[ABXG]

Hello everyone, this is my first post and I have come to ask assistance in a matter that hours and hours of research has not found an answer to. I see a lot of conflicting reviews and results and every review of every sound card I have seen only has 1-2 other cards being compared to it.

I currently have this sound card Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-FI Xtremegamer FATAL1TY Professional Series Sound Card 7.1 and I am not happy with it at all. Driver support is horrible, sound quality isn't terribly great, and it is rifled with bugs and problems that I can't seem to resolve.

I am looking for something with better sound quality and is compatible with both XP Pro 32bit and Vista Ultimate 64bit. Sound quality is my biggest concern, but I also need something that can be used for the occasional game (I play some RPG's and FPS's, but mostly MMO's in which I play my own music). Sound quality is my biggest issue.

My headphones are these: Steelseries Siberia Headset HI-FI Headphones

I have allotted at most $200 for the sound card and because I am purchasing a few other PC parts at the same time I will only be purchasing a card from this list. Can anyone recommend for me the best sound card? I am currently looking at the ASUS Xonar D2 as my prime selection because on top of gaming and work I will be turning my PC into a complete home theater and the options on this card look like the will fulfill all my needs.

Note:
*I have an available PCI and a PCI-E16 slot available.
*I have a powerful PC so I am not conserned with the performance impact (I can live without that extra 1 or 2 FPS).
*ASUS has released some form of software emulation that allows for their carda to do up to EAX 5.0
*I mainly use the headphones I linked above, but also have a set of Creative P7800 speakers (that I intend to use if I ever need to entertain, I don't need the full 7.1 this set offers and I don't even need the 5.0, if you can suggest to me a cheaper card than the Auzentech Prelude or ASUS Xonar D2 than I would also consider buying a new pair of speakers (probably 2.0 or 2.1 as audio quality is still #1) from this list.
*I am MOST concerned with audio quality.


I thank you all for your assistance.

 

[h4n9m4n]

If you are most concerned with sound quality, get better headphones. Those are no good. If you really insist on a sound card, the Auzentech X-Fi prelude or the Asus Xonar are good choices.

 

[ABXG]

How different is the DX from the D2 (I can't find much)? I only have $200 to spend total and the only way I am upgrading my headphones is if I don't have to spend $200 on the card. I am really tired of the Creative drivers and that is one of the reasons I want to upgrade.

Thanks for the input though.

 

[sonci]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ABXG /img/forum/go_quote.gif How different is the DX from the D2 (I can't find much)? I only have $200 to spend total and the only way I am upgrading my headphones is if I don't have to spend $200 on the card. I am really tired of the Creative drivers and that is one of the reasons I want to upgrade. Thanks for the input though.

Those at ASUS are really clever. If you look here:
It seems like both are the same but the D2, dont have the first feature of the D2X, which is EAX and gaming support.

 

[LHS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by h4n9m4n /img/forum/go_quote.gif If you are most concerned with sound quality, get better headphones. Those are no good. If you really insist on a sound card, the Auzentech X-Fi prelude or the Asus Xonar are good choices.

I agree with this. Getting better headphones is WAY more important than getting a sound card.

 

[ABXG]

OK, thanks for the help. I can maybe increase my budget to for my sound system, but I still want to get a new sound card. Because I am purchasing from Canada things are a little more expensive (at least when it comes to headphones).

I just have a few specific questions now:
1. From this list what is the best set of headphones under $150? I listen to a lot of different kinds of music, but mostly classic rock.
2. Between the Auzentech Prelude and the Xonar D2, which has the better sound quality?
3.How different are Auzentech's drivers for the prelude from Creative's X-Fi drivers? Do they still have the same bugs and horrible coding?

Thank you for your assistance.

 

[ROBSCIX]

Both are great cards but the Prelude adds more features for gaming etc. Not to mention it has a real hardware effects engine onboard. You can also swap out the front channel opamp which is great for heaphones as you can buy very high quality opamps for your front/heapdhone channel.

I have tested the drivers in both XP and Vista 32bit and they work fine.


@sonci, The XOnar D2,D2X and DX all have the same gaming support through the GX 2.0 drivers. I guess they didn't update the features page for the D2 card. If you go to the driver downloads for the D2 you see the newer driver revisions add GX 2.0 drivers which are the routines responsible for the Xonars gaming support.

 

[ABXG]

OK, so would it be fair to say that the Xonar D2 and the Auzentech Prelude are about equal in stock sound quality? My main hang ups on the Prelude are the Creative based drivers (although this has changed? My current X-Fi drivers are horrible, I have the latest for XP) and the reliance on ALchemy which only supports specific games (versus the new ASUS drivers which allow any EAX game to work properly in Vista). When it comes to the Xonar I am most worried about the conflicting reports I hear on sound quality and very, very minutely about the lack of actual hardware acceleration.

I read a long post on VR-Zone (I believe you made some posts in it, ROBSCIX) trying to find some info about the Xonar vs. the Prelude, but I found it to be mostly inconclusive (it ended before there was a direct comparison of the Prelude and the Xonar). When it came to the Xonar, some where saying it was good while others where saying that they didn't like it; there where also constant references to cards that are not available to me.

I really wish I had the opportunity to listen to both cards, but I don't have that option. Although, if someone did have both cards than it may be possible to record a sample of music on each card and post each sample. This may not be a perfect solution, but it is better than nothing.

Anyway, as of now I am teetering back and forth between the Xonar and the Prelude, but if I where forced to pick one this very second with the info I have, I believe I would pick the Xonar. I am really looking for a good argument for one or the other, I really don't want to spend $200 on a card only to find out that I should have bought the other (which seems to happen to me a lot when it comes to audio equipment).

Once again, thanks.

 

[Behemot]

With speakers well under $100 tag I would not expect any major difference when you get a new sound card.

As for headphones - no cans are ultimately the best. It all depends on your hearing, headphone amp, the headphones and the interplay between these three. Don't ask for "best headphones" on these boards unless you want to get an answer from some zealous sales reps or hired *bleeep* selling directly on boards.

@ABXG

What sort of bugs and problems do you have with X-Fi? I mean exactly what are the problems you are having? I happen to have the same card, dual booting between XP and Vista
and it works fine for me so I might be able to help you. Please be specific.

 

[ABXG]

Well, as far as problems go I notice slow downs of PC while the 3-4 services associated with just the drivers are running (I don't have DLLML.exe on my PC, deleted it if you are wondering). There are some odd and occasional "thumping" sounds produced by this sound card (Motherboard is an ASUS P5K Premium) which are extremely annoying. The 24bit feature of my sound card no longer works (as in I get some problems with my music when I try to play the music as 24bit, 48kHz; 24bit Crystallizer is disabled ), and last (but certainly not least) I am completely unable to uninstall the Creative drivers or software from my system as there is no option to do so in the Control Panel/Add or Remove Programs, the start menu tab for Creative, and inside C:\Program Files\Creative (I have searched).

Not to mention the card produces a sound quality that I am unhappy with even with extensive tweaking of the EQ bands. The sound isn't horrible, but it isn't great for a $150 card.

 

[sdgserv]

My experience with the Auzentech Prelude was less the satisfactory so I sent it back. I just did not like the sound. I sent it to a friend to try and he thought it was not that good. That is just my 2cents..
The card had no particular problem to complain about..The sound came out like a tin can for me..I tried everything asked everybody I know. Maybe I did not set it up right..People told me to change the Opamps. My feeling was, that I did not spend that type of money on a sound card to change it.
Heck..My Zero Dac/Amp cost less

 

[oatmeal769]

I have a Zero DAC as well, and I'm now thinking about getting rid of my X-Fi Extreme Music, and going with my onboard SigmaTel that came with my Dell. I use Kernel Streaming with Winamp, but the optical signal from the front I/O panel is still changed somehow to 48K instead of 'bit perfect' 44.1K.

The stock SigmaTel unit has an optical toslink out, and maybe I can get the Kernel Streaming plug in to work with it...
Besides, I too am fed up with Creative and the way they treat customers and their crummy drivers as well.
Anyone have experience with onboard SigmaTel and 'bit perfect' output?

 

[sonci]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ABXG /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, as far as problems go I notice slow downs of PC while the 3-4 services associated with just the drivers are running (I don't have DLLML.exe on my PC, deleted it if you are wondering). There are some odd and occasional "thumping" sounds produced by this sound card (Motherboard is an ASUS P5K Premium) which are extremely annoying. The 24bit feature of my sound card no longer works (as in I get some problems with my music when I try to play the music as 24bit, 48kHz; 24bit Crystallizer is disabled ), and last (but certainly not least) I am completely unable to uninstall the Creative drivers or software from my system as there is no option to do so in the Control Panel/Add or Remove Programs, the start menu tab for Creative, and inside C:\Program Files\Creative (I have searched). Not to mention the card produces a sound quality that I am unhappy with even with extensive tweaking of the EQ bands. The sound isn't horrible, but it isn't great for a $150 card.

Everyone complain about the Creative drivers, personally never get probl with my Xfi.
However, only recently I managed to configure it as i should. Try the sound of the xfi through ASIO before buying a new card.
Clean install of windows. Dont use the CD provided, just install the latest drivers on their site.(This way you will have only the audio console without equalizers or other stuff)
Install latest Winamp, and download Otachan plugin.In Winamp options select asio output, leave the setting as they are, I recomend not to resample, but you can decide yourself)Disable every DSP or sound efects.
In creative audio console, convert to Audio Creation Mode. Click Bit Matched Playback.
Now listen...
PS: Please tell me if you buy a new card and how's it, cause I'm going for the Xonar too.

 

[sonci]

You can use J.River Media Center, instead of Winamp, which has native asio support. It sounds more crisp and clear, but Winamp is warmer and more rocker.
OHH you have to pay for JRMC.

 

[ABXG]

I did as you say and I find the sound to be much lighter, although much clearer (I think because no more EQ when using bit-matched playback?) I had my EQ tweaked to bring out vocals and low notes, that I found the X-Fi didn't play well. I guess I will try using Winamp's EQ's and if I don't get a sound I like I will try the Xonar, although it will be at least a month (possibly 2) till I get it my hands.

Thanks for the advice.