[Caphel]

Currently I have an Asus Xonar D2X and a Fiio E9.  I use these for gaming and music and they are very good.  When gaming I have dolby headphone mode on and it seems to work very well, the only slight issue is the fact that skype calls are also running in dolby headphone.
 
I was wondering if I got an E7, could I set skype to play through the E7 and all other sounds to come from the D2X, and it all to come out of the E9?  Similar in a way to the Astro Mixamp, but without the ability to change the voice / game sound bias.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Currently I have an Asus Xonar D2X and a Fiio E9.  I use these for gaming and music and they are very good.  When gaming I have dolby headphone mode on and it seems to work very well, the only slight issue is the fact that skype calls are also running in dolby headphone.
I was wondering if I got an E7, could I set skype to play through the E7 and all other sounds to come from the D2X, and it all to come out of the E9?  Similar in a way to the Astro Mixamp, but without the ability to change the voice / game sound bias.

Sell off the D2X and E9 and get the Asus Xonar Essence ST (PCI) or STX (PCI-Express)
 
 

 

[MattTCG]

+1

 

[Caphel]

I will look into the STX then, is it that much better than the D2X?

 

[stv014]

Quote:

I will look into the STX then, is it that much better than the D2X?

It is not a huge improvement over the D2X as a DAC (but is better nevertheless; it may not actually be audible, though), and also lacks some of its features, such as multichannel output and digital input. The main advantage is that it has a built-in amplifier that matches the maximum power/output impedance of the E9, while possibly being better than the E9 in some aspects. Also, with the combination of a sound card and an external AC powered amplifier, there are sometimes noise issues due to ground loops. So, for a headphone-only setup, the STX is good as an "all in one" package. If you do not want to use its built-in headphone amplifier, then the upgrade might not be worth it.
 

 

[Roller]

Also, the STX has a relatively harsh sound when compared to the D2X. Honestly I think you'd do better to just keep the D2X.
 
And yes, you can get an E7 and route Skype's audio through it. An alternative to consider is the Fiio E17.

 

[Caphel]

So if I get an E7 I can dock it with the E9 and connect the E9 to the computer via USB and the line in?  Then in windows I can set the default device to the D2X, and manually set Skype to play via the E7 DAC?
 
Will the E9 handle two input sources ok?

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

So if I get an E7 I can dock it with the E9 and connect the E9 to the computer via USB and the line in?  Then in windows I can set the default device to the D2X, and manually set Skype to play via the E7 DAC?
Will the E9 handle two input sources ok?

I believe you can only use one or the other, if Default Audio Device is set to D2X, then the USB Audio connection is bypassed and does not function.
And when set to USB Audio Device, the D2X is bypassed and does not function.
That why I push for the Essence STX.