Which Asus Xonar for Gaming?

ShiWarrior

ShiWarrior

ShiWarrior

Underboss
Joined
20 Oct 2002
Posts
34,438
Location
Oxfordshire / Bucks
im putting this in PC gameing, becuase the sound card im after is DEDICATED mostly for gaming

i am thinking of getting an Aus Xonar D2X or the Essence STX but are they a bit over kill for gaming?

I also use HEADPHONES 99% of the time, but i listen to music too

I want something future proof more than less

I curently use on board sound and I now want to change

what do u think?

thanks
 
Pretty much any of them will suit you and be a large improvement over your current setup. I have the Essence ST due to it having slightly better audio characteristics than the STX. However, having to always keep a PCI slot spare is quite annoying :/
 
I reckon you should just spend how much you can justify reasonably on a card, then choose PCI or PCI-E depending on the board layout. Generally speaking, the more you spend, the better the audio quality will be, though whether you can even notice it will depend on how good your setup is. Something like the DX or D1 would be fine for gaming. I'm actually using an X-Fi xtremegamer, which I'd recommend if they weren't so pricey at the moment.
 
cheerrs for the replies so far

keep them comming its good advice to hear, more importantly, if you have tried any others a and including these would be a good comparison
 
What headphones do you use? Some pair better with Dolby Headphone than others, which may be better with CMSS-3D instead. Also, speakers?
 
I use an Auzentech Xfi forte, which uses a creative processor. I found it to be a good upgrade from the previous card, an Audigy 2ZS.
 
ShiWarrior said:
oh right

i use a set of Senheiser HD 485's
Click to expand...

Some say that the Sennheisers are more suited to the X-fi (be that creative, azuntech etc), but I think the difference will barely be discernible with those.

ShiWarrior said:
cheers schnipps, how much are the head phones?
Click to expand...

I have the Goldring NS1000 too, they can be had for £50, and I think the RRP is £150, they perform like £100 headphones in my opinion. They're a closed design with noise cancelling, so not suited to everyone. You'll need an amp or to run with noise cancelling on (and therefore using batteries) to get the most out of them, not at all that they're bad without, they're still awesome.
 
ty Alex

Not sure what it means by closed design, i dont know if my HD 485 are or not

i think the Asus Essence has an onboard headphone AMP

but I do have a sourround sound amplifier, should i run it though that?
 
I use the asus d2x aswell and it is a fantastic card. Im not an audiophile but it more than meets my requirements for gaming.

Only downside being it requires power from a floppy drive connector, luckily my psu came with one but not all do.
 
macca672 said:
I use the asus d2x aswell and it is a fantastic card. Im not an audiophile but it more than meets my requirements for gaming.

Only downside being it requires power from a floppy drive connector, luckily my psu came with one but not all do.
Click to expand...

Was just about to post the same.... DX2 requires a floppy connector, reason I went with a D2 instead.

Great cards, fantastic audio control sadly rubbish Windows 7 64Bit drivers. But they do work, and has EAX emulation for some games...

Top bit of kit, let down by poor driver support.
 
goldrings are 50 quid as said and rrp of 150, i use the fiio headphone amp so i dont have to have the headphones turned on, closed design just means they dont leak noise, i prefer closed cans anyway. You dont have to amp them plugging straight into the sound card is fine but just means you need to have a battery in them for the noise cancelling to work.

I wouldnt touch creative cards btw, the drivers are dire. I havent found the asus drivers to be a problem whatsoever in win7 64 bit though.
 
Last edited:
Xonar DX here for less than £60.

I purchased a top end Creative card a few years ago (an Elite PRO) and found their driver support to be total pants so vowed never to touch their stuff again.

The Xonars are top of the tree for me at the moment.
 
im currently looking at the DX2 or the Essence STX (both i can buy s/h at this time of posting, the DX2 @ £60 and the Essence at £90)
 
If you can afford one with a headphone amp that's good, though you said you were using a receiver? Does that have a decent dedicated headphone amp? If so, it might be just as good, though I have no idea which way to go here, AV Forums might be the place to check out for more info on this.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom