[DesmondDavidH]

I'm planning to change my good old Audiotrak Prodigy because Windows 8 doesn't like the Windows XP 64bit driver I'm using (it's like 7 years old) and most of the time the OS need a restart to hear sounds. 
All I need is a budget card with decent output to drive my 2.0 old hi-fi and my Alessandro MS1. No need for front panel outputs or multichannel stuffs.
 
The local Amazon has a lot of Xonar cards and I don't understand what's the best for my use. I have both PCI and PCI-X slots, but PCI-X would be a little better.
The options:
 
DG - 24€
DX/XD (?) - 56€
DS - 39€
D1 - 59€
DGX - 24€
DSX - 43€
 
What's the model with the best 2.0 output? Give me a couple of choice if possibile.
Cheers.

 

[stv014]

The D1 and DX have the best DAC, but only the DG/DGX include a headphone amplifier, even if (not surprisingly for the low price) not a particularly great one. All cards are available in PCI (DG, DS, D1) and PCIe (DGX, DSX, DX, respectively) version.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

I'm planning to change my good old Audiotrak Prodigy because Windows 8 doesn't like the Windows XP 64bit driver I'm using (it's like 7 years old) and most of the time the OS need a restart to hear sounds. 
All I need is a budget card with decent output to drive my 2.0 old hi-fi and my Alessandro MS1. No need for front panel outputs or multichannel stuffs.
 
The local Amazon has a lot of Xonar cards and I don't understand what's the best for my use. I have both PCI and PCI-X slots, but PCI-X would be a little better.
The options:
 
DG - 24€
DX/XD (?) - 56€
DS - 39€
D1 - 59€
DGX - 24€
DSX - 43€
 
What's the model with the best 2.0 output? Give me a couple of choice if possibile.
Cheers.

Xonar DG (PCI) & Xonar DGX (PCI-E) come with a half-way decent headphone amplifier.
The Xonar DX (PCI-E) & Xonar D1 (PCI) come with the best DAC (Digital to Analog Converter) chip.

 

[DesmondDavidH]

Except for the boost in volume, does the headphone amplifier really gives more quality? I got one on my current Audiotrak but as I said, I can't seem to notice a jump in quality so I basically I never use it (should I?).
 
What's the best choice without the headphone amp?

 

[stv014]

Quote:

What's the best choice without the headphone amp?

 
Ignoring price and the headphone amplifier of the DG/DGX, the D1/DX are the best ones.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Except for the boost in volume, does the headphone amplifier really gives more quality? I got one on my current Audiotrak but as I said, I can't seem to notice a jump in quality so I basically I never use it (should I?).
 
What's the best choice without the headphone amp?

The Xonar DX/D1 in general (Better DAC. newer audio processor, higher sample rate) is better then the DG/DGX.

 

[DesmondDavidH]

Oki, thanks to all, I'll go for the DX :J