[iriverdude]

Use a oundcard with EAX support and which encodes to DTS on the fly, to a av processor and poweramps.

 

[meatwad]

Quote:

Originally Posted by iriverdude /img/forum/go_quote.gif Use a oundcard with EAX support and which encodes to DTS on the fly, to a av processor and poweramps.

could you be more specific?

 

[iriverdude]

Some of the newer soundcards have live encoding to digital out, so multi-channel EAX gaming is bitstreamed as standard 5.1 DTS. So any av amp or av processor will decode it. For a audiophile setup that rules av amps, so need to look into a av processor and 5 speaker amps.

At the moment I'm using the 3.5mm jacks from my X-Fi into a av amp 3.1 input, then the left & right into a stereo integrated amp, so I have the best of both stereo without going through the av amp, and the av amp to power the other speakers for 5.1 gaming. I've also used the optical out from onboard to a av pre-amp just in case I need off board processing/DAC and better quality than onboard DAC and X-Fi DAC.

 

[meatwad]

would that be useful for me though? I mean, I really only use headphones for gaming. I use headphones for everything. I have 2.1 speakers that I rarely use. I don't have 5.1 speakers, and I don't plan on getting some any time in the foreseeable future...

 

[lxxl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by meatwad /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have the same version of the card that you do, with the red light. Where did you get your TOSlink adapter? and since that's the same port used for the mic-in line, what did you do for your microphone? did you plug in your front panel for the mic? Just so I'm clear on this... if I use optical-out from my sound card to an external DAC, what is my sound card still doing, and what is it handing over to the DAC? is the card still processing all the audio within games and such, and just sending the digital to analogue conversion job out to the DAC?

Sorry for late reply, I haven't been reading up. TOSlink adapter can be bought from online computer stores, the one I have it's made from startech, it's only a few $. And as for Mic, I use a USB mic.

Your soundcard will act as a host, so using optical/coax, all the processing will be pass to your external DAC. And it also have a lot less noise (if any) vs your on board. If you are a gamer, with this Xtremegamer card you can still turn on all the X-Fi feature through optical, I personally don't use them because I find them "meh", however I have the ability to do so.

 

[Necrolic]

Hands down the best music AND gaming sound card is going to be the AuzenTech Forte or AuzenTech HTHD (same componentry, HTHD just supports HDMI), since they both use the X-Fi chip.

You can either use that straight to your headphones, which will be the cheapest option but still sounds EXCELLENT all things considered (obviously not as good as a top of the line rig, but if you're on a budget it's nothing to scoff at and completely worthy of directly connecting any pair of cans), or you can do one of the following.

1. Buy a separate DAC and amp, use a coaxial or optical cable to hook up the sound card to the DAC, then a mini to mini to connect DAC to amp. This method allows you to still use all the features of an X-Fi for gaming, yet have fantastic music as well, without changing any settings (obviously you can go from Gaming mode to Entertainment or Audio Production mode when listening to music for even better sound quality).

2. Just get an amp, then hook up the Analog I/O breakout cable that comes with the sound card to the sound card, then use the green "Front" line out of that to hook it up to your amp (hooking up the amp directly to the headphone out of these cards will essentially be doubly amplifying your music since the card has a built in headphone amp, and putting two different sound signatures on it, not a good thing).

Honestly, if you're on a budget, the $300 Auzentech HTHD is more than good enough. I am currently using mine directly hooked up to my D5000s and I LOVE it, although I'm considering picking up an amp and possibly DAC in the near future, not due to any flaws with the sound card, just because I want to improve my rig even more.

 

[Bloodoath]

I had the same concern. I got the DAC and ran it and my ZS2 sound card through a mixer and must say both sound very good.

 

[ROBSCIX]

People with the card have been giving great reviews about the onboard headphones amplifier.
On the flip side, there are a few around with higher quality DAC's connected to their gaming cards to get better sound quality.

 

[meatwad]

Yeah, I just decided to keep my Xtremegamer. I bought an amp, the Little Dot MK IV SE, and I plan on buying a real DAC in the future, so buying a new sound card would be pretty much pointless.

 

[ROBSCIX]

Sure, if you are groing with a new DAC, you can just connect it through S/Pdif to the card you have now and still have all the features and options but better sound quality.