New soundcard time?

mattyj1085 · 16 Apr 2009 at 12:07

I have an Audigy 2ZS at the moment and it has been an excellent card over the many years I have had it.

Is it worth me getting something like a Soundblaster X-Fi Xtreme Music? I mainly play music through a Cambridge audio A1 amp and Mission M71 stereo speakers. (128kbps, or 192 MP3)

Otakebi · 16 Apr 2009 at 12:12

i have no idea about sound cards how would i found out what mine was and whether i need to upgrade it?

mattyj1085 · 16 Apr 2009 at 12:20

Otakebi said:
i have no idea about sound cards how would i found out what mine was and whether i need to upgrade it?

If you dont know, its probably on board sound. So i would say yes

oh - My Onboard is Karajan Audio Module (DFI ultra-d) - is this better than the Audigy?

!TIMMY! · 16 Apr 2009 at 12:51

I would say yes to upgrading from an Audigy 2 ZS to a X-Fi Music/gamer. I went from a normal Audigy 2 to a X-Fi gamer and noticed the difference. My mate went from a Audigy 2 ZS to a X-Fi Fatal1ty and is happy.

cornyfeet · 16 Apr 2009 at 18:42

i would buy a dac in your situation. since you use stereo. i have a dacmagic, which cost me £200, but i have heard good things about beresford dac which is about £100.

my dac has made a huge difference to music, films and games

i have dacmagic->cambridge A5->wharfdale 9.1

but if funds are limited then i would recommend holding off buying, then save up for a beresford

MikeHunt79 · 16 Apr 2009 at 18:54

a dac is great idea, does your audigy have digital out?

Margaret · 16 Apr 2009 at 19:10

If you still intend to go for a soundcard then grab yourself a Xonar D1. Job done.

mattyj1085 · 17 Apr 2009 at 16:39

MikeHunt79 said:
a dac is great idea, does your audigy have digital out?

on the thx setup console i can select digital output 48/96khz

mattyj1085 · 17 Apr 2009 at 16:48

No idea what a DAC is (digital analogue converter at a guess)

Something like this - BERESFORD DAC 7510

How does it work then? 3.5mm jack from soundcard digital output to DAC digital input
then analogue output on DAC to where?

My speakers have speaker cable going to my A1 and aux/phone goes to back of soundcard at the moment

cornyfeet · 17 Apr 2009 at 17:46

it goes
pc -> digital output(optical/coax/usb) -> dac -> phono cables ->amp -> speaker cable-> speakers

the idea behind a dac (digital to analogue convertor) is that it replaces the dac chip on the soundcard with a hifi quality dac. bear in mind that the seperate dac can be used for other sources - such as cd player, dvd player, games console.

effectively a "soundcard" upgrade for most things