[Makiah S]

So I am looking at buying of these soon! The Pc-e x1 card
 
I'm going to use Foobar to play  music, but I also want the sound card to be able to process "sound effects" from games and what not.
 
Is Asio the output I need to use in order to have teh Sound Card process the Audio in FooBar and the Audio from lets say "Skyrim" 

 

[NamelessPFG]

Quote:

Ah, good to hear then. Thank you! I was worried, but it seems I should be fine. Now to decide on the sound card or an external amp/dac. First world problems lol.

 
That depends on whether or not you're gaming.
 
If gaming is a concern, go for the sound card, no contest. Audiophile DACs lack the gaming DSP features.
 
Quote:

So I am looking at buying of these soon! The Pc-e x1 card
 
I'm going to use Foobar to play  music, but I also want the sound card to be able to process "sound effects" from games and what not.
 
Is Asio the output I need to use in order to have teh Sound Card process the Audio in FooBar and the Audio from lets say "Skyrim" 

 
ASIO requires Audio Creation Mode, making it more unsuitable for gaming. You obviously want to be in Game Mode for that.
 
Personally, I just stay in Game Mode all the time and play my music through Winamp with an OpenAL plugin. Didn't hear enough difference between that and foobar2000's ASIO plugin to warrant switching modes all the time, though if you want to be absolutely certain you're getting bit-matched playback for music, ASIO and Audio Creation Mode is the way to go.

 

[Makiah S]

Quote:

 
That depends on whether or not you're gaming.
 
If gaming is a concern, go for the sound card, no contest. Audiophile DACs lack the gaming DSP features.
 
 
ASIO requires Audio Creation Mode, making it more unsuitable for gaming. You obviously want to be in Game Mode for that.
 
Personally, I just stay in Game Mode all the time and play my music through Winamp with an OpenAL plugin. Didn't hear enough difference between that and foobar2000's ASIO plugin to warrant switching modes all the time, though if you want to be absolutely certain you're getting bit-matched playback for music, ASIO and Audio Creation Mode is the way to go.

What do you mean "DSP" features? I do game... but I'd rather go with a better DAC, than a sound card with "gaming features" I play a lot of rpg's and racing games so... my main concern is with the music itself. In mmos... the sound effects aren't really crucial! It's teh nice bgm's that make the real differeance. So It's all about the quality of the music coming out of my pc through FooBar

 

[NamelessPFG]

Quote:

What do you mean "DSP" features? I do game... but I'd rather go with a better DAC, than a sound card with "gaming features" I play a lot of rpg's and racing games so... my main concern is with the music itself. In mmos... the sound effects aren't really crucial! It's teh nice bgm's that make the real differeance. So It's all about the quality of the music coming out of my pc through FooBar

 
EAX, CMSS-3D Headphone, hardware sound acceleration in general, etc.
 
Note that I'm more of an FPS gamer with a competitive bent, so I demand the positioning that only CMSS-3D Headphone (or Aureal A3D, if I fire up my retrogaming rig) can bring me.
 
Fortunately, the X-Fi Titanium HD is no slouch DAC-wise. Compared to the JDS Labs-built ObjectiveDAC, I didn't hear enough of a difference to warrant using a dedicated DAC, by which I mean I really had to nitpick to try and find any differences at all once they were volume-matched.

 

[Makiah S]

true, but my PC is such a pain... I don't want to install a Sound card into the dmn ting -.-. I'd rather used a Dedicated DAC instead of HOPING I have enough room in my Case, and then possibly wondering [should I buy more fans...] I need better air flow in my pc case
 
so I'd rather not upgrade my pc internally xD

 

[MisterCAG]

I bought the Titanium HD this past weekend and Oh. My. God! The sound is so much better and clear than what it was before, my mind was blown. I was wondering if I were to purchase some HD650s, would the sound card power it up fine or would having an amp help power them better? I know the card handle up to 300ohm fine.

 

[zalbard]

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A question for those who have experience with X-Fi Titanium HD.
 
What should I set my system volume to (Win 7) to achieve unity gain of 0.0 dB? Is it 100%? 50%? Some other value?
Creative seems to recommend 100% volume for RMAA testing (source). However, I am not sure, and some people insist that the card's volume should not exceed 50% to avoid distortion.
 
Creative forums seem useless and it doesn't seem like people are interested in extracting every single last bit of SQ out of their soundcard.
 
All opinions (preferably backed up by facts and sources) are welcome. Thanks!

Shameless bump. Anyone?

 

[Makiah S]

Quote:

I bought the Titanium HD this past weekend and Oh. My. God! The sound is so much better and clear than what it was before, my mind was blown. I was wondering if I were to purchase some HD650s, would the sound card power it up fine or would having an amp help power them better? I know the card handle up to 300ohm fine.

amp the hd 650s. The sound card+ the amp should do the 650 justice! And I'm hoping my oDac will sound better than my current stock sound card [on the mobo] it should. And thank gawd I have windows so It should install pretty easy... still *fingers crossed* I don't game and my pc is a hunk of awckard anyways. SO chances are I'm going to sell it an build another some time soon. I'll get a beefy sound card then. Till then I need an external Dac seeing as my rig is not permant. [Stupid AMD gpu... video tears like a mug]

 

[MisterCAG]

Quote:

amp the hd 650s. The sound card+ the amp should do the 650 justice! And I'm hoping my oDac will sound better than my current stock sound card [on the mobo] it should. And thank gawd I have windows so It should install pretty easy... still *fingers crossed* I don't game and my pc is a hunk of awckard anyways. SO chances are I'm going to sell it an build another some time soon. I'll get a beefy sound card then. Till then I need an external Dac seeing as my rig is not permant. [Stupid AMD gpu... video tears like a mug]

I bought an O2 and a pair of HD 600s, I'm just waiting on the headphones to really have some fun.

 

[Makiah S]

indeed I like my Odac, I also have one.