviews. You have to take those with a grain of salt of course but a few people were saying when the onboard audio was disabled sometimes for whatever reason the mobo would fail to detect the daughterboard through the ZxR. Either way that doesn't really matter to me so.

 

[igytech]

It was in a few newegg reviews. You have to take those with a grain of salt of course but a few people were saying when the onboard audio was disabled sometimes for whatever reason the mobo would fail to detect the daughterboard through the ZxR. Either way that doesn't really matter to me so.

You gave me thinking because my on board audio is disabled. Can you put link?

 

[bcschmerker4]

  Hey All
Best cheap combination for the ZXR,after rolling A LOT of different opamps, the best,and most warm and enjoyable sounding combo is,2XuPC4570(NEC) for the I\V,with 2XJRC5534DD(not TI or an other brand,only JRC,TI 5534 sounds like crap).--stereo direct,set speakers to full range and enjoy!

In which case, I'll take hex Nippon Electric Corporation μPC4570AC dual audio amps under advisement for a rebuild in the planning stages; I've two rigs to refit.  The Hot Rod gPC needs new video, ideally in the form of a NOS Gigabyte® GV-R797D5-2GD-B, and the ASUS® XONAR® Essence™ ST™ comes into consideration, as the GV-R797D5-2GD-B requires no anti-reingestion measures; the ST has no issues at all in ALSA  snd-virtuoso.
 
The ASUS® CM1630-06 also needs new video, but unfortunately they haven't a TURBO-RX470-8GD5 in production, and I've no confidence in the TURBO-GTX460-4G due to a LONG history of hardware conflicts between ATi and nVIDIA.  (The RS760G northbridge on the CM1630's stock M4A78LT-M is the issue.)  I still need to check dimensions for the Creative Laboratories® SB1510 to see whether it'll clear the blower on the RX480-8GD5, before springing for a re-equip.  (Would Creative were building a new model around the E-MU® CA10200-IAT so I could set up my multiple audio inputs; the SB1510 uses the CA0132 SoundCore3D® DSP and less capacity than the no-longer-supported SB0240 and SB0350.)

 

[Garzhad]

JW, Raymond, is there a set of opamps one could shove in the ZxR that would make up for a given headphones lack of bass?
 
Also wondering if you tried any of the swaps mentioned in the guru3d review here and if those are any good at all: http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/soundblaster_zxr_review,11.html
 
At this point i just wish Creative had a cheaper ZxR without the daughterboard I don't need lol. It's not like you can sell it after all, without the main card its kinda useless.

 

[tl13m]

  JW, Raymond, is there a set of opamps one could shove in the ZxR that would make up for a given headphones lack of bass?
 
 

 
My experience with Burson Opamp in all chain: ZxR --> Cable + --> Lovely Cube
- HE 560: too much bass for my taste, I've to remove V5 in the Lovey Cube
- HD800: WOW