[dave_pass]

Hello, relative newb. I recently upgraded my PC and no longer have PCI ports.

I've been researching these as PCI-E replacements for my Juli@ card, which I've been happy with.

ESI Maya44e
ASUS Xonar DX

My budget is around $100-$150. Anybody have a preference between these or a recommendation of another?

I use a Gilmore Lite headphone amp, mostly listen out of MDR7506. Not a gamer, just music.

fyi also, planning to post Juli@ for sale or ideally trade.

Thanks!
Dave

 

[ROBSCIX]

Are you planning on doing any music creation/production?
Juli@ are recording cards at their base so is this why you bought it, to record with or just for music playback?
I am asking as it will help with suggestions.

 

[dave_pass]

Ah yes. I have another option now for music creation so I will just be using this for music playback. Good point, thanks!

 

[adelias]

You could get a PCI to PCI-e adapter and keep the Juli@.

 

[dave_pass]

Interesting, didn't even know those adapters were available. Since I'm not going to be recording music though I think I'd prefer to move to a native PCIe card that delivers solid music playback.

 

[dave_pass]

After some more reading I'm about sold on the Xonar Essence STX. Is it a waste to have an external headphone amp since there's an amp built in to the STX?

 

[leeperry]

the STX is not a native PCIe card, there's a PCI-E>PCI bridge that goes to the C-Media DSP...I heard this would increase latency in ASIO, something to take in account if that's what you plan on doing

 

[ROBSCIX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dave_pass /img/forum/go_quote.gif After some more reading I'm about sold on the Xonar Essence STX. Is it a waste to have an external headphone amp since there's an amp built in to the STX?

The strong point of the STX is the DAC used and many use this card for just the line outs to external amps.
You can use a higher quality external amplifier if that is what you want.

 

[FasterThanEver]

I saw a report of ESI's showing a PCIe version of the Juli@. It hasn't shown up on the ESI website yet. After the ESI ESP 1010e was announced, the product didn't arrive for several months.

I've got a Juli@ and an AudioTrak Prodigy HD2 used in a dedicated MusicPC running XP. The ASIO drivers have been flawless. Sound good too.

Bill

 

[dave_pass]

Is there a PCIe card that is comparable to the AudioTrak Prodigy HD2 in terms of performance and price point? I can't find one really.

 

[leeperry]

no, there simply isn't...reason why I just ordered a Prodigy2 Deluxe

they all seem to carry lousy consumer audio drivers, w/ a fixed samplerate..that will even resample ASIO & KS, and the Xonar dumb GUI takes the crown