Considering a cheapish soundcard (Asus Xonar DS?)

Hathaway

Hathaway

Hathaway

Associate
Joined
17 Jan 2009
Posts
236
My speakers at high volume tend to hiss a lot (I have 5.1 Creative Inspire T6100 speakers). I was told this could be greatly reduced by using a separate sound card rather than rely on the onboard one on my motherboard.
I'm quite happy with the sound quality I get overall, so I can't see myself spending a lot of money to improve this situation. I've really no idea about sound cards, what to look for and to avoid, what's good for the price etc, so any assistance would be appreciated.

One card which seemed to get a lot of high praise and didn't cost a lot was the Asus Xonar DS. Anyone able to recommend this card? This is really about the most I want to spend on a sound card.

I generally use my comp to listen to music, playing games and watching TV/Films, so pretty much everything.

Thanks.
 
Last edited:
The DS is a good card - fine for speakers. I would step up to a D1 or DX if you intend to use headphones though.

Just bear in mind that it might not be your soundcard causing the hiss. It may be the speakers themselves. Have they always hissed?
 
It's a great card for the money, I have one in my HTPC. Good for everything except playing games with headphones or a headset. The reason being it does not have surround sound features when using headset/phones. So if you don't use headset/phones for gaming, it doesn't matter. If you do use headset/phones for gaming, your onboard sound doesn't have surround sound either, so you can't miss it either way.

If £35 is your upmost budget, then the Asus Xonar DS is definately the card to have. :)
 
Uriel said:
The DS is a good card - fine for speakers. I would step up to a D1 or DX if you intend to use headphones though.

Just bear in mind that it might not be your soundcard causing the hiss. It may be the speakers themselves. Have they always hissed?
Click to expand...

Yes good point Uriel, something I should have included in my previous post.

What speakers are they?
 
The speakers are the Creative 5.1 T6100. It's only at very high volume levels that I hear a hiss, otherwise they're a good set of speakers.
I do use headphones for gaming actually, so this will be an issue?

Will there be a noticeable difference in sound quality upgrading from onboard sound?
 
Hathaway said:
The speakers are the Creative 5.1 T6100. It's only at very high volume levels that I hear a hiss, otherwise they're a good set of speakers.
I do use headphones for gaming actually, so this will be an issue?

Will there be a noticeable difference in sound quality upgrading from onboard sound?
Click to expand...

Aha! As Alan Partridge would say. :p

I have the very same set of speakers. How high are we talking here, 60% or more speaker volume, with 100% volume in Windows?

I have a feeling it could be the speakers. I am not a LOUD sound lover, so I don't turn mine up enough to hear the sound fall apart. I have heard people say though the sound becomes worse when the volume gets very high. No sound card of any quality will fix that. That's the downside of cheap speakers I am afraid. If it was hissing at low volume, that's a different matter.

Will you notice a difference in sound quality with a sound card? Yes you will. Will the Xonar cure the hissing at high volume? No. Only more expensive 5.1 speakers, or any good quality speakers be able to reach high volume without the sound falling to bits. Sound through headphones will be better with the Xonar, but it doesn't offer any kind of positional surround sound that you get with more expensive cards.
 
The hissing sound is only at very high volume. I've noticed it only on occasion and again yesterday when I had to turn the speakers up high to listen to an online video, the numpty had recorded it on a very low volume level and it just reminded me of the issue.

For 35 odd pounds, it may be worth it just for the increase in sound quality.
Thanks for the help guys, gave me something to think about.
 
I did say in a previous post, the DS isn't the best for gaming with headphones, but that is only due to the fact it doesn't have Dolby Headphone which the higher priced DX or D1 has. I did however listen to some music with headphones connected to the Xonar DS and my X-Fi as a comparison, and I thought the Xonar DS sounded slightly better than the X-Fi Xtreme Music, so for £35 for sound quality, you can't go wrong. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom