Asus

simbady

simbady

simbady

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9 Oct 2008
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Hi i was just wondering what are the Asus Xonar sound cards like? I am using a creative sound card which is fine in XP but there driver ect are just terrible for vista.
 
I've used both creative and Asus cards, and i would never got back to creative.
Asus almost "feels" nicer with the sound, and the drivers are so superior
 
I seem to get the impression that the Asus models are far better than the Creative X-Fi's. I really wish that Asus would do a model with a break out box or something.
 
After getting my Xonar D1 i'd never go back to the Creative cards (unless something miraculous happend).

The ASUS drivers are much nicer, you don't have to faff around with OpenAL or ALchemy or any of that rubbish, EAX just works.

Plus the Headphone audio is a million miles better than the Creative version. The Xonar has propper Dolby Headphone, which is lovely.
 
I'd just add a word of caution. I'm very impressed with my D2. It's a clear upgrade in sound quality over my old X-Fi XtremeMusic, as long as I'm using decent headphones or speakers. Additionally I can use it in Vista x64 with 4GB RAM. The X-Fi just wouldn't work with all 4GB (not a problem for everyone, but seems to have affected a significant minority).

However, game compatibility simply hasn't been as good with the Xonar as with the X-Fi. I have had significant problems in some games. Sound gradually dies in Rome: Total War and higher EAX levels don't work. Music didn't work in Mass Effect until Asus patched it. Bioshock crackles with EAX enabled. Driver updates from Asus have been frustratingly infrequent and I'm losing faith that Asus will ever sort out some of these problems.

Creative's Alchemy was simply much less intrusive for reintroducing multi-channel than DS3D-GX. You could set it and forget about it where as with Xonar you must remember to set the setting correctly prior to launching the game.
 
simbady said:
I am using a creative sound card which is fine in XP but there driver ect are just terrible for vista.
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Which card have you got? I'm not trying to big-up Creative as I know the whole Vista thing was an absolute debacle for them, but my card is working perfectly in Vista x64 with 4GB of RAM. The only problem I've had aside fom the initial fiddling around with Alchemy etc. has been a crashing in vs mode on L4D, which has now been fixed with the latest Creative drivers.

Never heard a Xonar so can't comment on that aspect.
 
willy said:
Which Xonar did you get as i'm in the position choosing as well
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The D1 / DX seems to be the card of choice for most.

I prefer the D1 mainly because you don't have to faff about with external power connections.
 
Iv got a d2x and its pretty awesome! (minus the strange route i had to take to get my floppy connector to the card via my hard drives..., iv got a sg03 case which is pretty compact).

Anyway, i love the sound quality it produces, though there are one or 2 problems with EAX in a few games like bioshock and in assassins creed but i think they have been propperly patched now.

Im most pleased with the linux drivers a. working and b. working just a well as my vista ones :)
 
I am using a Creative X-Fi Xtreme Audio PCI-E there nothing wrong with the card but when you use XP you have loads more options and and range of settings with a control centre with vista you have **** all.
 
willy said:
So the difference between D1 and DX or D2 and D2X just PCI-e connection and PCI connection?
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Ish. From memory, the D2/D2X technically have better analogue output but most reviews I've read said that the difference was just about imperceptable. The D1 /D2 don't require a floppy power connector whereas the DX and D2X do. The D2/D2X lack a front panel audio header (so you can connect to your case headphone slot for example) where as the DX/D1 have them.

I may be wrong in this but I believe that the DX / D1 don't do DTS Connect but the D2/D2X have it.
 
Robbie G said:
Untruth. I'm on Vista and I have all the options I had with XP.
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Ahh but he's using an XtremeAudio, which is actually a glorified Audigy. Creative should have been done for false advertising for calling it an X-Fi. It wouldn't surprise me at all if there's a difference between Vista and XP in its drivers.
 
Uriel said:
Ahh but he's using an XtremeAudio, which is actually a glorified Audigy. Creative should have been done for false advertising for calling it an X-Fi. It wouldn't surprise me at all if there's a difference between Vista and XP in its drivers.
Click to expand...

Ah sorry didn't realise they were that different. Those sneaky buttholes at Creative get sneakier by the day. They should call their company "Creative With The Truth".
 
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