[romeozdistress]

I am looking for a soundcard for $60 or less for mostly listening to music, I dont game. I have M-audio AV40s for speakers and I have sennheiser hd203 headphones. It needs to be pci-e. My onboard is realtek alc888. looking at the asus xonar dsx, just want to make sure i will be able to tell a big difference upgrading to a soundcard. I bought a creative x-fi xtreme audio, and i wasnt very happy with it at all. I have returned it and am now looking into trying asus or any other ideas anyone has to improve sound. thanks in advance.

 

[alanriedi]

There is also the Xonar DGX, which has headphone amp. I have read that in terms of sound quality the DSX is a bit better than the DGX.
There will be a difference between the onboard sound for sure, but I don't know how big haha.

 

[romeozdistress]

yeah if its not a huge difference i can just wait save and get something that will.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Yeah if its not a huge difference i can just wait save and get something that will.

Maybe save up for a Sound Blaster Z

 

[romeozdistress]

anything else? lol

 

[cel4145]

anything else? lol

Sorry. I think your $60 budget sort of leaves you without options. Saving a little more for the Soundblaster Z seems like probably your best choice.

 

[romeozdistress]

what about the asus zonar dx?

 

[stv014]

You could also try some different headphones, especially if you have already bought a Creative X-Fi card and found that it does not make much useful difference.

 

[cel4145]

what about the asus zonar dx?

The Xonar DX does not have a headphone amp. It has line level output designed for hooking up to powered speakers. So not optimum for listening to headphones.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

What about the Asus Xonar DX?

The Xonar DX (CS4398 DAC chip ) or cheaper DSX, would really be a good choice for increasing audio quality with any speaker, but has a high output impedance (100-Ohm?) which can give a headphone audio a slightly bloated base (and I would think your Xtreme Audio might also have a high output impedance).
The Xonar DSX & DX sound cards should improve audio quality over the Xtreme Audio.
The even cheaper DGX comes with a built in headphone amplifier, which will have a lower output impedance compared to the DSX & DX, but not as good a DAC as the DSX & DX cards.

 

[romeozdistress]

I really dont use headphones all that much. Mostly listen with the m-audio av40s. so whatever would be better for that. i returned the xtreme audio because of software issues, couldnt even get the eq or bass boost on windows 7. so thats the reason for that. i hope that the asus line of products will be better, all the bad reviews for the xtreme audio really helped me make my decision, i felt i could do better for the money. thanks for the ideas guys. this is purely music listening mostly on active speakers. thanks again.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

I really dont use headphones all that much. Mostly listen with the m-audio av40s. so whatever would be better for that. i returned the xtreme audio because of software issues, couldn't even get the eq or bass boost on windows 7. so thats the reason for that. i hope that the asus line of products will be better, all the bad reviews for the xtreme audio really helped me make my decision, i felt i could do better for the money. thanks for the ideas guys. this is purely music listening mostly on active speakers. thanks again.

For something very low budget.
The ELE DAC EL-D02 USB-DAC-Amp
Comes with a line-out (for speakers) and also a separate headphone jack
Really for basic 2-channel audio
Sells on eBay for $20

 

[romeozdistress]

thanks for the heads up.

 

[cel4145]

Try the Xonar DGX. If you don't feel like you got enough sound upgrade, then return it and save until you can bump your budget over $100