Help: I know nothing!

pinkacidbootson

pinkacidbootson

pinkacidbootson

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I'm going to be building a PC in a few months and I'm not really sure which sound card would be best for my needs. The PC will be used for:

- Gaming
- Playing HD movies (with DTS)

My speakers are Z-5500 (optical, coax and analogue inputs) and I also have HD-465 headphones. It looks like my choices are between the Xonar DG and D2, but I don't know if it would be worth spending more on the D2.
For example, can the DG output DD/DTS over analogue connections to the Z-5500s? Also does the D2 include Dolby Headphone? Should I use the analogue or coax connectin between my PC and Z-5500 for games/movies?

Someone please put me straight, the last card I had was an X-Fi and that was years ago!
 
Asus has quite a range these days! I got my DX 3 years ago when it was just the DX, D2, and D2X!

Personally I would go with the best one within budget. They all have Dolby Headphone (which I'm really not a fan of) and optical out, but you get what you pay for on the chips themselves (DACs and opamps). I would say go with the DS over the DG, as it's at least 192 kHz. However, it is lacking on-the-fly dolby digital live encoding, which means you won't be able to stick everything out through optical (however, already encoded DD/DTS streams will be ok eg. DVDs).

Therefore: I would recommend the D1 as a minimum as it has all the features you're likely to ever need, and the DX or above ideally :) (because I have it and it's great!)
 
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Sorry mate, reading it again, did you mean DG or D2? One is the bottom of the range £20 job, the other is the top end £100 job!

My original reply was comparing those two (it's worth getting the D2!) then I thought you might have meant DG and DS.

My head hurts :p
 
Thanks for the reply! I was talking about the DG and D2 :) am I right in assuming you can pass anything through the 5.1 analogue output and it will be 5.1 on my speakers?

Also I see this in the D2 description:

Real-time DDL and DTS Connect encoders for amazing gaming and surround sounds
Click to expand...

What exactly does this mean and would I lose any functionality by choosing the DG?
 
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I'm just a bit confused that you're comparing the cheapest and most premium cards? We like automotive analogies on this forum - it's like comparing a fiat panda to a audi r8 :)

As above, it looks like the DG does miss the real time dolby digital live encoding. Which means only sources which are already encoded in Dolby will make sense to the speakers, which are DVD's and the like. The DG won't be able to encode anything else eg. youtube videos into a format that the speakers can accept. Yes you lose functionality.

The analogue output will work just fine - but the chips used in the DG are not great, your speakers are better in fact.
 
The reason is that I can get hold of a D2 for £48, which looks very attractive since the DG is £25!

It looks like my main concern is quality as it seems the DG would do everything I need, just not as good as the D2.
 
If you can get a D2 for £48, then that's a great price. If you do get it, I'd use analogue connection, as the sound quality of the D2, will be better than that of the Z5500's, if using SPDIF. D2 is much better sound quality, compared to the DG. For £48, it's certainly worth it IMO. The D2/D2X's only downfall is, no front panel header.
 
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Oh I assumed it came with a front panel header. Seems a bit silly! I think after the advice and a bit of research, the D1 would be most suited to my needs. Is it much worse than a D2?
 
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D2/D2x were the first of the Xonar's, so for whatever reason, a front panel header didn't occur to Asus.

D1 would certainly be a good alternative. You get Dolby Digital Live, but not DTS Connect. D2/D2X is the only Xonar to have DTSC. D1/DX has Dolby Headphone and a front panel header.
 
The D2(X) uses better components and produces better sound quality than the D1/X, it also supports on-the-fly DTS encoding.

What the above actually means:
If you had top of the range headphones/speakers and top of the range ears you might hear a difference in quality, however not everyone can hear the difference between diabolical onboard and a soundcard so it's safe to say very few people will hear it between 2 mid end cards.
DTS is a 'better' format to encode multi-channel audio in seeing as it allows for more range in the dynamics, however some people prefer DD in some movies and some have no preference what so ever; as above very few people will be able to tell the difference in all honesty.

Digital encoding probably won't mean much as you'll likely get better sound from your soundcard than your speaker's DAC anyway.
 
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Thanks for all the replies. I've settled on the D1 as it has a front header for my headphones, supports virtual 5.1 surround through the headphones, and I'll be connecting the Z-5500s via analogue. Not sure if I'll ever even need the optical output but nice to have the option, especially with DD Live.
 
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