[dallan]

Responding to Dat_dude specifically but oca generally since he is looking for information as well. Probably should have quoted but i figured it was self explainatory. Trying to point them in a direction to investigate basically. Although it is above the price of the two cards listed for the initial poster it may become an option upon investigation. (That's why i listed price).

 

[obobskivich]

ah, he did note that $750 is massively out of his budget (but you never know people's exact situation,, etc)

and just out of interest, why are you suggesting a portable device for home use? or are you meaning "if your setup is portable, get this" ?

 

[oca]

talking about Asus' Xonar DX vs. hrmmm..creative's X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Pro (i think they are fairly evenly matched in price)

also yeah hahaha 500 would still be massively out of my budget (im living in australia so 500 to u guys is like 700+ to me)

the xonar DX here is $140 AUD and the xonar DX is $250 AUD ($90.65 and $161.88 USD respectively)

thanks for all the responses to this newbie

 

[obobskivich]

you mean Xonar D2X @ $250 AUD?

the Xonar DX is a good ~$80-$90 soundcard, the ~$130 X-Fi (its a full height PCI card, right?) would probably be a tad better in my book, but I also prefer Creative products a bit (so competitors have to offer some one-up feature for me to pay, such as the Essence STX having a headphone amplifier)

honestly though, for the money, the Creative is a bit overpriced at ~$130, and the DX is a bit underpriced at $80, so I'd take those factors into consideration as well, and I have no idea how either will do with the HFI-780's (I know the Creative does very nicely with Senn HD 280's and Denon D2000's, and the output quality is quite nice overall), honestly I don't know much about Ultrasone's characteristics at all (so asking a U/s owner would be the better route for "will this drive these?")

Just a question, is the D2X at $250 AUD out of your budget? (wondering this, because you could go with an hp amp card, like the aforementioned STX that would still do great in gaming (because you'd get hardware acceleration and all the surroudn features on your hps))

 

[oca]

yup sorry about that D2X is 250 AUD

i could probably fork out that bit more for either the xonar D2X or STX essence, with the latter being recommended?

how much of a difference would i find in having a headphone amp (ie. how much does it do?)

also, any other recommendations?

 

[obobskivich]

well, the headphone amp will more or less "ensure" that the 'phones are driven cleanly by your computer, and I generally find that a proper amplifier improves low end clarity on my hp's (again, NOT ultrasones, as I've never owned a pair, so ymmv)

if you can afford it, I would suggest it, as it will improve the drive on your hp's, and the STX has (essentially) identical guts to the D2X, so you'll get the H/W offload and 3D positional processing for gaming

another route would be the HT Omega Claro Halo, might be a tad cheaper, offers the same amplifier, less marketing hype, drivers will be somewhat simplistic (no EAX emulation, but that doesn't do much, its the H/W offload that plays a bigger part)

 

[oca]

okay it looks like i cant find a competitively priced HT omega claro halo 250+, but i have gotten new quotes on prices:

xonar DX - 110 (70 usd)
xonar D2X - 205 (131.2 usd)
xonar Essence STX - 249 (159 usd)

is the jump from the dx to the d2x worth it as is from the d2x to the stx?

h/w = hardware?

 

[obobskivich]

the STX will be a dramatic difference over the DX/D2X, because of the hp amplifier

and yes, h/w = hardware (sorry, too used to shorthand)

$159 USD for an STX, thats a really good price (same for the D2X), as in much lower than US prices (its around $175-$200 US, in the US)

can I come live in aussieland? lol

 

[oca]

thanks so much obobskivich, i think ill be settling on the essence stx, i gotta learn somewhere what the short hand is ^^

and also, yes, only if u can handle the 'roos being everyhwere

 

[oca]

btw while ur in-game is there a way to lower the volume without having to alt+tab back out?

 

[obobskivich]

do you have a volume up/down button on your keyboard? (I know this sounds like a stupid question/stupid solution, but honestly its what comes to mind)

 

[oca]

yes, i never knew that worked in game, Logitech G15 btw

 

[obobskivich]

ok, that should give you adjustment in-game (I have no issues with volume control on various KB's in-game, so I don't see why you should have a problem either)

the G15 also offers a lot of other customization that I'm unfamiliar with, so volume control is likely just scratching the surface

 

[oca]

thanks so much again.