[Culverin]

Hey guys,

I have just recently built myself a new computer.
For the past few years, I have been using an Auzentech Prelude.
However, my new motherboard (Asus X58 Sabertooth) has the PCI slot covered by the #1 PCI-E slot.
The on-board sound which is actually isn't bad still isn't amazing.  This means I need to find myself a replacement for my Prelude.


I have been considering the Asus Xonar STX, and I'm hoping you guys might be able to help me flush out my build path a bit more.
My computer does and will continue to serve as the hub of my entertainment unit.


Currently:
This is how my audio time is spent:
60% TV shows and movies.
40% Gaming

More than half my gaming time is spent playing FPS where headphones are a must.
I'm mostly using Beyerdynamic DT-990, sometimes AKG-702


Soon:
I will adding a new (undetermined) receiver in the next few months to drive my 4 vintage Technics studio monitors.
I will be adding a center channel and subwoofer as well.
 


Objective:
To have 3 modes:
 

• 5.1 Surround for music, movies, tv and games.
• Headphones for music, FPS games and late night listening
• Headphones + Sub for movies and games

Questions:

• Is the Xonar what I should be looking at?  Or some combination of DAC+amp + on board output direct to receiver?
• Will the Xonar STX outputs give me good theater sound?  Or do things get muddled since it doesn't have 1:1 channel:connectors?
• Are there any OP Amp upgrades that are considered "essential" compared to the stock OP Amps?
• How should I be setting up my sound system so that I can quickly toggle between the 3 modes?
  
  With my Prelude, everytime I wanted to switch between my Logitech 5.1 system and headphone output, I would have to:
  - Go into the Prelude drivers, and switch from 5.1 to headphone output.
  - Unplug the center channel, and plug in my headphones.
  This was a total pain in the ass.
  
  Ideally, flipping between these 3 modes would be as easy as toggling a physical 3-way switch on my desktop.

 
 
Anyways, as usual your help is most appreciated.
 
thanks!!!

 

[Culverin]

Has anybody done a detailed Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD vs Asus Xonar STX?

 

[Culverin]

Bumping this.
 
Just curious.
If I'm doing optical out to my home theater (cause that's what the Titanium HD and Xonar STX do), would there be any difference than outputting optical directly from my motherboard?

 

[ekliptiko]

nope, optical, coax, and usb to a dac all transmit the same digital info.

 

[Omega17TheTrue]

Yes it will be different because of the jitter and different design but you also can't hear the difference depending of the system.
 
I think your best option is home theater receiver with dac inside so you can use surround speakers and plug the headphone on the front of the unit and use dolby headphone (but some got very bad headphone out), you can't beat surround speaker system for movies and games for the realistic soundstage.

 

[ekliptiko]

What ever jitter you accumulate through optical/coax will still be present through usb. The audio still follows the same path from song file to digital out (besides being routed to a physically different plug), no matter if its coax, optical, or usb. I dont see how usb would be any less jitter. The digital wav file created for playback through a digital interface contains the same 0's and 1's no matter if it is usb or else.
 
 
this has been discussed to a good extent:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/302807/best-sound-card-for-s-pdif-or-does-it-even-matter

 
Quote From Above Thread:

S/PDIF output is digital. Any soundcard that outputs in S/PDIF will send out the same 1s and 0s.

Audible differences in sound quality between digital sources probably result from differences in the accuracy of the clocks controlling the digital output. An inaccurate clock will introduce timing inaccuracies into the output of the S/PDIF signal. If the DAC doesn't buffer the incoming digital signal and reclock it, those timing inaccuracies will be translated into jitter in the final product.

Most soundcards probably use the motherboard's master clock to time the digital signal output, so your choice of sound cards is probably unimportant. High-end cards like the Lynx Studio products may use their own clock, however--I don't know.

Some DACs, like the LessLoss DAC 2004, can actually control the timing of the outgoing signal in the source device, which solves your jitter problems without having to resort to buffering and reclocking (since the reclocking is performed at the source).

 
none the less, i too think a receiver to surround speakers is the best way to go in this case. As Omega17TheTrue said above, you can always plug in headphones.

 

[Omega17TheTrue]

It depend of the design and different cables like optical,usb,coaxial use different method and its not simply 0 and 1 like you said there is also timing aswel as other things, clock is also very important that why some studio use very expensive atomic audio clock.
 
But yes it shouldn't matter anyway the most important are the receiver and surround speaker set and high quality HT is very expensive because there is more speakers.