[tgcujo]

Currently I'm listening only through the on-board sound of my Gigabye EP45-UD3P motherboard, which includes a Realtek ALC889A chipset.
 
I wanted to step up to the warmer, richer sound that's offered with a DAC and Amplifier, and with the amount of listening I do, was considering dropping $175 on this card. Is this the best setup for my HD 280's or would I be better off with some other kind of configuration?
 
I can't really tell you what specific genres I'm into because I'm the kind of person who can go for anything from Electronica to Jazz to Latin.
 
My other mini-question is, will that will that sound card go out of style, grow obsolete, and be worth $15 on eBay 3 years from now like most computer hardware?
 
Thank you

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Currently I'm listening only through the on-board sound of my Gigabye EP45-UD3P motherboard, which includes a Realtek ALC889A chipset.
I wanted to step up to the warmer, richer sound that's offered with a DAC and Amplifier, and with the amount of listening I do, was considering dropping $175 on this card. Is this the best setup for my HD 280's or would I be better off with some other kind of configuration?
I can't really tell you what specific genres I'm into because I'm the kind of person who can go for anything from Electronica to Jazz to Latin.
My other mini-question is, will that will that sound card go out of style, grow obsolete, and be worth $15 on eBay 3 years from now like most computer hardware?

That's a lot of cash to spend for a sound card for the Sennheiser HD280.
The $30 Asus Xonar DG (PCI) would save you a few dollars.
 
 

 

[trog]

If u willing to spend could be the biggest upgrade is a better set of cans 

 

[tgcujo]

Quote:

That's a lot of cash to spend for a sound card for the Sennheiser HD280.
The $30 Asus Xonar DG (PCI) would save you a few dollars.

 

I was considering a card like that as well, but is the difference night and day between a low-end DAC and the on-board? I figure if I'm going to install something I might as well make it worthwhile, but if spending $200 on a high-end card and then plugging HD280s into them is dumb, then I'll accept that
 
     Quote:

If u willing to spend could be the biggest upgrade is a better set of cans 

That's one of the reason I'm wondering how fast Audio cards go obsolete.
 

 

[stv014]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tgcujo /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
I was considering a card like that as well, but is the difference night and day between a low-end DAC and the on-board?

The main problem with the on-board audio is most likely not the ALC889A chip, which is actually not bad, and even has a small built-in headphone amplifier, but rather the way it is implemented on the motherboard. It may be quite a bit noisier than it should be according to the data sheet (you can easily hear if that is the case), the bass response may be affected by serial resistors or capacitors added to the output by the motherboard manufacturer, and there can be other, more subtle issues. So, the Xonar DG might be an audible improvement despite having similar specs to the Realtek chip itself. I do not know how good the headphone amplifier on the DG is, though, there are no measurements of it available anywhere. The STX may be an overkill for a headphone costing only half as much, although it could be useful for other headphones in the future.
 

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Asus Xonar DG
I was considering a card like that as well, but is the difference night and day between a low-end DAC and the on-board? I figure if I'm going to install something I might as well make it worthwhile, but if spending $200 on a high-end card and then plugging HD280s into them is dumb, then I'll accept that
 
     Quote:
That's one of the reason I'm wondering how fast Audio cards go obsolete.

Currently you can get the Xonar DG for $27, and there is a $10 mail in rebate this month.
Motherboard manufacturers try to spend as little as possible on on-board sound, now in the past 5 years, on-board sound has improved, but it's still "low cost" stuff.
The Xonar DG will come with a better DAC (Digital to Analog Converter) then whatever it built in the motherboard.
The DG comes with a half-way decent headphone amplifier and comes with Dolby Digital (Dolby Virtual Headphone)
Sound cards really do not go obsolete that fast, some people use sound cards that are 5 or more years old.
The audio processor in the Xonar DG (CMI8786) first came out about 6 years ago.
 
 
 

 

[Roller]

Quote:

 
I figure if I'm going to install something I might as well make it worthwhile

I couldn't agree more, which is why I think you should get a proper soundcard instead of an entry one like the Xonar DG. First of all, yes you will find a rather noticeable difference between onboard audio chips and a dedicated soundcard or DAC. You could get a Xonar DX that has a higher quality DAC compared to the Xonar DG but doesn't come with a headphone amplifier, for which you could add a FiiO E9 desktop amplifier that's leaps and bounds ahead of what's found on the Xonar DG.
Another alternative would be an Auzentech X-Fi Forte, a soundcard with a better headphone amplifier than the Xonar DG, higher quality components and comes with a full blown X-Fi DSP in case you want to play games as well. If you want to go higher up the chain, you can either get a Creative X-Fi Titanium HD or an Asus Xonar Essence STX, which are both top tier consumer soundcards at the same level, with slightly different signatures between them.

 

[tgcujo]

Quote:

You could get a Xonar DX...for which you could add a FiiO E9 desktop amplifier

 
I think this pair sounds like the best pick, but I have two newbie questions.
 
1)What volume level from the Xonar should I feed into the E9 and why(or better yet where can I read more)?
 
2)Should I use the -90db 1/8" jack or use an adapter with the 1/4" jack on the E9?
 
 
And a small bonus question
What would be a good budget solution for my microphone, the on-board requires me to use a "boost" function which results in unacceptable noise. This is just for casual Skype/Gaming use.

 

[Roller]

Quote:

 
I think this pair sounds like the best pick, but I have two newbie questions.
 
1)What volume level from the Xonar should I feed into the E9 and why(or better yet where can I read more)?
 
2)Should I use the -90db 1/8" jack or use an adapter with the 1/4" jack on the E9?
 
 
And a small bonus question
What would be a good budget solution for my microphone, the on-board requires me to use a "boost" function which results in unacceptable noise. This is just for casual Skype/Gaming use.

Volume settings depends on which Windows version (assuming you're using Windows) version you have. If you're using Vista/7, then ideally you should have the volume set to 100% or as close as possible to it before clipping occurs.
 
I think you should be able to use the 3.5mm jack, although I've read some things about the output not being as clear, but don't quote me on that.
 
What do you mean by solution for your microphone?

 

[tgcujo]

Quote:

Volume settings depends on which Windows version (assuming you're using Windows) version you have. If you're using Vista/7, then ideally you should have the volume set to 100% or as close as possible to it before clipping occurs.
 
I think you should be able to use the 3.5mm jack, although I've read some things about the output not being as clear, but don't quote me on that.
 
What do you mean by solution for your microphone?

I'm using Windows 7 64-bit
 
By solution for my microphone, let me re-phrase my quesrion -> My on-board mic-in can't make it loud enough, will running a low-end Audio card(Possibly a small USB one or something like that) in addition to my higher-end one give me more flexibility for it(Since higher-end cards don't seem to tack-on a mic-in feature)? 
 

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

I'm using Windows 7 64-bit
By solution for my microphone, let me re-phrase my quesrion -> My on-board mic-in can't make it loud enough, will running a low-end Audio card(Possibly a small USB one or something like that) in addition to my higher-end one give me more flexibility for it(Since higher-end cards don't seem to tack-on a mic-in feature)? 

I believe it's very standard for sound cards to come with a line-in (Microphone input).
The E-MU 0404 card might be a better choice (I really know nothing about it), It might offer better input features.
 
 
 

 

[Roller]

Quote:

I'm using Windows 7 64-bit
 
By solution for my microphone, let me re-phrase my quesrion -> My on-board mic-in can't make it loud enough, will running a low-end Audio card(Possibly a small USB one or something like that) in addition to my higher-end one give me more flexibility for it(Since higher-end cards don't seem to tack-on a mic-in feature)? 
 

Ah, then the earlier recommendation holds true.
 
It is mostly external DACs that lack line-in and/or mic-in connectivity, as virtually all internal soundcards have it, avoiding the need to purchase another device for that single purpose.

 

[tgcujo]

 
Let me apologize in advance if I'm about to win the Head-Fi Noob of the Year 2012 Award, but what I don't understand is...
 
...how using an amplifier to turn down a 100%(Or as high as it will go without distortion) output from a soundcard, is supposed to sound richer and better then listening directly through the sound-card at say, I dunno, 30-80%. I'm not saying you guys are making stuff up, I just want to understand what I'm doing, if that makes any sense.

 
 
Also, how much better is the DAC on the Xonar Essence STX, comapred to that of the Xonar DX? Looks like Xonar DX + E9 and Xonar Essence STX will come out at about the same price, so I'm comparing those two options.
Mic-in isn't important and has little bearing in what I will choose.
 
Thank's
 
 
 
 
 

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Let me apologize in advance if I'm about to win the Head-Fi Noob of the Year 2012 Award, but what I don't understand is...
 
...how using an amplifier to turn down a 100%(Or as high as it will go without distortion) output from a soundcard, is supposed to sound richer and better then listening directly through the sound-card at say, I dunno, 30-80%. I'm not saying you guys are making stuff up, I just want to understand what I'm doing, if that makes any sense.

Also, how much better is the DAC on the Xonar Essence STX, comapred to that of the Xonar DX? Looks like Xonar DX + E9 and Xonar Essence STX will come out at about the same price, so I'm comparing those two options.
Mic-in isn't important and has little bearing in what I will choose.

I do not know how much better the DAC on the STX is compared to the DX's DAC.
But i would much rather have an all in one like the STX over a two piece like DX+E9.
 
 

 

[Roller]

I on the other hand prefer much more having separate DACs and amps, that way I can select exactly the parts I want to match with, as well as their sonic characteristics.
 
tgcujo, if you have the soundcard volume set to some form of attenuation, you are effectively lowering the output quality due to a reduction of dynamic range that occurs with digital volume being lowered. If you have fully unattenuated volume from the source, you can then adjust volume through an amp or some other volume controller, as that volume that reaches the amp will carry the full audio signal quality.
 
The Asus Xonar Essence STX DAC is indeed better than the one found on the Xonar DX, but if you're looking at those prices, you might want to consider the Creative X-Fi Titanium HD, and throwing the FiiO E9 in the mix as well.