Step up from a DX?

schnipps · 24 Aug 2011 at 19:27

I fancy a new sound card so what is a step up from a xonar DX?

Marsman · 24 Aug 2011 at 19:56

Xonar Essence or X-Fi Titanium HD.

Any improvement from a D2X is too minimal really. Lot of people can't tell between it and a DX.

Edit: What headphones and/or speakers are you using?

schnipps · 24 Aug 2011 at 23:01

speakers are creative GIGAWORKS T40 phones are goldring NS1000

Marsman · 24 Aug 2011 at 23:08

Probably worth getting either an Essence or Titanium HD for the Goldring's, although It's hard to know how much of quality jump there will be.

Some of it will depend on your own ears, but also on the NS1000's allowing you to hear that difference.

setter · 24 Aug 2011 at 23:17

Will the amp on the essence be enough for ns 1000's? Currently use an E5 amp. Current card is a xonar DX, tried a D2X but the difference over the DX was barely noticeable.

Spook187 · 24 Aug 2011 at 23:19

I have just bought the Asus Xonar D2 but it has the ultra High Definition sound on the box(ocuk dont sell that one) and a lot more in price than the D2 overclockers sell,has anybody got any latency numbers with the normal D2 using ableton i get 26ms going from a 101ms from my creative xfi fatality,which i thought is a great leap

schnipps · 25 Aug 2011 at 07:54

Yeah im using a FIIO amp now and really would prefer not to as its just in the way on top of the pc so something that has the phones amp built in. The top 3 cards Asus do its hard to tell what the difference between them is.

Mr Krugga · 25 Aug 2011 at 09:08

I'd rather spend the money on a decent headphones amp if I were you, to be fair.

You won't get much for the money by upgrading your soundcard and your speakers aren't exactly the best in that department either.

schnipps · 25 Aug 2011 at 09:11

Mr Krugga said:
I'd rather spend the money on a decent headphones amp if I were you, to be fair.

You won't get much for the money by upgrading your soundcard and your speakers aren't exactly the best in that department either.

Aye but short of wopping big speakers and a proper dedicated seperate sound setup i cant see how i can get that much better.

Marsman · 25 Aug 2011 at 11:08

If you do decide to get a separate HP amp, do some research first. The NS1000's are fussy about which amp they work well with. Some decent amps don't do a very good job with them.

I don't know which ones, as I've not looked into it enough. Uriel will probably know which ones are worth looking at.

Essence amp works very well with the NS1000's, apparently.

Not sure if the Titanium HD has enough clout. Creative claim that it can drive up to 330ohm headphones. A lot of people can't find a dedicated HP amp on the card though, so it's doubtful it will drive the NS1000's as well as the Essence.

C64 · 25 Aug 2011 at 19:39

the amps on these soundcards are rubbish mate a step down from an e5

Marsman · 25 Aug 2011 at 22:43

C64 said:
the amps on these soundcards are rubbish mate a step down from an e5

You have an Essence, or have used one?

C64 · 26 Aug 2011 at 12:44

Yes I have I sent it back under the DSR and kept my DX to my ears the e5 is better, you'd be better off just getting an E9 amp it runs from the mains.
Maybe rubbish was too strong it's probably about the same but I couldn't justify the cost a fiio e9 would be a better upgrade in the short and long term.

LukasBB · 26 Aug 2011 at 21:38

not worth upgrading soundcard if you already have a DX. if you want better sound then look for an external DAC like FiiO E7, NuForce Icon or something, also a headphone amplifier is a good thing to buy. I've got a E7+E9 combo and it sounds a lot better than my xonar DX soundcard.