Xonar DG - ultimate budget headphone card?

Just got my NS1000s, great looking headphones and compact too. Slightly smaller than Creative Fatal1ty ones, have a feel of a quality build. I can post some pictures later on if you want me to :)
 
I went from Creative Fatal1ty to NS1000s too actually. They are fantastic headphones, really. Blow anything else I've used out of the water and are built very well indeed, I'm sure you'll love them and wonder how you could have put up with the Creative set for so long!

Going to order that E5 this month, so I'll share my opinions on that and whether it's worth it or not, I'd love to hear how the Xonar DG copes with the Goldrings with the noise cancelling off in particular. Can you turn the amp off in the Xonar completely? That'd be best for a comparison as to how well it works. That and comparing it to unamped, noise cancelling on.
 
I cannot turn AMP off although I can plug in the headphones to the front panel connected to the DG, that would disable AMP usage I think.

The cable is so short :eek: I need to purchase an extension quickly, any recommendations?

Regarding Creative headphones, I used them less often in the past, had them for less than 1.5 year and they served me quite well for their purpose. The difference between onboard and Xonar DG is mahoosive with DH+7.1 VSS.
 
Yeah, the NS1000s are designed for portable stuff/flights etc so you get a really short cable. I bought a well-insulated belkin 3.5mm extension cable for mine, as if you simply buy a 3.5mm male-male cable it may not fit in the headphone's port unless it's quite thin, and those cables tend to not be very good quality.
 
Damn you people with the NS1000's! :mad: You are making me want to buy a pair, even though I have no money at present. :( Probably a good thing actually. :p

All this talk of how will they fare with the DG amp, and how well they are amplified with an E5. Having an Essence makes me think, mmmmmmmmmmm! Must resist! :o
 
Uriel said:
NS1000s used to have a 1.6m cable. I've heard that it's down to 1m now. Is that true?
Click to expand...

Yes :eek: I have to put my seat down to connect them to the Front panel :D Anyone link me to an the cable before I kill someone...

Unfortunately I don't seem to be able to turn AMP off on the sound card. The front panel works a treat with it. That also means I don't need to bother connecting my speakers to the onboard as auto-switch works well too.

First impressions of sound:

7.1 Virtual Speaker with DH made a massive difference with Creative Fatal1ty, it doesn't do anything with NS1000. Dolby Headphones works great though, I'm really liking the sound :)

Noise cancelling eliminates sounds of environment but also boost the sound by quite a margin. Sound quality is definitely better with it on. It has an open feeling to it. With it off it sounds definitely flatter on high/mid-range frequencies.

Orchestra/film music - Noise Cancelling off - DH-1 sounds worse than Dolby Headphones off, DH-3 sounds better than both but it's personal choice really - slightly louder lower frequencies. Actually DH off sounds very well too, definitely clearer. Noise Cancelling on "unlocks" this headphones. The difference between Dolby Headphones on or off is pretty small too.

Rock/pop - NC off, DH off, Jazz effect - sounds good; NC on, Jazz effect, DH on or off sounds similar, yet to decide which is better.

Hip hop - DH on, NC off sounds terrible; DH off, NC off is ok; DH on, NC on also sounds ok; louder but it feels like the lyrics come from another room :confused: ; Noise Cancelling on, Dolby Headphones off sounds great. I like the Jazz EQ too.
 
7.1 Virtual Speaker stopped working at all for some reason.

EDIT: I had Audio Channels set to 6 instead of 2, will retest all as soon as I get my hands on an extension cable. There are many offerings in the jungle shop, do not know if any are worth considering though.
 
Unfortunately, it sounds like the amp isn't beefy enough for the NS1000s in passive mode. Have you tried playing with the gain settings on the amp?
 
Uriel said:
Unfortunately, it sounds like the amp isn't beefy enough for the NS1000s in passive mode. Have you tried playing with the gain settings on the amp?
Click to expand...

It was 6 channels setting that let me down I think. I set the AMP to its highest.

Yep, they sound great with 2 channels setting. Happy with my purchase so far, apart from the fact that I have to sit much closer to the floor now :p
 
Last edited:
I got my extension from a competitor, so I can't name them unfortunately, but it was belkin and around a fiver, which seems good for the quality (just).

Shame, it seems the amp doesn't boost the passive mode as much as I hoped. I hear the same vast difference in quality (particularly on the clarity of the bass) when NC is on or off.
 
alexhull24 said:
I got my extension from a competitor, so I can't name them unfortunately, but it was belkin and around a fiver, which seems good for the quality (just).

Shame, it seems the amp doesn't boost the passive mode as much as I hoped. I hear the same vast difference in quality (particularly on the clarity of the bass) when NC is on or off.
Click to expand...

Sent you an email in Trust.
 
Mr Krugga said:
It was 6 channels setting that let me down I think. I set the AMP to its highest.

Yep, they sound great with 2 channels setting. Happy with my purchase so far, apart from the fact that I have to sit much closer to the floor now :p
Click to expand...

Channels should be set to 6 for 5.1 material. Likewise, 2 for stereo and 8 for 7.1 (if the DG allows that). That's with Dolby headphone on at least.
 
Does the brand of extension cable make much difference in sound quality? Im currently using an extension that i had lying about the house for years, cant even remember the brand or where i got it.
 
Cracked and got one of these on its way to me. Using a set of Razer Carcharias, which are fairly low impedance so should be easily driven by this card. This'll be my first dedicated card so will see what all the fuss is about for once. Will report back with my impressions.
 
setter said:
Does the brand of extension cable make much difference in sound quality? Im currently using an extension that i had lying about the house for years, cant even remember the brand or where i got it.
Click to expand...

I doubt it. I use my DR150's with my HTPC, and the 3m QED supplied cable is too short, so I made one from a spare cheap phono cable around 5m, until I get a decent quality one. It looks cheap, feels cheap, but can't say the sound quality is any difference to the QED one.

Edit: I will say, I have bought a really cheap extension before, and the socket was crap. The jack wobbled in the socket, and the connection was terrible. Aslong as the socket provides a good connection with the inserting jack, then the actual cable doesn't matter if it is cheap and cheerful.
 
Last edited:
Anymore feedback for this card? I can only see one guy in this thread saying he can't notice a difference going from a DX? I was just hoping to see a few positive reviews before clicking the buy button.
 
jmc007 said:
Anymore feedback for this card? I can only see one guy in this thread saying he can't notice a difference going from a DX? I was just hoping to see a few positive reviews before clicking the buy button.
Click to expand...

I just installed mine. It sounds very similar to the XFI Fatal1ty I was using before it broke. Bare in mind I am using AgeoM 2.1 rather than headphones at the moment, however it does sound pretty good. A huge plus over the XFI though is that you can plug the front audio cable into it which is great if you only have a short microphone cable.

Also the software is a million times less bloated than the Creative one.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom