Titanium FPS or Prelude?

Yurka

Yurka

Yurka

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12 Oct 2005
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653
Been trying to find some information comparing the two cards mentioned but haven't really found anything yet that has helped me to decide the two. I’m after a gaming card (for FPS positioning, which the X-FI has and the Asus don’t) with the best sound quality. I got told that to keep sound quality good, keep it simple, i.e. don’t put in extra components in the way that can mess up the sound. With this, I’ve got into my head the ‘Elite X-FI’ (most expensive X-FI) and any other X-FI s with the front panel additions would also hinder the sound quality; as the components probably would be the weakest link in the chain of material quality between source and output.

This has led me to the above mentioned, and therefore me trying to find out which has the better components/DACs and general better sound quality of the two.

From what I’ve gathered the Titanium benefits are :

1. 64- XRAM to help with game performance
2. PCI-E which helps to rectify some problems that the card had with PCI.
3. Shield to keep outside noise radiation effecting the sound quality.

Prelude:

1. Better support of different sound formats DDL, DTS etc
2. Better build components, than Titanium


Has anyone got any ideas or thoughts on the matter?
 
Yurka said:
I’m after a gaming card (for FPS positioning, which the X-FI has and the Asus don’t)
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ASUS do actually. EAX3-5 is emulated (not always entirely successfully) but positional sound over surround speakers or headphones (using Dolby Headphone) works fine. Look up DS3D-GX for more info. Which games are you interested in anyway? For pure sound quality the Xonar cards are about on par with the Prelude (with default Opamps) for less money.

If the two cards you mentioned - if you want to use analogue cables go for the Prelude (or Xonar if you reconsider). The Titanium does DDL etc so you can use it to connect to a receiver by optical or coaxial. Just bear in mind you would need a very expensive receiver to beat the DAC and Opamp quality in the Prelude or Xonar.

Although I'm running a Xonar D2 now, I used to have an X-Fi XtremeMusic. I really liked the XtremeMusic but could never get it to work in Vista x64 with 4GB RAM. The Xonar sorted that problem and sounds much better for music but I miss the convenience of Creative's Alchemy, which remembered settings for individual games. I usually have remember whether to turn DS3D-GX on or off for the Xonar, which is marginally less convenient.
 
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Uriel said:
ASUS do actually. EAX3-5 is emulated (not always entirely successfully) but positional sound over surround speakers or headphones (using Dolby Headphone) works fine. Look up DS3D-GX for more info. Which games are you interested in anyway? For pure sound quality the Xonar cards are about on par with the Prelude (with default Opamps) for less money.

If the two cards you mentioned - if you want to use analogue cables go for the Prelude (or Xonar if you reconsider). The Titanium does DDL etc so you can use it to connect to a receiver by optical or coaxial. Just bear in mind you would need a very expensive receiver to beat the DAC and Opamp quality in the Prelude or Xonar.

Although I'm running a Xonar D2 now, I used to have an X-Fi XtremeMusic. I really liked the XtremeMusic but could never get it to work in Vista x64 with 4GB RAM. The Xonar sorted that problem and sounds much better for music but I miss the convenience of Creative's Alchemy, which remembered settings for individual games. I usually have remember whether to turn DS3D-GX on or off for the Xonar, which is marginally less convenient.
Click to expand...

I was after X-FI for the 3DCMSS and theres another option in the software (can't remember its name) which amplifies certain sounds (i.e. foot/feet shuffling that area far away) which is great for FPS, cs/css and other similar games.

My output is high end headphones so the analogue out needs to be decent.

Is the DS3D-GX the same as 3D CMSS? and do they also have that amplifing setting as well in their software?

My main reason for the XFI cards were the software settings that I mentioned as I do like them :) however if the ASUS have the same/similar software settings then it could be a good bargin for SQ over the Prelude. That is, as you say, they use the same components (or as good as)in the Xonar cards as they do in the Prelude/Auzen lines.
 
Yurka said:
I was after X-FI for the 3DCMSS and theres another option in the software (can't remember its name) which amplifies certain sounds (i.e. foot/feet shuffling that area far away) which is great for FPS, cs/css and other similar games.

My output is high end headphones so the analogue out needs to be decent.

Is the DS3D-GX the same as 3D CMSS? and do they also have that amplifing setting as well in their software?

My main reason for the XFI cards were the software settings that I mentioned as I do like them :) however if the ASUS have the same/similar software settings then it could be a good bargin for SQ over the Prelude. That is, as you say, they use the same components (or as good as)in the Xonar cards as they do in the Prelude/Auzen lines.
Click to expand...

It depends what you're after. Dolby Headphone on the Xonar does pretty much the same thing as CMSS-3D on the X-Fi. I find Dolby Headphone the more convincing of the two (have tried both with Sennheiser HD600 and since then used Goldring DR50 and DR100 with the Xonar).

I don't think the Xonar has an equivalent amplification thing for footsteps etc but I never used it on my XtremeMusic.

DS3D-GX is more like the AlChemy program that comes with the X-Fi. It restores Directsound3D audio content for Vista. Additionally, it emulates EAX3-5 (not always successfully but when it works it's great), in XP as well as Vista. Without it the Xonar only supports EAX2.

A note of caution on the Xonar. I've heard that it has problems with Battlefield 2 and 2142 in Vista x64. I note you like FPSs so that might be an issue.
 
Well looks like the new Prelude coming out, mentioned in a new thread could be an option. Though I would like to hear the Dolby Headphone technology in action... but I unfortunately don't know anyone that has one :(
 
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