Where to go from Xonar DX & DR50s?

[Arthalen]

Thanks to some great advice, I bought myself a Xonar DX and a pair of Goldring DR50s as a general purpose 'matched' setup for gaming and music purposes.

They've been great. Music reproduction is fantastic and really enjoyable.

Games - hmm. On the one hand, the positional audio has been really good with the Dolby Headphone function. However, the EAX support isnt quite there yet and I feel Im missing out in some of the titles I've been playing.

So where next, with a basis towards gaming? I feel I got a great deal in the DX & Dr50s for the price, just what hardware would I be looking at to get the total immersive gaming experience and decent music playback without totally breaking the bank?

...On a side note, Missus has speakers hooked up to her PC, and often palys back music ... I think Dx will be migrating soon as her PC absolutely trashes and sound coming out of the PC.....

 

[Uriel]

If you like Dolby Headphone, consider sticking with it. It's often difficult to find a good match with HRTF stuff.

However there are other ways, apart from a Xonar to have Dolby Headphone in game. An external receiver-amp will take dolby digital and convert it to dolby headphone for you. That would allow you to use any Dolby Digital Live soundcard for gaming. Entry level protable receiver/amps with Dolby Headphone are the Victor SU-DH1 (DH1, 2 and 3), the Astro A40 (DH2 only) or the Turtle Beach Ear Force DSS (this is new, so I know very little about it). Moving up the scale, Denon, Marantz and Harman Kardon do AV receivers with Dolby Headphone built in.

Soundcard wise - you're looking at X-Fi Titanium for a retail option. Cheaper still is the OEM X-Fi SB0770, which is basically a pci version of the Titanium. The former comes with Dolby Digital Live. The latter needs you to pay US$5 to Creative to enable it. I would get the X-Fi, try CMSS-3D headphone, and if it doesn't really 'do it' for you, look into getting a Dolby Headphone capable receiver. If you're using a digital connection there is no point in buying a more expensive x-fi.

Regarding Headphones, the DR150s are just like the DR50s but sound better. The NS1000s are quite different but a step up again from the DR150s, IMO, and they do better with Dolby Headphone. Throw more money at it and you can get better headphones but bear in mind the Goldrings all punch above their weight price-performance wise. From headphones I've listened to, I'd suggest you may need to double the NS1000s current price to better them.

Edit: My current setup is X-Fi Prelude > Dolby Digital Live > Victor SU-DH1 > (optional mixer or headphone amp) > Goldring NS1000 or Sennheiser HD600 (or Prelude > Analogue > Mixer > Headphones if not using DH). I think it's the best of both worlds between the X-Fi's superior gaming features and the Xonar's better positioning (IMO) with headphones.

 

[Arthalen]

Thanks for the fantastic advice, Uriel.

So in a nutshell, a X-Fi Titanium and some NS1000's, and give the CMSS option a whirl?

I've seen NS1000's for £50-60, which is a good deal I think...

Is there any point in the 'Fatality Titanium' or is it all gimmick and no substance?

 

[Marsman]

Get the normal Titanium. The Fatality is aimed at people who are easily fooled by marketing nonsense. The only thing the Fatality has over the Titanium that is of any worth is the XRAM. If the performance gains of the XRAM were clear, maybe the extra £37 would be worth it to some, but it's debatable as to whether or not it does make a difference, given that modern CPU's are so fast.