Which Xonar for movies/music?

fozzybear · 8 Jul 2010 at 10:11

Just wondering if the DX is the best card under £60 for movies and music through a pair of headphones, I'll be using headphones 90% of the time so the Dolby headphone would be useful.

Also, I may as well ask for advice on a pair of headphones. They'll be used for movies and music (rarely any gaming) and would be paired with some sort of Xonar card. Need to be £40-£50 really.

Cheers.

edit//

Just seen some Sennheiser HD515's for £38.99 (appears to be 'GAMING' version) and some Goldring DR100's for £39. Which of the two would be best for movies through a Xonar?

perry081064 · 8 Jul 2010 at 10:47

i used a xonar for a good while before i got my G35 headset
( g35 has its own soudcard built in )
but whilst i used the xonar, it was great for headphones, played music fine and i never had a problem with it.

Marsman · 8 Jul 2010 at 11:19

Xonar DX is definitely the best bet. X-Fi Xtreme Gamer is another card to consider, but, whilst it has CMSS 3D which is very similar to DH, having used both, I can say, DH is superior for films. CMSS 3D is better for gaming than it is for films.

As for headphones, not sure those 515's are that good a buy. Yes they are of the same series as the 555/595, but they are no where near as good. I'm sure the 515's like the 555/595's use angled drivers. DH works best with headphones that have non angled drivers. Goldring are good example of non angled driver headphones, but I think it would be worth you looking at the DR150's and NS1000's. At near £40, the DR100's I feel are too near in price to the DR150/NS1000's, but aren't as good. Assuming the NS1000's are still £50-£60 that is. One thing that you need when watching films is bass, not overpowering bass, but enough to give that oomph with explosions etc. I feel the DR100's are a tad lacking in bass, compared to the DR150/NS1000's.

fozzybear · 14 Jul 2010 at 09:07

Thanks Marsman.

Just ordered some Goldring DR150's for £48.90.

Marsman · 14 Jul 2010 at 11:24

Nice one, I have the DR150's too. Superior to the HD555's IMO, which are almost £80 on the Amazonian site. Just under £50 is a great buy.

Did you get a sound card too, or just the headphones ATM?

adrichardson81 · 14 Jul 2010 at 22:34

Definitely the DX (really good value for money, great sound), but also invest in a headphone amp - made a huge difference to my HD555's. Samson s-amp is a good budget friendly option.

mrk · 14 Jul 2010 at 22:51

If the total cost of a DX + headphone amp is close enough to a Xonar STX then get the STX - it is the better card and has a built in headphones amp.

I used it solely with my HD555 for 4 weeks while my NAD amp was being repaired and it was outstanding, so much so I didn't miss the headphone out on my NAD, it was like 1:1

fozzybear · 15 Jul 2010 at 15:15

Marsman said:
Nice one, I have the DR150's too. Superior to the HD555's IMO, which are almost £80 on the Amazonian site. Just under £50 is a great buy.

Did you get a sound card too, or just the headphones ATM?

No, havn't ordered the sound card yet. Just want to try them with onboard sound first and then get the DX so I can really appreciate them!

edit//

The DR 150's have literally just been delivered!

Great service considering I only ordered Wednesday morning.

fozzybear · 22 Jul 2010 at 11:31

Marsman, just wondered how different the DH in PowerDVD 9 Ultra is compared to the DH on something like the DX. I'm guessing the hardware DH would sound better than software based DH in PowerDVD.

Marsman · 22 Jul 2010 at 14:44

fozzybear said:
I'm guessing the hardware DH would sound better than software based DH in PowerDVD.

You have guessed right.

Before I got a Xonar, I used DH in PowerDVD, I noticed that upon getting a Xonar, hardware based DH was better. Can't remember now how the software version fared in comparison. I'll give it a go later, see how the software version fares.