Spec me a New Sound Card

Greenlizard0

Greenlizard0

Greenlizard0

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I might possibly be getting a new one in the next few weeks. I currently have the Fata1ty but know it's not that great for music and am contemplating getting one that's more designed for the non-gamer.

Music and DVD's/Videos are my main use for this computer. I like the Fata1ty's front bay for I permanently have a pair of headphones plugged into it.

It'll output as follows:

2.1 Speaker output -> Technics SU V660 Amp -> B&O Beovox 3800 Speakers.

Headphone output -> Audio Technica Arthouse A T H (no spaces) A-900 headphones / IXOS MOS DJ 1001 headphones.

Budget is unlimited -but nothing silly of course. What do you guys think?
 
The Asus D2 Xonar is decent for music and movies but for games can only handle EAX2.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SC-000-AS&groupid=701&catid=11&subcat=

Or the Auzentech's a good alternative to a Creative: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SC-000-AZ

Personally, I think the Asus looks amazing, it's high quality, its built by a reputable company and its recieved good reviews from what I've read (CustomPC, etc.) Creative's are probably best avoided in the future judging by people's reactions to the software drivers and my own experience with an XtremeMusic.

The Asus doesn't have a breakout box though and apparently the Auzentech can playback through "both optical and headphones" at the same time via the soundcard unit itself, without a breakout box.
 
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External DAC.

Build a Monica II for about £120-ish. Better sound quality than any sound card. Go higher and build an Opus. If you don't want to build one, you could always buy one, like a Oritek Modded Zhalou. which are about £250. They are comparable to DAC's of twice the price range. Highly recommended by a lot of people on head-fi.
 
Chimerical said:
Interesting. Got a link. I also want to buy a new card (I hate my XtremeMusic), never heard of the "Opus" before. Got a link?
Click to expand...

http://www.twistedpearaudio.com/opus/opus.aspx

You'll have to get someone to build it for you though, so it's probably not the best choice. You'd also need an amp (I'm not sure if the Opus has a built in amp). It says it's a balanced DAC, but you can get a single ended one too.

You'd be better off buying a pre assembled DAC. An amp/DAC combo would be very good. iBasso D1 or Corda Move come to mind. Both around £150-ish, possibly cheaper now because I haven't been keeping up with the prices. They'd both sound a lot better than most sound cards. Search for some reviews on head-fi if you're not sure.

Note: this is just for headphones. I don't know anything about speakers.
 
Hmm...I'd prefer something ready assembled.

The Asus card does seem quite good and looks very smart as well. The thing is I regularly change which headphones I use - so a front bay would be a bonus.

The other option is of course to buy a headphone amp that can sit on my desk. *ponders*
 
I think the auzentech prelude is supposed to be the other option other than a creative x-fi or the asus as you mentioned, A good thread here:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=157615

However the card suffers from major issues with mic volume. Saying that, the x-fi has major driver problems especially when having more than 4gb ram.

I'm in a similar situation to yourself, if i'm going to be spending £100 on a sound card i expect it to be damn good and without any driver/ mic issues..
 
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