Asus xonar u3 or creative soundblaster play 2?
May 2, 2015 at 5:22 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 6

sgriffin

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Hi,
Im looking for a usb sound board since my headphone port on my laptop broke. Im not sure between these two and i would like some advice from you or if you have any experience with these sound cards.
I won't be using anything fancy and mostly i will use my hd202 with it and occasionally my xiaomi pistons. 
The xonar u3 is about 15$ more expensive. Is it worth that extra money? Is the sound quality difference noticeable? I was reading that the drivers and software from creative are a bit more heavy on the computer, is that still true?
 
Thanks in advance!
 
May 3, 2015 at 8:51 AM Post #2 of 6
Anyone? I really wanted to decide today and the more i search, the more confused i get.
Does the creative sound blaster  require their apparently heavy bloat software or can i just install the drivers and control it from windows sound control? What about the asus? Thats one thing i preferred that i forgot to mention is that i would rather to be able to control it mostly from the volume control setting on windows and i wont use the eq software much i believe
 
May 4, 2015 at 3:10 AM Post #3 of 6
If you just want simple plug and play stereo sound than these cheapies will do:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=usb+sound&_sop=15

Usually windows will install the standard built-in usb audio (16bits/44.1kHz) automatically for direct use!
- To use advanced features of the soundcard itself, you'll need to install their drivers/software to use higher bitrates/3D sound/EQ etc.

Asus xonar is better if you want/like Dolby Digital HP Surround/(software)Decoding from DD movies/games.
http://www.head-fi.org/products/asus-xonar-u3

Play2 has own SBX surround only, it use more CPU software decoding, so could be more laggy if stressed than xonar.
Its probably better than the older X-Fi Go/Play1 ?:
http://www.head-fi.org/products/creative-soundblaster-x-fi-go-pro-usb-audio-system-with-thx-sb1290

http://www.head-fi.org/t/627553/asus-xonar-u3-vs-creative-sound-blaster-x-fi-go-pro-usb
http://www.head-fi.org/t/751739/asus-xonar-u3-vs-creative-xi-fi-go-pro

Test it yourself the different HP surround sound:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/748785/dolby-home-threater-v4-7-1-vs-sbx-pro-5-1

http://www.head-fi.org/f/7775/video-games-discussion
 
May 4, 2015 at 6:16 AM Post #4 of 6
Thank you for replying and giving some help. I will be checking those links.
I was considering those cheap ones, but i have read that people had problems with those where they would stop working a few days or weeks after or they would overheat damage the headphones. So i thought i might just invest in something that is a bit more expensive but that is better and would last me than to buy those cheap ones a few times.
I was reading that the creative ones and the software on them are a bit heavy/bloated and can cause slow down on the computer like you said. 
 
To be honest, i don't care much for dobly and all that stuff since i didn't had it before but of course is always a nice extra. My headphones are the hd202 and i also have xiaomi pistons that i use sometimes on the computer. Do you think i would notice any improvement/difference between these two? I was going to go for the cheaper, which is creative sb play 2, but the software /more intense use of the cpu made me second guess it and the difference is 10$. Maybe the xonar u3 would be a better investment even for future laptops ?! =/
 
May 4, 2015 at 1:14 PM Post #6 of 6
I think i will indeed go with the xonar u3, it seems like the better option and the price difference isn't that high and like you said. it allows for upgrades in the future.
Thank you for your help! :)
 

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