[allen21]

I think i'm a competitive gamer. I play Battlefield 3, BorderLands 2, Dota 2, Bioshock and Farcry. But i'm not gonna get the soundcard for gamimg but for listening music and make music.

 

[Roller]

Quote:

I think i'm a competitive gamer. I play Battlefield 3, BorderLands 2, Dota 2, Bioshock and Farcry. But i'm not gonna get the soundcard for gamimg but for listening music and make music.

 
The Xonar DG and the X-Fi Titanium are entry level cards, the former being geared towards music playback and the latter geared towards gaming.
 
The Xonar Essence STX and the X-Fi Titanium HD are both flagship cards, both with high quality DAC chips and components, with the Titanium HD having full gaming support on top of that. So, not only does the Titanium HD excel at gaming, but it also handles music playback and recording very well.

 

[mechchimp]

Thanks again for the advices.
 
All things considered I think I'll go probably go for a X-Fi Titanium for the time being: the soundcard will have to deal mostly with games.
On the music playback side I'm considering to buy a separate (external) DAC/Amp combo.

The "hard" part will be to finda non-HD Titanium...

 

[Roller]

Quote:

Thanks again for the advices.
 
All things considered I think I'll go probably go for a X-Fi Titanium for the time being: the soundcard will have to deal mostly with games.
On the music playback side I'm considering to buy a separate (external) DAC/Amp combo.

The "hard" part will be to finda non-HD Titanium...

 
If you get an external DAC-amp unit, you can't connect it through USB or it will bypass the internal soundcard, therefore negating all the soundcard's features. A good priced portable amp to get is the PA2V2, for ~$60. I recommend it over the Fiio E11 because the PA2V2 has better driving power, the battery lasts ~100h (Fiio E11's battery lasts ~10h) and can be used while charging (Fiio E11 can't), which works for a stationary setup like a desktop PC.
 
About the Titanium, you can either get a regular priced card or a refurbished card.

 

[mechchimp]

Quote:

 
If you get an external DAC-amp unit, you can't connect it through USB or it will bypass the internal soundcard, therefore negating all the soundcard's features.

 
I'm aware of the "problem". I was looking to get and DAC/AMP to be used in connection with devices (e.g.: laptops) other than the PC I'd put the soundcard in.
 
The most future upgrade-savy solution would be to get an AMP and a portable DAC, I suppose: 2 separate devices.
 
The market offers tons of AMP/DAC combo though (in the $100-200 price range I'm willing to spend).
I was looking at the Audioengine D1 and I was wondering If I could connect it to the soundcard via the Optical-in. (I am hoping the get a reply on this very subject in the dedicated thread).
 
I'll look for a refurbished Titanium card. Unfortunately, living in Italy, Newegg is not a viable option.

 

[mechchimp]

Quote:

 
About the Titanium, you can either get a regular priced card or a refurbished card.

Do you reckon this is the same card?

 

[b4tm4n]

Hi, I was researching on soundcards too few while back. I'm not into gaming with my PC that much, since i prefer to use my xbox for gaming. But after reading several reviews, i decided to get the Asus Sonar Phoebus, since i read they're a gaming grade category card but is also very satisfying for music listening.

Its about $175 here in Indonesia, i'm sure its cheaper out there. So far i am quite happy with what i am getting. Immense power, staging. Drivers suck imho. have you tried looking at Xonar DX? I hear theyre considerable all-rounders at about $80 here..

 

[Roller]

Quote:

Do you reckon this is the same card?

 
Yes, it's the same card.
 
Quote:

Hi, I was researching on soundcards too few while back. I'm not into gaming with my PC that much, since i prefer to use my xbox for gaming. But after reading several reviews, i decided to get the Asus Sonar Phoebus, since i read they're a gaming grade category card but is also very satisfying for music listening.
Its about $175 here in Indonesia, i'm sure its cheaper out there. So far i am quite happy with what i am getting. Immense power, staging. Drivers suck imho. have you tried looking at Xonar DX? I hear theyre considerable all-rounders at about $80 here..

 
All Asus soundcards have poor gaming audio support, with no hardware acceleration of OpenAL, EAX support higher than version 2 and no positional cue improvement algorithms. Not recommended.

 

[b4tm4n]

@Roller

Thats pretty sad for me to hear after investing quite an amount on it ._. Would i have benefited more from an Aune T1 or even Musiland Monitor 01 US in comparison?

 

[Roller]

Quote:

@Roller
Thats pretty sad for me to hear after investing quite an amount on it ._. Would i have benefited more from an Aune T1 or even Musiland Monitor 01 US in comparison?

 
Don't worry too much about it. None of those external DACs would've been a better option for gaming because most external DACs lack any sort of gaming audio support. The Xonar Phoebus does have some gaming support and will work acceptably with modern games, that have software based audio renderers without hardware extensions. You will be limited in terms of advanced audio on older games, but if you just play recent games, that's not so much a concern.

 

[b4tm4n]

@Roller

I see.. but what about for music and movies?

 

[Roller]

Relatively close results are to be expected, with the Essence STX being slightly better, as well as having swappable opamps, which allows for further customization.
 
Bottomline is, the Phoebus is a good card, just a bit overpriced, IMHO.
 
Also, I find it quite odd that you see the Essence STX being more expensive than the Phoebus, as most markets have it priced lower than the Phoebus. But I do understand how some markets have unbalanced prices...

 

[b4tm4n]

@Roller

I think i see your point.. on prices, in most cases than not, I find the STX (in Indonesia) close to $200 if you can believe me. Hell, the Titanium HD is $199 here, shouldnt it be like $140-ish? Beats me, but ordering from out of the country is daresay as expensive as the overpriced soundcard market here.. thanks for your two cents anyway

 

[Roller]

Believe me, I do understand what you mean. Audio hardware is also overpriced around here, and international orders aren't always desirable.
 
Just make sure you enjoy your card as much as you can

 

[b4tm4n]

LoL, will do sir