Just when i thought i had picked my card....

Woody...!!!

Woody...!!!

Woody...!!!

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Damn i have just read a comparison review on these

Auzentech X-Fi Forte 7.1 PCI-Express Sound Card
Asus Xonar Essence STX Sound Card

and the Auzentech X-Fi Forte just comes out on top

now i am stuck
 
http://forums.overclockers.com.au/showthread.php?t=766494 Seems to disagree

If I could, I would run both these cards and swap between them depending on what I intend to do at the time. The Forte is definitely no slouch when it comes to music, and puts many of the other cards to shame, but it simply can’t compete with the STX’s high quality components.

After using the STX the Forte annoyed me for music; just as once I had gamed on the Forte, the STX annoyed me for gaming. Both cards are exceptional in their intended fields and unfortunately, I don’t think they can be honestly compared against each other. It’s like comparing apples with oranges.
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If thats the case, if gaming is your main priority, go for the Forte, from the reviews its meant to sound a fair bit better than your average X-FI anyway.
 
Assuming your mobo has a digital out (either optical or coaxial) why not get a DAC? Sound quality is much better since the analogue converion happens outside of the noisy PC case.

I have had Xonar's and X-Fi's and only when i moved on to an external DAC could i say i was truly happy with music playback and gaming audio.

TBH high end soundcards don't actually offer much of an improvement over decent onboard audio IMHO.

gt
 
gt_junkie said:
Assuming your mobo has a digital out (either optical or coaxial) why not get a DAC? Sound quality is much better since the analogue converion happens outside of the noisy PC case.

I have had Xonar's and X-Fi's and only when i moved on to an external DAC could i say i was truly happy with music playback and gaming audio.

TBH high end soundcards don't actually offer much of an improvement over decent onboard audio IMHO.

gt
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this is getting out of my depth, what would you suggest the speaker i am getting are logitech z5500
 
Well that set of speakers has digital inputs which should (if your mobo has a digital out) negate any need for a soundcard.

What mobo do you have? If it can output dolby digital or DTS surround then you should be able to digitally stream it directly from the mobo to the Logitech's. Even if you don't i'd imagine a cheaper Dolby/DTS stream capable card would suffice.

These more expensive cards pretty much sell on the fact they can output quality analogue - but in my experience they still suffer from electronic noise leaking from the other internal components in the case.

gt
 
You need to understand Digital to Analogue conversion and just what you are paying for in expensive sound cards.
 
I have the Essence, and I can't fault it - however I play games sparingly. I have played Mirror's Edge on it though, and it sounded fantastic. While the Auzentech might be better for games, it doesn't mean the Essence can be marked down. :)
 
Woody...!!! said:
so i take it that i will be using the onboard sound card, i thought the onboard sound cards are rubbish
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That's what i thought until i used actual 'performance' sound cards. In terms of analogue output i found that there's almost no improvement - certainly not for the outlay.

Your mobo is modern too so it's onboard will be good. It has 'Dolby Home Theater' so it should drive a system up to 7.1 surround and do it over digital. If i were you i'd get the speakers, see how it sounds and then decide if you want to spend £xxx on a sound card!

No point in laying out so much cash now if you find you don't need the soundcard.

gt
 
gt_junkie said:
That's what i thought until i used actual 'performance' sound cards. In terms of analogue output i found that there's almost no improvement - certainly not for the outlay.

Your mobo is modern too so it's onboard will be good. It has 'Dolby Home Theater' so it should drive a system up to 7.1 surround and do it over digital. If i were you i'd get the speakers, see how it sounds and then decide if you want to spend £xxx on a sound card!

No point in laying out so much cash now if you find you don't need the soundcard.

gt
Click to expand...

That is good advice, thank you
 
Greenlizard0 said:
I have the Essence, and I can't fault it - however I play games sparingly. I have played Mirror's Edge on it though, and it sounded fantastic. While the Auzentech might be better for games, it doesn't mean the Essence can be marked down. :)
Click to expand...

i wanted the essence because it is a top notch card, i listen to music and movies on my speakers, and i play games on headphones...

this is never right how hard it is to choose
 
I still think Dolby Headphone is the Xonar's big advantage for gaming over X-Fi.

You can ger round this. Just get a DDL capable X-fi (including the Forte but there's no need to spend that much if you're using digital out) and use a Dolby Headphone capable AV amp/receiver (effectively using an external DAC) with a good headphone amp. In my opinion, this is the best possible, money no object, solution.

Given that you game with headphones, I would say go for the STX, unless you have a Dolby Headphone capable receiver.

X-Fi is the way to go if you're gaming with speakers. Xonar STX is great as a standalone option for gaming with headphones.

I wouldn't worry too much. They're both great soundcards. I don't think you'll be disapponted with either. I really enjoyed trying out an X-Fi Prelude. If I could have got Alchemy to work properly with both cards installed, I would have probably kept both.

Since I tried both, Xonar drivers have inproved for gaming. I'm a lot happier with it now than a couple of months ago.
 
Uriel said:
I still think Dolby Headphone is the Xonar's big advantage for gaming over X-Fi.

You can ger round this. Just get a DDL capable X-fi (including the Forte but there's no need to spend that much if you're using digital out) and use a Dolby Headphone capable AV amp/receiver (effectively using an external DAC) with a good headphone amp. In my opinion, this is the best possible, money no object, solution.

Given that you game with headphones, I would say go for the STX, unless you have a Dolby Headphone capable receiver.

X-Fi is the way to go if you're gaming with speakers. Xonar STX is great as a standalone option for gaming with headphones.

I wouldn't worry too much. They're both great soundcards. I don't think you'll be disapponted with either. I really enjoyed trying out an X-Fi Prelude. If I could have got Alchemy to work properly with both cards installed, I would have probably kept both.

Since I tried both, Xonar drivers have inproved for gaming. I'm a lot happier with it now than a couple of months ago.
Click to expand...
I have just ordered a Xoanar D1 which has all the same headphone gaming features as the more expensive Xoanars. I was wondering how much better the Xoanar drivers are compared to Creatives in Vista 64. I find it ridiculous that I have to setup each game in ALchemy which does not always work properly. I can't get the Witcher to work and I also have to run some games as admin for ALchemy to work which then interferes with my G9 mouse profile software. 13 Years of rubbish Creative drivers so it's time to move on.

I have heard good things in regards to the Dolby headphone which apparently sounds consistently better than CMSS-3D. EAX games apparently sound better with the Creative but that does not concern me as I am looking for consistency.

The Auzentech's are out of my price range but I am curious as to whether they have better gaming Vista 64 drivers than Creative's - none of the ALchemy nonsense.
 
Auzentech X-Fi uses modified Creative drivers - Alchemy and all.

I actually think Alchemy is the best available solution to the lack of HAL / DirectSound3D in Vista. The Xonar cards use something called DS3D-GX, which needs to be turned on for DS3D games - and often turned off for games using other audio types. You can't do a set-and-forget like you can with Alchemy.

Yes - the D1 shares many of the higher end Xonars' features, but it doesn't have an inbuilt headphone amp. It's never going to be as good for driving a set of high end headphones as the STX. Nothing that can't be solved by buying a separate amp. There are lots of headphones that it will do just fine with.
 
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