Which PCI-E soundcard?

mattzilla · 27 Apr 2008 at 15:23

I've been looking at a PCI-E soundcard (since I don't have any PCI slots available in my new PC), but been a bit out of the loop so not sure what's best.

I'm not after anything too high end as I'm only really going to be using this PC for games (though a DD5.1/DTS amp), and it'll need to be Vista x64 compatible. Which leaves me with two options:

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio 7.1 - £29.36

or

Asus Xonar DX 7.1 PCI-Express Sound Card - £58.74

I'm not sure I have much faith in Creative these days, but then again I don't really know much about how Asus' sound cards have been doing either (though I have seen a fair few people rave about the D2X on here).

Does anyone have any ideas on which would better for gaming? And are there any other recommendations for cards I might have missed?

Thanks.

kkbigal · 27 Apr 2008 at 15:50

Just bought and installed the Xonar D2X (the big brother of the Xonar DX) and can easily recommend it - best sounding sound card I've owned

The DX is just a trimmed down version of the D2X - not as many dolby decoding options, not many included cables etc, but the review I read said it offered the same top quality sound as the D2X.

Buy with confidence

mattzilla · 28 Apr 2008 at 09:18

Thanks for the recommendation

Ordered a DX

WillSpengler · 28 Apr 2008 at 09:51

I ordered up the Xonar. Competes well with the higher end X-Fi's apparently

PCDave · 28 Apr 2008 at 11:03

you wont regret the xonar its a brilliant card with unbelievable sound quality

WillSpengler · 28 Apr 2008 at 11:55

Anyone know the ETA on the xonar?

kkbigal · 28 Apr 2008 at 12:48

I should also add that the DX is half the price of the D2X

An awful lot of soundcard for your dosh

Not sure if the Xonar requires additional power from a floppy connector like the D2X though.

mattzilla · 28 Apr 2008 at 13:31

kkbigal said:
Not sure if the Xonar requires additional power from a floppy connector like the D2X though.

I think it does from a couple of reviews i've read.

And I reckon OcUK will get it soon, I've seen it available elsewhere.

HamZilla · 28 Apr 2008 at 15:32

The D2X has spdif optical in whilst the D2 only has spdif optical out.
The D2X also has a Burr Brown DAC.

Comparison of D2 and D2X

split · 28 Apr 2008 at 15:42

I'm interested in this card or it's big brother just to have a break from Creative.
The Daniel_K thing was the last straw with them.

It's been reported on these forums that the Asus Xonar D2 has a low mic volume even with the boost on.
As I use voice over IP thats no good for me, but does the non DX version also have the same problem?

I'd also be interested if it does stereo MIX (creatives What U hear) as that's a feature I use they seem to be doing away with in Vista these days.
I had to use old beta drivers in Vista just to get it on a creative sound blaster live 24 bit and had to edit the registy to get MIC boost

Hmmm looking at that comparison, both these cards have Karaoke Functions, so both should do mix, but do they have a low mic?

Dinkas · 28 Apr 2008 at 16:15

HamZilla said:
The D2X has spdif optical in whilst the D2 only has spdif optical out.
The D2X also has a Burr Brown DAC.

Comparison of D2 and D2X

That's a comparison of the DX and D2X

WillSpengler · 28 Apr 2008 at 16:37

HamZilla said:
The D2X has spdif optical in whilst the D2 only has spdif optical out.
The D2X also has a Burr Brown DAC.

Comparison of D2 and D2X

Wonder if the DAC is socketed? Ive been meaning to get some Burr Brown DACs for my interface, could always have gotten an extra one for the DX if it was possible

On that note, wonder if it is still possible to get free samples from Ti

mremulator · 28 Apr 2008 at 18:10

Good write up on Xonar DX here:

http://techreport.com/articles.x/14500