Xonar AE 7.1 PCIe Gaming Sound Card

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Hi all

can not seem to find any reviews for this card. Just bought a pair of bayerdynamic mmx 300 headset and am looking for something to pair with them. Anyone got this card and is it any good

thanks in advance.
 
Would suggest Sound Blaster Z
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/search?sSearch=Sound+Blaster+Z

Asus doesn't have good record for longevity of driver support and SBX Pro Surround is known good binaural simulation.
Dolby Headphone used by earlier Xonars has bass bloat from its tendency to echo which would be bad for strong bass headphones.
And haven't heard anything from "Sonic Studio's" virtual surround which would make it good, at least in soundstage.
(seems to effectively turn big soundstage open headphones to closed cans)
 
just sold a z last week lol......but then decided to get the bayers as they were only £99 on the bay....all ways wanted to try a good set of headphones. oh well will try the on board with them and i also have a xonar dgx i can try as well and will see which is best out of those 2 to start off.
 
well tried the headset with my xonar dgx and was absolutely terrible...tried direct to card and through a smsl dac with a toslink optical cable. now i am on the on board realtek sound on the deluxe ii and the sound is 10 times better. But still not happy...do you think i should get a creative sound card to get the best out of these headphones.

thanks in advance.
 
yea...a bit to much....may go for the z at £49...I asume it is the same as the red version with out the fancy case?
 
Creative Sound Blaster AE 5 or the oem soundblaster z...I need to know if the extra cash is worth it ...and will it be better over than my onboard sound on the x99 deluxe ii
 
Driver support wise I don't think there's any worries for SB Z serie for long time with Creative still offering Win10 drivers for dozen years old cards.
DAC differences between these cards are very unlikely to be distinguishable by human ear in any scientific non-biased testing.

But if you want to be sure card is enough to fully drive about any headphone directly without headphone amplifier then AE-5 has big advantage with lot higher voltage capabiltiy and no doubt also higher max current.
In fact AE-5 might have at the moment best headphone output from sound cards with its very low 1 ohm output impedance.
TPA6120 used commonly in higher end cards requires output resistor to keep it stable, which lowers electric damping factor below technically optimal with low impedance cans.
(again if you or any friend has electronics hobby Objective2 is easy to assemble)
 
thanks Esat.....well the wife says I can have the expensive card if I want it as its xmas gift lol.....more seriously would i use my head phones plugged directly into the ae5 or would i still use my dac with a toslink optical cable to connect the 2 and if i do it this way will i still be able to set the creative software to give a virtual 7.1 surround sound effect through the dac to the headset. At the moment i am using the dac (smsl sd793ii) as it sounds so much better than plugging directly into the on board sound but by doing this none of the surround features work in the realtec software or will the ae5 dac be better

thanks in advance..
 
would i still use my dac with a toslink optical cable to connect the 2 and if i do it this way will i still be able to set the creative software to give a virtual 7.1 surround sound effect through the dac to the headset.
Actually SB Z has setting for enabling PCM output of stereo mix.
I can't myself test if it outputs binaural sound for headphones, but apparently it should.
http://forums.creative.com/showthread.php?t=726415&p=593187&viewfull=1#post593187
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/cre...series-z-zx-zxr.623079/page-201#post-11986706

Don't know if AE-5 has similar setting, though with its headphone output there's no need for external hp amp.
https://hothardware.com/reviews/sou...g-sound-card-for-headphone-aficionados?page=2
Software just looks fashion bloat compared to Z's clean software.
 
I went from a Z to the AE 5 not long ago, The sound quality is a little better on the AE 5.

I have not played any games extensively since I got it but Virtual Surround sounds good in the Witcher 3 and rubbish in GTA V so far for the short-bursts that I've played, Music sounds good, I have AKG K712's, I am not really an audiophile though!
 
well the only way i am going to know is to buy it...so off to overclockers in the morning to pick the AE5 up. I had the z up until last week and it was a great card with my cougar immersa( which i thought were pretty good headset for the money) but I am hoping the better ae will be even better with a good quality head set like the bayers and reading some reviews I should'nt need an separate dac. Will post back tomorrow and give my opinion.
 
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