Xonar DX vs D2. Best stereo sound for the money?

morguk · 17 Jul 2008 at 12:59

So i have a pair of 2.0 Audioengine A2's. When i tweaked the sound on my bro's X-Fi XtremeMusic i got them sounding very nice but i know they are good enough speakers to offer something extra. Currently im just using onboard audio on my Asus P5K which absolutly stunk compared to the XtremeMusic.

After looking at various USB DAC's i have decided to just use a soundcard.
I have been looking at the Asus DX and the Asus D2.
My main priority is stereo 2.0 music quality, games/movies features are a bonus.

Owners of these two cards, what can you say about them?
The D2 has better quality DAC's (Burr Browns), is it worth the extra £30? (that i could spend on more RAM)
I can afford the D2 but i don't have much money so i need to make sure its the correct purchase.

Any recommendations/opinions welcome.
Cheers,

Morg.

P.S: Anyone have an idea of when the PCI slot will die out?

morguk · 17 Jul 2008 at 15:19

Excellent James, cheers! :]
BTW what kind of set up would you need to hear the difference?

morguk · 17 Jul 2008 at 19:06

Just ordered the DX :]

morguk · 18 Jul 2008 at 17:58

Listen to the DX now. I think it is a good step up from an X-FI extreme music. Just a lot more clarity and less hiss. The sound is more dynamic also, films sound so much better. I'm well chuffed, my audio is finally sorted and sounds just how i wanted it too.

Go buy yourself a DX, set it to soft rock on the equaliser (tryed loads of different options, soft rock sounds best on everything including films) and enjoy!