[ljason8eg]

Hey guys, this is my first post here though I am very active on overclock.net under the same user name. I've come across a decision of what sound card to buy, and a couple people pointed me over here, so here goes, I'll copy/paste the post.
 
 
This is seriously driving me crazy. I just cannot decide which soundcard to buy to replace my Xtreme Music. I've narrowed it down (i think) to:

Musiland Monitor 02 US
Asus Xonar Essence STX/ST
X-fi Bravura

I'd say gaming/music is a 50/50 split so I want the best compromise, problem is some people have said those "gaming" features are useless, but then again others swear by them. These will be used with a my Audioengine A5 speakers paired with a Velodyne Impact 12 sub just as an FYI.

Please help me make the right choice!
 
Thanks guys!

 

[Jd007]

Just an FYI, if you are going for the ASUS Xonar Essence, get the ST instead of the STX if you can. The AV100 processor used on both is a PCI chip, so on the STX there is an extra PCI-E to PCI converter chip, which supposedly has a negative impact on sound quality. People generally say that the ST sounds slightly better.
 
Personally I'd drop the X-fi Bravura and choose between the Musiland Monitor 02 US and the Essence ST. These two are comparable. Some say the Musiland is better and others say the ST (with swapped out op amps) is better. I guess it comes down to whether you want an external or internal card. I'm sure both will sound great on your A5s. I myself have an ST right now and am very happy with the purchase.

 

[macrog]

I agree with jd007. Ditch the X-Fi and choose between the Musiland Monitor 02us and the Asus Xonar essence ST.  Both a great. I would probably go with the musiland as its cheaper.
 
I have an STX and ST and I have owned a musiland monitor 02us which I sold to a friend because he really wanted it.  The STX is to my ear significantly inferior to the ST.  With the stsx and st you need to factor in the cost of opamps as the standard ones are easily improved upon.
 
Regards
 
Macrog

 

[ljason8eg]

Are the opamps easy to change on the ST?

 

[Jd007]

Yes, just open the EMI shield cover (4 screws), and you will see the three op amp sockets. They are meant for you to customize. The single one closer to the outputs is the buffer, which only affects the line out sounds. The other two are for the I/V section and affects the headphone out sound, as well as line out. If you mostly use headphones just swap out these two. The buffer op amp is actually of higher quality than the other two, so you can leave it in there if you want.

 

[Hybrys]

It's odd that no-one has mentioned the Auzentech Forte.  It offers lots of gaming compatibility/features/musical quality all in one, albeit being a little elusive lately.  If I was building a gaming computer, I'd chose the Forte hands down.
 
People seem rather obsessed with the ST/STX here on Head-Fi, but I found it paled in comparison to my old school Zero DAC.  (Which is a $150 external DAC/Amp, made in 2007, with optical and coaxial inputs.)  Take everything read here with a large grain of salt, and try to find a vendor that will allow non-RMA returns.  Then you can test both, if you want to.

 

[macrog]

My only experience with the X-Fi was with the Elite Pro which I owned for about a year and was outperformed soundly (on music) by an Asus Xonar D2. I have owned the st, stx and Musiland monitor 02us as well though.
 
The thing going for the musiland over the zero dac is its asynch usb implementation which allows upto 24bit 192khz digital signals over usb.
 
Macrog

 

[Hybrys]

Don't base the performance of the Bravura on other X-Fi series cards.  It's an Auzentech card, where as most other X-Fi cards are Creative-made.

 

[earerror]

Quote:

The STX is to my ear significantly inferior to the ST.  With the stsx and st you need to factor in the cost of opamps as the standard ones are easily improved upon.
 
 

Yeah, thats because ST have better clock circuit than STX. I think many headfiers love it for the Built in Headamp. 

 

[Cutshaw]

I'm not going to vote as I've not heard any of them, but I've been looking at the musiland closely. If you read it's 50 page thread more than one person says that it sounds better than than the essence with upgraded opamps.

 

[Cid]

Keep in mind that's subjective with no facts to back it up. Don't get me wrong, it might be, but you might find an equal amount of people who think the ST sounds better than the musiland. It's not really a reliable way to make a purchase. IMO.

 

[Cutshaw]

If I did take them at their word I would have ordered one by now, but as you say it's not the way to make an informed purchase. I'm going to see if I can pick up a used one and if I'm not happy get the new Arcam rdac and with some luck it's sexy looks and name will provide enough placebo effect to make it worthwhile.

 

[Cid]

Also, if you're in the UK. Keep in mind it comes with a US power adapter and doesn't seem to be removable. (Not without a bit of know-how, anyway. Not something I could do)

 

[Cutshaw]

Quote:

Also, if you're in the UK. Keep in mind it comes with a US power adapter and doesn't seem to be removable. (Not without a bit of know-how, anyway. Not something I could do)

Scotland to be exact. *high five*
 
I will just need to chop off the plug and rewire it to one our ever so awesome sockets.

 

[Cid]

Awesome! I'm actually surprised by the amount of scots on here.
 
How hard is it to rewire? is it something even a novice could do with a simple guide?
 
Unrelated, but I seem to have picked up some sort of summer cold, it's not very nice.