Any point in keeping Xonar?
- Thread starter eyetrip
- Start date
Would it really make a diff as I am outputting via optical into fairly decent sound system?
Is an Asus Xonar DS
Makes no difference for headphones then.
I have a similiar thing. Got a Xonar DX but am not able to use speakers anymore (children/wife etc) so just use Plantronic Headphones. Also got a Corsair HS1A's going to use as comparion too.
Is there any point keeping it ? Motherboard is a Gigabyte Z68AP-D3. Previously I have always been an advocate of dedicated soundcard over onboard but now just using headphones (gaming mainly, not online) do I sell the DX ?
going to remove it and do a comparison anyway.
Is there any point keeping it ? Motherboard is a Gigabyte Z68AP-D3. Previously I have always been an advocate of dedicated soundcard over onboard but now just using headphones (gaming mainly, not online) do I sell the DX ?
going to remove it and do a comparison anyway.
Do you need to remove the Xonar in order to compare? Cannot you run onboard audio alongside the Xonar?
Might depend on the board I suppose. I have no problem running onboard audio and a sound card in my system. In fact, I don't think I've ever had a PC, where I could not use onboard audio and a sound card simultaneously.
Would make it much easier to compare, if you can just switch between them in the Windows sound options.
The difference between onboard audio and a sound card should be more discernible when using headphones. Onboard audio more often than not, does not provide enough amplification for a lot of headphones. Speakers are a different matter, as they have an amplifier.
Using my Goldring headphones with onboard audio, they sound crap and dull in comparison to when being used with a sound card.
Will not you use the Dolby Headphone feature of the Xonar? You won't get any surround sound from your headphones, if you switch to onboard audio.
Might depend on the board I suppose. I have no problem running onboard audio and a sound card in my system. In fact, I don't think I've ever had a PC, where I could not use onboard audio and a sound card simultaneously.
Would make it much easier to compare, if you can just switch between them in the Windows sound options.
The difference between onboard audio and a sound card should be more discernible when using headphones. Onboard audio more often than not, does not provide enough amplification for a lot of headphones. Speakers are a different matter, as they have an amplifier.
Using my Goldring headphones with onboard audio, they sound crap and dull in comparison to when being used with a sound card.
Will not you use the Dolby Headphone feature of the Xonar? You won't get any surround sound from your headphones, if you switch to onboard audio.
I supposed I could start out using it alongside the Xonar. Reason why I wanted to remove the Xonar was because its currently behind my GTX 570 and I've got a bit of a heat issue after switching cases recently. Wanted to see if onboard was good enough and removing the Xonar would help rising heat being removed better.
Other solution would be to get a PCI soundcard if onboard is not good enough which can sit in the bottom slot which is far enough away for a good gap for airflow to the GPU fans.
I`m not entirely convinced with Dolby Headphones as it just sounds a bit echoey. The Realtek 889 chip according to Realtek has headphone amp on all output ports. The drivers are 06/03/2012 so pretty new.
I`ll just give it a go and see what happens.
Other solution would be to get a PCI soundcard if onboard is not good enough which can sit in the bottom slot which is far enough away for a good gap for airflow to the GPU fans.
I`m not entirely convinced with Dolby Headphones as it just sounds a bit echoey. The Realtek 889 chip according to Realtek has headphone amp on all output ports. The drivers are 06/03/2012 so pretty new.
I`ll just give it a go and see what happens.
Was the only reason you were considering getting rid of the Xonar, purely because you're not going to use speakers anymore?
and the heat problem which has helped now the DX has gone. Going to get a PCI sound card.
Oh yes! Sorry, you did say a heat issue before. 
D1 would be the best, no less, or you may be disappointed. DG is nice and cheap, but not everyone has a favourable opinion of it, when they are used to higher end cards.
There is a the DS, which is a slight step up from the DG, but still not on par with the D1/X.
If you wanted to try an X-Fi. I'll just throw this in as an option. You can buy an OEM PCI X-Fi Titanium off the famous auction site for £35.
D1 would be the best, no less, or you may be disappointed. DG is nice and cheap, but not everyone has a favourable opinion of it, when they are used to higher end cards.
There is a the DS, which is a slight step up from the DG, but still not on par with the D1/X.
If you wanted to try an X-Fi. I'll just throw this in as an option. You can buy an OEM PCI X-Fi Titanium off the famous auction site for £35.
How do you find it compares to the DX?
I'm interested because the D1/X is roughly on par, or above the X-Fi Xtreme Music, depending on who you speak to. A few people have found the DG sounds rubbish in comparison to the X-Fi XM.
Could be the difference in sound between Xonar and X-Fi. Some people prefer the Xonar sound, which ever Xonar it is, and some people prefer X-Fi sound, over any Xonar.
I'm interested because the D1/X is roughly on par, or above the X-Fi Xtreme Music, depending on who you speak to. A few people have found the DG sounds rubbish in comparison to the X-Fi XM.
Could be the difference in sound between Xonar and X-Fi. Some people prefer the Xonar sound, which ever Xonar it is, and some people prefer X-Fi sound, over any Xonar.
I had the x-fi fatal1ty before the xonar dx and the DX was definitely better. SFX that I had not heard before were appearing all over the place especially in the rears (with 5.1 speakers) that was the biggest shock.
In don't think the DG is as clear as the DX but only by a slight amount. This is through Plantronic Gamecom 367's.
I think its difficult sometimes to compare as it not just depends on the sound card but what you use to listen with it, ie headphones vary in quality.
In don't think the DG is as clear as the DX but only by a slight amount. This is through Plantronic Gamecom 367's.
I think its difficult sometimes to compare as it not just depends on the sound card but what you use to listen with it, ie headphones vary in quality.
Soldato
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I was a bit dubious until I tested onboard against my Xonar dx and found the same as you. Seems onboard is better than it was but still not as good.