[john5220]

you know that bass/treble slider you can access in sound controls in windows on sound cards but its usually graved off in onboard sound.

Well after reading all the reviews there is I expected the Xonar DX to be like blowing be away.

Low and behold it has no bass/treble tone control slider and I am forced to use tat dumb EQ to get anny kind of bass for my Seh HD555.

Asus is the biggest disappointment in terms of sound cards I should have just purchased the creative like I usually do. Is just creative drivers are screwed up and they much more expensive. Not even the XOnar D2X has this option.

I am thinking of trading my Xonar DX for an old Audigy 2 ZS cause I don't like to interfere with an EQ settings I find it screws up your sound.

Anyone can help me here?

 

[HeadLover]

ASUS D2X abd D2 is a very (very) good sound card!

Sorry you think this way.

 

[TheMarchingMule]

Something's gotta be wrong here....

 

[john5220]

Yeah I know something is wrong here. The Xonar is king when it comes to lets say a Logitech Z5500 speaker system. It really kicks.

But when it comes to headphones it looses by a million miles to even a Audigy 2ZS.

That lack of Bass slider that onboard sound suffers from is death to when using a headphone. When I mess with the EQ the bass gets really good but the vocals just gets messed up if you ask me.

I hate to mess with EQ I always believed hardware powered Bass was beter than having to set a EQ.

I am sorry I did not buy a Creative now I just hate Creative guts is the only reason I bought the Asus Xonar DX. Heck not even the D2 and D2X has this bass slider option which makes it pointless for headphones.

I had a Audigy 2 ZS before so I would know what I am saying and it sounds a far better than the XOnar for music espically headphones.

 

[paaj]

you want hardware eq? you never get one with a soundcard without a breakout box, just not possible, and easily investigatable (?)
and that greyed slider is always software eq and if you do get a knob, it's basicly the same, you either up the bass and lose trebble, or other way around.
btw if the bass gets better using that slider, try the eq in your music software (which is probably more detailed) to adjust the bass without ruining the rest of the sound (if not clipping!)

 

[john5220]

Hmm I see.

So maby its best I keep the Xonar instead of trading it for the Audigy 2 ZS.

So what you all saying is that, that bass slider is still basically a software slider like an EQ and it does the same thing?

Adjusting a EQ will be the same thing as raising the bass slider in the tone control?

 

[paaj]

actually, using a decent musicsoftware eq (foobar?) is better, because you can specify which frequencies you want to boost.

from the pics i've seen, the audigy also had no external soundcontrol, so it is also software based.

...
how do you connect the xonar to the audigy? digital or analog? because digital shouldn't really be any different from an audigy, and if using analog, you probably should hear an improvement with your senns too. or do you use tonecontrol on the z5500?

 

[john5220]

Nah I just turn up the bass knob on the Z5500. Sounds good.

The Audigy when u turned up the bass tone slider you could feel the punch in the bass.

With the foobar and Xonar when u mess with the EQ the goes up and rattles the senns HD555 but the punch just isn't there as with the Audigy 2 ZS.

It just not as clean as the Audigy 2 ZS, I was told its always bad to tamper with a EQ as a true sound system does nto need EQ adjustment.

That hardware powered bass was vastly superior to use an EQ.
The Audigy 2 ZS has options called bass boost aswell which further enhances the bass with 0 distortion.

EQ always gives distortions and hence causes the vocals and stuff to sound weird.

 

[paaj]

that z5500 bass knop is hardware based, everything else that does not actually use a real button you can touch with your fingers is software-eq, whatever they call it.

often, it's better to actually lower the other frequencies, to avoid clipping etc and then turn the volume up some more.

of course the audigy can sound better to you, maybe it has a slightly better amp in it?
but the worst soundcard ever? when it actually sounds better on the z5500 (as i understand?)?

 

[pompon]

Install your sound card driver, you will have a 10 band equaliser to adjust your sound like you want.

 

[milkweg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by paaj /img/forum/go_quote.gif you want hardware eq? you never get one with a soundcard without a breakout box, just not possible, and easily investigatable (?)

I thought the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz has a hardware equalizer controlled via software? Why yes, it does.

Santa Cruz sound card from Voyetra Turtle Beach

 

[john5220]

Yeah it sounds like Magic on the Z5500. Very clean so I guess not the worst sound card.

But in terms of headphones, the Audigy 2 ZS blows it away. Perhaps the Audigy 2 ZS has a better AMP for headphones and favors headphones more.

Yeah I know about the 10Band EQ I already pumped the bass all the way plus enabled dolby headphones and virtual 7.1 which sounds much better.

But at the end of the day the Audigy 2 ZS gives a deep powerful punch even in youtube videos that the Xonar does not have for headphones.

All that aside it sounds super with a Z5500. Just not super with headphones as opposed to the Audigy 2 ZS.

See the Audigy 2ZS has not only a EQ but also a Bass and treble tone slider to adjust without touching the EQ. On top of that it has something called bass boost and bass volume.

The audigy definitely has a vastly superior AMP and drives headphones much better than the Xonar. I just hate Creative guts cause of their disgusting customer support and poor drivers is why I bought the Xonar.

But honestly the XOnar control center kinda suck the software that is compared to the creative. The graphics look like crap. But thats besides the point if you all want a sound card for headphones get a creative X FI Fatal1ty or something so.
The best would be X FI Elite PRO but its expensive as hell.

Either way creative rules in driving a headphone bass the Xonar only good for loud speakers. Infact the Xonar owns when it comes to 5.1 Z5500. It can kill the creative X Fi elite.

The Xonar EQ is just to week even turned up all the way the 50 ohms Sennheiser HD 555 bearly gets any bass. YOu got to use foobar EQ or WMP EQ and when you enable all this EQ together with max bass it gets abit distorted and you can hear how other frequencies are dropping.

Sounds like the sound is dying and coming back to life. Like when bass hits the vocals die. Like I said to much messing around with EQ can screw up the damn music. Trust me people those sliders called Bass/Treble tone adjustment in windows sound control makes the world of difference.

I have heard them both I used my Audigy 2 ZS for 3 years so I would know when I heard the Xonar with my headphones I was immediately disappointed. Even though its software it still feels like I am some how interacting with the hardware.

Its like perfect you should hear the punch in the bass and the depth when you raise that bass tone slider compared to using the EQ which just gets distorted. And imagine the Audigy 2 ZS only does 24bit with 48khz in mp3 whikle the Xonar DX does 24 bit with 192khz.

Yet the audigy still sounds so much better. But in terms of the Z5500 i dont need to adjust the bass tone slider for the audigy cause its waaaaay to bassy but for headphones yeah those options is a definite must.

 

[john5220]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pompon /img/forum/go_quote.gif Install your sound card driver, you will have a 10 band equaliser to adjust your sound like you want.

Already did it and raise the bass.

But fact it it cannot drive a headphone properly when it comes to bass.

You should try listening to a creative sound card and adjust that bass/treble slider and dont even touch the EQ.

Then you will what I was speaking of. It sounds as if the hardware has an amp just for running bass and treble.

I think Asus mad a big mistake here by not including a proper hardware AMP.
All they did was focus on high SNR and thats it. They completely neglected proper hardware amp. This is not a problem for HT systems like the Z5500 but for headphones this is a big problem.

I would know I had a Audigy 2 ZS so I would know when I said it makes a world of difference in headphones. Listen most onboard chips has this option graved off because I was told its a physical limitation of the hardware. Its supposed to be a hardware amp that only high end sound cards carry.

Sadly I can no longer say a Xonar is a true high end card. Maby it is for loud speakers like a Z5500 but its horrible for headphones.

 

[milkweg]

Hey, get an Onkyo or HK reciever and feed it digitally from your soundcard. No more amp problem and will only cost you about $200.00 if you shop around. Onkyo 505 you should be able to find for $200.00 now.

 

[1UP]

?? Whether it's a slider or multi-band eq they're doing the same thing, just using a different UI to do it.

What kind of files/resolution are you playing, what operating system, what media player?