[vinay]

Many technology is associated with games,movies and music like eax,DTS,dobly headphone etc.

Games i play : CS1.6 and Tom clancy's HAWX.Only these two games.
1> What kinda technologies do they use like EAX etc?or any idea how to fiqure it out?

2>For movies what am i suppose to look for like Dobly headphones?

3>Planning on getting a DAC/amp for music.


I was planning on a setup like computer --->soundcard -(optical/coax)-> DAC --->headphone/speakers.
Headphones:
HD555,A700(getting soon)
Speakers:
Altec lansing vs2421.Might get the M-audio Av40 or A2's in future(Not very soon,also not lookinf for a surround sound.)

My priority: Music>Movies>Games

Budget:
$100 for sound card but from some other threads looks like forte is good but not sure if xtremegamer will the same jobi need.
$300 or cheaper for DAC/AMP.Have no clue in this.

Was thinking of a receiver but i was not sure it would fit in my budget with tech required.

Thanks in advance.

 

[ROBSCIX]

Well you can go with both ideas and use the Forte to drive an external DAC/amp..etc.

The forte is better then X-Gamer as it has higher quality parts. If budget is a concern you can always get a refurbed model of the Forte for less money.
This card also has a decent quality can amp for the price.

 

[vinay]

^Thanks for the fast reply..
Quote:

Originally Posted by ROBSCIX /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well you can go with both ideas and use the Forte to drive an external DAC/amp..etc. The forte is better then X-Gamer as it has higher quality parts. If budget is a concern you can always get a refurbed model of the Forte for less money. This card also has a decent quality can amp for the price.

So this card has all the tech's that is required for games and movies?
I understand forte would be better than X-Gameror Xonar DX but do u think other than amping Xtreme/DX could do a decent job?
Its quiet hard to find a refurbished Forte and also International shipping is a bomb. So only looking at alternatives..

 

[ROBSCIX]

Yes, the Forte has everything you could want for gaming support.
The DX is a great sounding card for the price also but is limited in it's gaming support.
the X-Gamer is a good gaming card just the Forte has better components. If you can only get the X-Gamer or XOnar DX then you have to decide between them.

 

[Superfrag]

+1 for Forte, it has good line out to use with a DAC, and good HP out too incase you need time to save up some money to get a good DAC. Plus it has EAX 5.0 to use with the latest games that use the technology.

 

[lxxl]

Forte is a better card, but do keep in mind Forte needs a PCIe and Xtremegamer needs a PCI slot.

 

[vinay]

@ROBSCIX and @Superfrag:Since gaming is not my priority and i play "only" these two games which require sound effects ,will i need to shell out for something like a forte or X-Gamer is more than enough..

I know STX is for music while Forte is for games.
But when i was looking at STX had more features like Dolby Digital Live,Dolby Headphone,Dolby Virtual Speaker,Dolby Pro-Logic II etc which i dont see in Forte.
Am i missing something here.

Also i use Win 7 if that matters(asus emulates ,cretaive doesn't).

@lxxl: Thanks will keep that in mind.

 

[Superfrag]

1.6 uses EAX buddy, if you go into audio settings there is an option to enable EAX. It makes a huge difference(it did make for me, when I had the X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty + Compass + AD700 combo).

STX is also a great, will be better than the Forte for movies and music, not sure about gaming, but people like the Dolby Headphone for gaming as well.

Btw, where in India are you?

 

[vinay]

Yeah thats wat i needed to know...
From b'lore...

I really like forte features and i dint knw dts and dobly were competitors...
But was looking around and found that my onboard audio realtek ALC888 have similar features like forte except the hardware eax5.0... Now if cs1.6 needs only eax2.0 ... i think my onboard audio will be more than enough since it has the dts connect similar to forte....

 

[vinay]

*delete..double post

 

[lxxl]

There is a big difference between your on board and these above sound cards, at least for those who can hear it.

 

[powerarron]

I would go for Forte as well, it did have good line out to use with a DAC. Besides, it has EAX 5.0 for most games. Maybe you would like to give it a try.

 

[vinay]

Many for speak about EAX5.0 ,if i am not wrong, which wont be usefull for the only 2 games I play..

But yeah i think i will give Forte a shot ,cant go wrong right

cheers..

 

[vinay]

Ok i decided to go for the Forte. But before i buy this i want to make sure if there is any good Dac/Amp available with optical/coax input and with "Headphone AND Speakers" out.
I could not actually find any.
Did some digging but all i could find was Dac's with usb input and headphone/speakers out.Did not find any dac with optical in , speakers AND headphone out simultanesouly..

Do keep in mind i am not a audiophile and might be the Forte will be more than enough for me but if at all i felt the need to upgrade,i dint want to be in a fix.

 

[lxxl]

Because headphones and speakers amp differently, other factors are headphones are stereo and common speakers setup are 5.1+.

However forte can take care of them separately, with it's Analog Multi I/O cable, it can do 7.1 off the card.