Xonar DG - ultimate budget headphone card?

I think pci is going to be around for a while longer yet, there are still plenty of new products using it. PCIe has been around since 2004 and pci still hasn't been phased out, because it still has plenty of bandwidth for many applications.

This does seem like a cheeky cheap card, i'm still happy with my D2 though.
 
Would this work with ordinary 5.1 speakers? I was looking for an upgrade to my onboard. I as looking at DX but they were at the top of my budget (£60) i dont really wan to go that high. Would this be a good upgrade and allowing for better headphone gaming/music (on a night time).
 
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It should work for 5.1 over analogue cables but for optical it will only do 5.1 for pre-encoded content like DVDs etc.
 
I've got a pair of Goldring DR50's, using onboard sound (Realtek HD).

Would something like this Xonar make a noticable difference? I don't really know what to expect.

Thanks.
 
It should work for 5.1 over analogue cables but for optical it will only do 5.1 for pre-encoded content like DVDs etc.
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My speakers do not support optical just a plug for front left/right, plug for rear left/right etc.

This still ok?

Was looking at the Xonar DS7.1. This be better do you think or other way round?
 
benjo said:
I've got a pair of Goldring DR50's, using onboard sound (Realtek HD).

Would something like this Xonar make a noticable difference? I don't really know what to expect.

Thanks.
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Probably. I found amplification helped the DR50s a bit but it's not night and day or anything. Also there's Dolby Headphone, which your onboard may or may not have. It works very well with DR50s.

Celebryn said:
My speakers do not support optical just a plug for front left/right, plug for rear left/right etc.

This still ok?

Was looking at the Xonar DS7.1. This be better do you think or other way round?
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Assuming you have 5:1, not 7.1, speakers, I suspect the DG will be fine. Still maybe wait for reviews eh? The DG is pretty sure to be considerably better than the DS for headphone use.
 
Uriel said:
Assuming you have 5:1, not 7.1, speakers, I suspect the DG will be fine. Still maybe wait for reviews eh? The DG is pretty sure to be considerably better than the DS for headphone use.
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Yes, sorry, 5.1 speakers. (fileplanet is driving me up the wall and distracting me!)

Its out in ETA two days? Thats ot a bad wait.

I have to admit that I miss EAX/extras in a way. I remember having it on for the first time in Baldurs gate and hearing the echoes while I was underground. It really adds to emersion for me :)
 
Uriel said:
Probably. I found amplification helped the DR50s a bit but it's not night and day or anything. Also there's Dolby Headphone, which your onboard may or may not have. It works very well with DR50s.



Assuming you have 5:1, not 7.1, speakers, I suspect the DG will be fine. Still maybe wait for reviews eh? The DG is pretty sure to be considerably better than the DS for headphone use.
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Using a DX here, with the built in headphone amp would the DG be an improvement over the DX? Have a pair of goldring ns 1000's arriving this week.
 
setter said:
Using a DX here, with the built in headphone amp would the DG be an improvement over the DX? Have a pair of goldring ns 1000's arriving this week.
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I expect so. Having said that, the NS1000s can be pretty temperamental about which amp to use.

You will find that unamped, the NS1000s sound very detailed with ANR on. Passive mode will have more bass but it will swamp the other frequencies, leading to an overall muddy sound. Adequate amplification restores the detail tha you get in active mode when you run the headphones passively. It's a decent advantage because ANR introduces a slight hiss and requires AAA batteries.

Not all headphone amps do the trick though. A safe option would be to get a FiiO e5. It's a cheap amp but does a very good job with the NS1000s, plus it recharges on USB and lasts ages so is very cheap and convenient to run.

It remains to be seen how good the amp on the DG is. I've heard much more expensive amps than the e5 do rather badly with NS1000s in passive mode.


Celebryn said:
I have to admit that I miss EAX/extras in a way. I remember having it on for the first time in Baldurs gate and hearing the echoes while I was underground. It really adds to emersion for me :)
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EAX support for legacy games is a bit hit and miss on Xonar. It works some of the time. I found I wasn't able to enable it in Rome: Total War, Medieval II: Total War or Theif: Deadly Shadows. If you're really interested in EAX, you might be better with a Creative X-Fi card. The cheapest option would be an OEM X-Fi SB0770 (or various other SB077x variants) 2nd hand or via auction.
 
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I wouldn't hold my breath at this having a headphone amp any better than what you get through an E5 or from the headphone ampless £50 + asus cards for that matter.I'll be surprised if it is, will await someone that owns a D1/Dx etc to do a direct comparison.
 
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Also note that the built in amp from Xonar only goes to 150 ohms, the FiiO E5handles from 100 mW (32 ohms Loaded) to 18 mW (300 ohms Loaded).

The NS1000 is passive mode are rated as 300 ohms.

So the Xonar should be an improvement over no amp at all but may not be as good as the Fiio E5.

We'll have to wait and see once the reviews are out.

I certainly wouldn't rush at replacing a DX card though, just spend £15 on the FiiO E5 which has the added advantage you can take it mobile with your mp3 player.
 
Boozebeard said:
What exactly does a headphone amp do?
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It literally amplifies headphones, just like a speaker amp amplifier speakers. The first job is to make the headphones go loud enough.

That's the easy part. Then comes making headphones sound better, although I prefer to think of it as reaching their potential. Different headphones have different electrical characteristics. Some are high or low impedance. Both can be demanding for an amp. Low impedance headphones can draw quite a high current. High impedance headphones tend to need quite high voltage swing. Some headphones need both. When this is inadequate headphones usually start losing clarity or perhaps sound too muddy or sound too thin.

There's also the issue of clipping, when the amp is basically maxing out part way through the headphone drivers creating a sound vibration wave. This can produce rather unpredictable sound depending on frequency and can theoretically result in damage to the headphone drivers. Well designed, less powerful, amps avoid this by not letting the volume control take them to their theoretical max - otherwise it's down to user controls. If your headphones distort at higher volume it could be clipping.

There is also something called 'gain', which tends to affect the loudness range where the amp is effective. It can be thought of as an input to output level multiplier. If the gain is unsuitable for particular headphones it can be difficult to find a comfortable or pleasurable listening volume and they'll either be too quiet at max volume or immediately too loud at very low volume. The Xonar cards with built in amps have an adjustable gain setting.

Another less important factor is amps adding their own flavour or colour to the sound. Ideally, an amp would just be neutral (or 'transparent') and allow the characteristics of the headphones to shine. In practice, many amps also add bass or harmonics etc that some people find pleasing.
 
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looking for a new half decent sound card, always get beaten to the xonars in the MM :(
Problem being I use my speakers mainly and the headphones only when late night gaming.
Will the amp in this have an on/off?
 
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