help deciding on pc sound card
Jan 5, 2014 at 11:59 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 15

sureshot1234

100+ Head-Fier
Joined
Sep 4, 2011
Posts
145
Likes
10
looking to get a new sound card ( got a new motherboard doesnt have pci old sound card was pci)  i am currently trying to choose between 2 sound cards and wondering which one i should get. will be used with my Pioneer SE-A1000 headphones mabye something better in the future with a higher impedance and my emotiva airmotiv 4 speakers.  will be listening to music playing games and movies so would like something that works best for all of these.
 
the 2 sound cards i am looking at are: 
 
Asus Xonar Essence STX  http://www.asus.com/us/Sound_Cards_and_DigitaltoAnalog_Converters/Xonar_Essence_STX/
 
 
Creative Sound Blaster Z   http://us.creative.com/p/sound-blaster/sound-blaster-z
 
thanks for the help with this :D
 
Jan 5, 2014 at 2:12 PM Post #3 of 15
  looking to get a new sound card ( got a new motherboard doesnt have pci old sound card was pci)  i am currently trying to choose between 2 sound cards and wondering which one i should get. will be used with my Pioneer SE-A1000 headphones mabye something better in the future with a higher impedance and my emotiva airmotiv 4 speakers.  will be listening to music playing games and movies so would like something that works best for all of these.
 
the 2 sound cards i am looking at are: 
 
Asus Xonar Essence STX  http://www.asus.com/us/Sound_Cards_and_DigitaltoAnalog_Converters/Xonar_Essence_STX/
 
 
Creative Sound Blaster Z   http://us.creative.com/p/sound-blaster/sound-blaster-z
 
thanks for the help with this :D

i would go with the Z if you planing on playing games and movies
 
Jan 5, 2014 at 4:00 PM Post #5 of 15
  what make the STX not that good for movies and games?

nothing really, I just always prefered creatives positional audio quality over asus
 
Jan 5, 2014 at 4:54 PM Post #6 of 15
  nothing really, I just always prefered creatives positional audio quality over asus

i just want to truest most accurate sound for movies music and games the positional audio isnt important to me i have very good hearing and even with just playing something like battlefield 4 on my 2.0 speakers in stereo with no effects i can generally tell right where they are and guess the distance if its a far range 
 
Jan 5, 2014 at 5:22 PM Post #7 of 15
  i just want to truest most accurate sound for movies music and games the positional audio isn't important to me i have very good hearing and even with just playing something like battlefield 4 on my 2.0 speakers in stereo with no effects i can generally tell right where they are and guess the distance if its a far range 

Really its just user preference then. The stx has a better dac, but the z is new technology both get good reviews.
also note the stx is about 100$ more than the z new.
 
Jan 5, 2014 at 6:26 PM Post #8 of 15
  looking to get a new sound card ( got a new motherboard doesnt have pci old sound card was pci)  i am currently trying to choose between 2 sound cards and wondering which one i should get. will be used with my Pioneer SE-A1000 headphones maybe something better in the future with a higher impedance and my Emotiva Airmotiv 4 speakers.  will be listening to music playing games and movies so would like something that works best for all of these.
the 2 sound cards i am looking at are: 
Asus Xonar Essence STX  http://www.asus.com/us/Sound_Cards_and_DigitaltoAnalog_Converters/Xonar_Essence_STX/
Creative Sound Blaster Z   http://us.creative.com/p/sound-blaster/sound-blaster-z

The Essence STX comes with the same DAC and headphone amplifier as the ZxR.
So as the STX has a better DAC and amplifier, then the Z (&Zx) sound card,
the STX should provide better audio quality then the Z (or Zx) sound card.
 
Jan 31, 2014 at 12:29 AM Post #10 of 15
bought and tried the sound blaster z didnt like having to mess with all the little tweaking stuff took it back and got the STX love it simpler and speakers and headphones clearer louder at lower volumes so dont have to crank it up thanks for the help guys 
 
Mar 20, 2014 at 7:04 AM Post #12 of 15
http://maxedtech.com/asus-xonar-unified-drivers/
 
you are right about horrid drivers for the asus, but... thankfully these guys love the card enough to make awesome drivers for it
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top