Blown away! NathWraith hooked me up on his Asus Xonar Xense!

[valkia]

I have to say the sound quality and intensity of the Asus Xonar Xense soundcard really has blown me away. The sound quality is crystal clear along with the bundled headset the Sennheiser PC 350 Xense Edition Headset which is epic comfortable. I play Call of Duty 4 at a high level and competition, so being able to hear the enemy footsteps is vital! the onboard amp of the card assured I would never miss a sound byte! Im going to upgrade to one of these. Well worth the buy. Buying each product seperatly will rack up a cost of over £200 + But for only £174.99.. bargain!

Asus Xonar Xense Sound Card + Sennheiser PC 350 Xense Edition Headset @ £174.99 inc VAT

The new Asus Xonar Xense One and Sennheiser PC 350 Xense Edition package is the result of cooperation between Asus and premier personal audio maker, Sennheiser. Xonar Xense is a perfectly matched combination of cutting edge audio card and superior quality headphones that reinvents immersive sound for serious gamers. The gaming audio set creates unbeatable sonic experiences in PC gaming that are sure to be appreciated by hardcore gamers keen on competitive online play.

- Powerful headphone amplifier and matched high-impedance driver secure FPS-optimized sound positioning and dynamics
- No footsteps missed in front of the 118dB SNR sound clarity brought by EMI shield and studio-standard 6.3mm audio jack
- Stylish full-stainless steel design matches the earcup cover of Sennheiser headset
- Pro gamers’ long-hour usage catered by excellent headset ergonomics
- New Gain Level perfectly tuned up for the PC 350 headset


Only £174.99 inc VAT.

ORDER NOW

 

[Mr Krugga]

And you're in no way biased to sell these beauties to us

Xonar Essence is decent but there are cheaper alternatives on the market. The card on its own can be had for £120 or so, I can't imagine the headset being better sound quality-wise than similarly priced headphones. You've got a very good deal on the bundle nonetheless.

 

[Rroff]

Its a pretty good deal on the bundle - your talking £220 worth or so. If its using the new DH 7.1 then it does sound pretty awesome in games - tho the positional accuracy probably isn't as good as CMSS-3D once your over the initial being blown away by the depth of the soundstage - at first I thought it was as good but with a few more hours playing with it I'm starting to notice the times when the panned positions aren't quite as accurate.

If the sound quality is anything like my 163Ds tho it will be v. good for a gaming setup - with powerful vibrant bass (none of this boomy nonsense) and being able to hear frequencies you never even knew where there with your average gaming headset.

 

[Marsman]

That's a good buy, considering what you are getting. I don't think the Xense can be had separately, although according to Mr Krugga it is. I can't say he is wrong, cause I'm not certain.

Considering an Essence and same headset would cost £240 approx, it's a good buy. However, the Xense and Essence are both too good a sound card to be pairing with the PC350's. On the upside though, the Xense bundle @ £175 leaves a nice chunk of cash to get some quality headphones for music, when comparing what someone would spend buying an Essence and the PC350's.

 

[Rroff]

Wish I could justify getting a pair of the 350s to compare to these 163Ds coz these seriously rock for music.

 

[PhillyDee]

Typical, ive just spent a lot of cash on a headset, and now I am looking for a soundcard. And you offer this?
I say it is not fair, I cannot buy this. What other sound cards do you have comparable to this?

 

[Marsman]

It's not fair? Xense PC350 bundle has been available for a while. It's not like it's only just appeared today.

Anyway, the Xonar Essence is the same card, but has stereo output for speakers instead of 7.1 outputs the Xense has.

 

[Uriel]

The Xense is roughly equivalent to Xonar Essence ST and STX cards.

Edit: fixed

 

[seabiscuit]

MR Krugga, you will probably also accuse me of bias here, but you mention the sound card is £120 value. We have the Sennheiser 350 headset (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SP-042-SN&groupid=702&catid=1058&subcat=) listed at £109.99, so from your valuation, with this bundle you are getting a £110 headset for half price.
While I have not heard this soundcard/headset combination yet myself, I do have the Sennheiser HD 595's and the sound from their higher end kit certainly impresses me a lot.

Best regards

 

[Mr Krugga]

MR Krugga, you will probably also accuse me of bias here, but you mention the sound card is £120 value. We have the Sennheiser 350 headset (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SP-042-SN&groupid=702&catid=1058&subcat=) listed at £109.99, so from your valuation, you are getting with this bundle a £110 headset for half price.
While I have not heard this soundcard/headset combination yet myself, I do have the Sennheiser HD 595's and the sound from their higher end kit certainly impresses me a lot.

Best regards

You've got a very good deal on the bundle nonetheless.

I just pointed that there are better alternatives on the market. You've got a great bundle for its market value but for the money you can get something a lot more suitable for sound quality

 

[Marsman]

Problem with the PC350's is, they are over priced. Some other member here compared the more expensive PC360's, which he bought, to his HD555's. He thought the PC360's were not as good, and they cost twice as much.

 

[silverlai3]

If PC350 are over priced, the Xense pack is definitely the right combo with the right price tag then.

 

[fozzybear]

I'd rather save £100 and get something like the Xonar DG and NS1000 headphones.

The few reviews I've seen of these aren't favourable.

 

[Telltale Boy]

I'd rather save £100 and get something like the Xonar DG and NS1000 headphones.

The few reviews I've seen of these aren't favourable.

Definitely this, The Xonar DG is an awesome card and i've heard that the NS1000's and the FiiO E5 amp work amazingly with it.

 

[Marsman]

I'd rather save £100 and get something like the Xonar DG and NS1000 headphones.

The few reviews I've seen of these aren't favourable.

They are more aimed at the headset. The card is the same as an Essence, but with 7.1 speaker output. The card is excellent, but you need really good headphones to pair with it, to make it worth having.

The bundle is a good deal from a price PoV, but that is a bit like buying a 5870 GFX card and getting a 1280x1024 monitor. In both cases the GFX card and sound card are not being used to their potential.

 

[seekdestroy]

I bought this bundle a few months ago. And did the bass mod. Unfortunately Sennheiser still havn't sorted out a decent volume controller that is realiable and it has become faulty. Same thing happened to my other sennheiser headsets. When on full volume the sound comes out of one side more than the other. Reducing the volume helps, but makes the other speaker crackle. My warranty is void. So much for high quality speakers... Really don't know what to do!

 

[Monkeynut]

I bought this bundle a few months ago. And did the bass mod. Unfortunately Sennheiser still havn't sorted out a decent volume controller that is realiable and it has become faulty. Same thing happened to my other sennheiser headsets. When on full volume the sound comes out of one side more than the other. Reducing the volume helps, but makes the other speaker crackle. My warranty is void. So much for high quality speakers... Really don't know what to do!

Here's an outside shot in Windows 7...

Go into Control Panel, then the sound tab (Assuming classic display) double click on the sound card, then the levels tab, then click the "balance" button.

Adjust L/R levels.

Worth a try.

 

[richb93]

I bought this bundle a few months ago. And did the bass mod. Unfortunately Sennheiser still havn't sorted out a decent volume controller that is realiable and it has become faulty. Same thing happened to my other sennheiser headsets. When on full volume the sound comes out of one side more than the other. Reducing the volume helps, but makes the other speaker crackle. My warranty is void. So much for high quality speakers... Really don't know what to do!

If that was me I'd just desolder the volume controller and bypass it completely.

 

[seekdestroy]

I had a look at the volume controller, and theres 5 or 6 solders near the volume dial. I tried poking around and found that when a few touched, the sound went back to normal. So i soldered a wire across, i had left and right speakers working fully, but the sound was messed up, back and front reversed. so i cut the wire i soldered.

I also thought i would look at my old sennheiser's volume controller, but it has the same problem. I also know 3 other people with faulty volume controllers, but i can't find anything on the internet!

I may try and solder the wires together like you said, but will the volume be really loud or quiet from then on? Guessing full volume means no resistance from dial.

 

[seekdestroy]

After spending ages cutting and soldering, it was a real pain. Really confusing because the wire itself was the braid. I don't understand how it works, because all of the wires touch (no casing) when in the line :S

Anyway, still working without volume control. but right channel still isn't working correctly. It's just the right channel, theres sound coming out of the right, but no right channel, well if it is there it's not very loud. I really duno what it is now. I don't even know how these wires work.
If anyone does know, for some reason when i touch the R + wire to the GREEN wire coming in, the right speaker suddenly springs back to life.