replace x-fi
- Thread starter Angst
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D1 is a very good card. Maybe DX would be better choice though. Same card, just PCIe. PCI will disappear at some point. It already has on some higher end boards.
Creative's new SB Z would also be a good choice and has been getting decent reviews and comments.
Creative's new SB Z would also be a good choice and has been getting decent reviews and comments.
Soldato
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Well in that case it must be either the Asus Xonar DG or if you do have PCI-E spare the DGX. Both have nice opamps and will drive those badboys fine 
Well in that case it must be either the Asus Xonar DG or if you do have PCI-E spare the DGX. Both have nice opamps and will drive those badboys fine
Had a look but apart from the opamp its worse overall than than the xtreme gamer.
Definitely don't go for a DG/DGX. It is a very good budget card, but mid range cards such as the X-Fi Xtreme Music/Gamer or Xonar D1/DX are an improvement. Some people who went from a Xtreme Music found the DG/DGX sounds poor in comparison. Having owned both, I wouldn't go so far as to say the DG/DGX is poor when compared to the X-Fi XM, but I did find it didn't sound quite as good. The mid range cards are worth the cost over the budget DG/DGX.
The D1 is a good choice if you'd prefer to have PCI. The next step up would be a Xonar Essence, if you'd prefer an Asus card. The D2/D2X is marginally better sounding when compared to the D1/DX, but most people who compared them found there to be very little difference. Most of what you are getting is extra features, none of which make any difference to headphone use.
The D1 is a good choice if you'd prefer to have PCI. The next step up would be a Xonar Essence, if you'd prefer an Asus card. The D2/D2X is marginally better sounding when compared to the D1/DX, but most people who compared them found there to be very little difference. Most of what you are getting is extra features, none of which make any difference to headphone use.
Im curious why people spend money on a nice set of cans and use a sound card. Quoting higher snr is pretty meaningless with all the interference in a PC case. Why not spend on a Usb DAC and get true high definition sound?
Sorry if this question is out of place/not wanted/or if I have totally missed the point.
Sorry if this question is out of place/not wanted/or if I have totally missed the point.
So an external DAC is ALWAYS better than a soundcard of the same value? That's a bit of a generalisation there.
Quality doesn't necessarily increase/decrease purely based on how much you pay for something and just because something is external doesn't automatically make it better.
Negative.
DACs can be better than each other but in all honesty it's not what changes the sound massively.
The amplification arrangement will do far more for the sound than the DAC ever will.
The STX, for example, drives high impedance cans perfectly and has no interference issues at all. At least not in my system.
You get the benefits of Dolby positional stuff should you like to use that in games. Yes, you can get it in external solutions, but hello ££££.
What people must appreciate is that sound is not necessarily better. At the high end of the spectrum you hit diminishing returns very very quickly.
As a result you do not improve sound so much, you change it. Deeper bass is a sound characteristic, not a measurement of better audio.
It's why people will buy 10s of different amps/DACs depending on what genre of music they are listening to, or whether watching movies, or playing games.
One setup might provide EXCEPTIONAL clarity for classical music but will be very weak at the requirements Rock music needs.
Audiophiles have multiple sources and multiple headphones and multiple amplification arrangements. There is no one for all holy grail
Soldato
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I'd bet money that you couldn't tell the difference in an ABX test with levels matched. Not doubting you hear a difference but it's placebo if you haven't changed something else in the process.
I have tried loads of different high end sound cards and sold them on. The biggest upgrade to sound quality coming from my PC was with a USB DAC. This is true whether using my 15 year old Arcam amp or a £1500 cryus, headphones or speakers too. People need to start realising that sound cards don't give high end audio
Not really. I bet he could tell a difference in clarity alone
Soldato
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Why would there be more clarity? Unless there was some sort of fault with the soundcard/setup I don't see how.
I debated getting a half decent external DAC to use instead of my Titanium HD but in the end I decided it wasn't worth the cash. I spent a sizeable amount of cash on my headphones and headphone amp because I knew what I'd get there. I really don't think I would gain much else by replacing my soundcard with an external DAC worth 2-3 times more.
In my experience the headphones were the biggest improvement in sound out of anything I purchased. I bought the amp because I wanted more volume on an external box and the 600ohm drivers needed something to push them but now I'm quite happy with my A1/T1 combo. If there were a bunch of DACs handy to try then I probably would out of curiosity but I doubt I'd hear much else that I don't already.
In my experience the headphones were the biggest improvement in sound out of anything I purchased. I bought the amp because I wanted more volume on an external box and the 600ohm drivers needed something to push them but now I'm quite happy with my A1/T1 combo. If there were a bunch of DACs handy to try then I probably would out of curiosity but I doubt I'd hear much else that I don't already.