ASUS DGX, DSX, & Xonar ROG Phoebus Sound Cards @ [H]

i want to get something that will last me several years and if i want to get better cans i will be able to drive them in the future like a pair of DT880 or something
 
Finally ordered a DSX, but I am nervous because I use headphones a majority of the time and am curious if I ordered wrong.

Was it a bad call, or is it just different?
 
you probably should have went with a DGX

but you can also get a good cheap headphone amp
 
123Lanoix said:
you probably should have went with a DGX

but you can also get a good cheap headphone amp
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Well, I didn't like the review saying it had some trouble with some bass and such ended up distorted. I do plan to get a nice external amp down the road.
 
Vashypooh said:
Well, I didn't like the review saying it had some trouble with some bass and such ended up distorted. I do plan to get a nice external amp down the road.
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You need to adjust the card's sound signature to your liking. At its default, it sounds muddy, but with a very small amount of work, it sounds so much better. Keep in mind, this is a budget card. With that said, it performs extremely well.

I recommend this card to anybody on a budget, without a doubt. I used to recommend Creative's older PCI X-FI cards that are cheap as heck, but this card is my "modern" favorite.
 
i have a op-amp to drop in the DSX if i get it

just wondering if that will be even enough to get it to sound good
is there any static or hiss or anything with this card?
 
Vashypooh said:
Finally ordered a DSX, but I am nervous because I use headphones a majority of the time and am curious if I ordered wrong.

Was it a bad call, or is it just different?
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Are you going to use voice? If yes, I would definitely say bad call.

I've been using a DSX and everyone on Vent / Raidcall / Mumble have told me I sound like shit. My voice is heavily muffled.

At first I thought it was my headset (Razer Tiamat 7.1) but I tried my brother's Sennheiser PC360 and it sounded pretty bad on the receiving end. I'm going to try onboard if it makes a difference on Friday when I have time to test.
 
I use ATH-AD700's, and since I recently upgraded my system, I can no longer use my X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Pro anymore. Will any of these Asus cards give me the same if not better quality sound I received? The onboard on my Asus Maximus V Formula is atrocious! I want to be able to adjust bass and treble as I was once able to do so before (I used the volume control options to adjust bass and treble pretty high, and then the creative software to tweak it) . I also use a mic for Ventrilo and Mumble.
 
I'm leaning toward the ROG phoebus mainly for the control box.

Quick question for earl or anyone that owns it.

I have a pair of MV40's and some ATH headphones. Does the ROG Phoebus allow me to plug in the 2.1 speakers into the card? Or does the control box basically take all the slots for the MV40s?

Basically I want to have the MV40's plugged in and if I plug my headphones into the control box, to auto switch to the headphones. It sounds like the card does this already but I just want to make sure.
 
soulesschild said:
I'm leaning toward the ROG phoebus mainly for the control box.

Quick question for earl or anyone that owns it.

I have a pair of MV40's and some ATH headphones. Does the ROG Phoebus allow me to plug in the 2.1 speakers into the card? Or does the control box basically take all the slots for the MV40s?

Basically I want to have the MV40's plugged in and if I plug my headphones into the control box, to auto switch to the headphones. It sounds like the card does this already but I just want to make sure.
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On my phoebus i have the control box and 4.1 speakers plugged in so i would say yes.
 
I wonder when Asus is going to release whql drivers for the Phoebus?! Been like in betas forever!
 
Well lol if your reviewing what sound card LOOK for other reviews and try the card 1st. If I had went by "H"s review I would never have bought Phoebus. Which for ME wow is so much better.
 
The Phoebus had top notch components on its PCB. The sound quality was simply not what it should have been for a sound card in this price range with the pedigree of its components. Is it better than onboard? Yes. But so were the DGX and DSX sound cards, and those are 1/3 to 1/4 of the price of the Phoebus.


Zeblade said:
Well lol if your reviewing what sound card LOOK for other reviews and try the card 1st. If I had went by "H"s review I would never have bought Phoebus. Which for ME wow is so much better.
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I lost my natural mind and sprang for a Phoebus three months ago...subjectively it might produce slightly clearer sound than either of its predecessors (an X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro PCIe and a Xonar D2X--leaning harder towards the D2X side), but $200 worth of clearer? Noooo.

That said, however: in the time I've had it I haven't had a single system-level crash with it in place. No lockups, no game crashes (some occasional positional audio quirks, but apart from that zilch), nothing--and I would have had at least a couple of random ones by now with either of the previous cards in place and nothing else changed. That's obviously more of a driver issue, and I've probably jinxed myself by pointing it out, but still...that was a nice perk to end up with.
 
Asus slipped out some new Phoebus beta drivers on Tuesday, which include a firmware update of some unspecified nature. The drivers themselves seem to install just fine, but there's a random issue with the firmware update not occurring at all on various systems--including mine; in a couple of cases swapping the card to a different PCIe slot fixed this, but I'm not inclined at this point to do that. I just went straight to submitting a bug report.
 
I had the DGX for a few months and didn't like the audio quality nor lack of loudness coming from it. Bought a DX to replace it, and it made a big difference. Clarity, loudness, bass, all drastically improved. If you can afford it, skip the DGX all together.
 
the drivers really are disappointing.

I am wanting to buy either the D2X or the Phoebus today. leaning towards as the price in only $20 AUD more.

which has better drivers?

which do you recommend as i dont use headphones.
 
purchased the ROG Phoebus. first installed it in the bottom pci-e slot and my SLI wouldnt appear (seems like the top gpu was disabled). reinstalled to slot above the lower GPU - presto works. installed most recent beta drivers and so far so good.

hopefully SLI works as usual.

Sound - so far pretty impressed even through my crap 5.1 logitech speakers. I can hear more detail, clarity and tighter bass. might connect my $11K audio system and see how the computer sounds.
 
I wish Asus had working Win 8 64 drivers for the Phoebus. I can't even flash my Phoebus to the newest firmware because it seems that there is a problem doing so if your motherboard is also made by Asus. The last Beta drivers for Win 8 64 were in November. No telling if there ever will be working drivers for Win 8 64. Very disappointed in this product and I don't believe that it deserves the RoG moniker in it's current state of snail development. It's not even compatible with the XBOX Live Music app that ships with Win 8 64!

Pure fail on Asus's part. They surely can do better. Do not purchase this product if you own an Asus motherboard and are using Win 8 64 as it will not work properly.
 
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Mine flashed fine on my Asus Rive and running Windows 8 x64. But the card still has issues along with the no driver support. You could put the sound card in another pc and flash it and then return it to your pc. I know it would be a pain but it should solve the issue of it not flashing and updating the firmware. The sound card just plainly needs driver support and more research on all the issues with it.
 
I don't know about Asus these days. Some products they support and some they abandon totally. Was thinking of getting an Asus 680 4gb gfx card and based on this half arse support on the Phoebus thinking twice!
 
I have the Xonar STX. Logitech Z-2300 speakers and Denon D2000 headphones. I really enjoy my setup.
 
Asus refund my money. No support or drivers for 11 months.

RestInPeaceasusdone_zpsf7083bb8.jpg
 
Phoebus is such a overpriced card with mediocre software...thinking about selling my Phoebus and getting a stx .. not sure its worth the money .
 
The last driver update for the STX was in 2011.. but I guess why mess with something that works?
 
Came across this thread as I just upgraded my "cans" (aka headphones) and here's my setup.

  • PC - DELL XPS 730x
  • Memory - 6GB RAM
  • Hard drive(s) - 2 drives[300GB, 1TB]
  • Video - nVidia GeForce GTX 280
  • Audio - Creative Labs SoundBlaster X-Fi Titanium (no amp)
  • Headset - old (Logitech ClearChat Pro Wireless USB) purchased in 2010 @$120+
  • Headset - new (Sennheiser PC 350 SE[Special Edition]) purchased last week @$220+

Now I upgraded to the new headphones because the old ones (Logitech) would warp/warble when listening to music, but 100% of the time while gaming online with friends via TeamSpeak or Mumble, I was always "popping" to them. And it turns out these Logitechs had a known issue of this that my online gaming friends pointed out to me. I bought these for conference calls via VoIP and GoToMeeting on my PC, and not necessarily for gaming but they worked fine (back in 2009-2010).

So now after finally getting harrassed politely, I purchased (instead of Turtle Beach or Astro), a really nice pair of gaming headsets from a company I hadn't heard of until recently, called Sennheiser. Turns out this company has been making hi-end audio gear for many years, and reading reviews, and getting a recommendation, I purchased them.

Now I went from wireless, via USB to wired, directly into my sound card. Underwhelming was my initial reaction. And after freaking out, I read up and it turns out, like my stereo speakers in my HTS (Martin Logans), they need to be properly driven as the impedance on these Sennheisers is 150ohms. My current audio card does NOT have an amp.

So the question is: Would the ASUS Xonas Essence STX be a perfect fit?

I bought the headsets 100% for gaming online. When not with friends, then I use my 15yr old Altec Lansing 2.1 speakers (ACS495) that are unbelievable at this age. If the STX is ideal, then I can sell or just keep my old X-Fi Soundblaster, and sell my Logitechs.

Thanks,
 
That DSX looks pretty good for me, but I have the ASUS DGX and it has been so great
 
I was a little confused from the article. The DGX was reviewed as having issues with some of the music genres, specifically the bass. But it was still given a great review in the conclusion.

If I use headphones (Beyerdynamic DT770's (250)) for gaming, but 2.1 speakers for music, which card would you recommend? Since I want to use both headphones and speakers, should I also look at the Xonar Essence STX?
 
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jaramill said:
Came across this thread as I just upgraded my "cans" (aka headphones) and here's my setup.

  • PC - DELL XPS 730x
  • Memory - 6GB RAM
  • Hard drive(s) - 2 drives[300GB, 1TB]
  • Video - nVidia GeForce GTX 280
  • Audio - Creative Labs SoundBlaster X-Fi Titanium (no amp)
  • Headset - old (Logitech ClearChat Pro Wireless USB) purchased in 2010 @$120+
  • Headset - new (Sennheiser PC 350 SE[Special Edition]) purchased last week @$220+

Now I upgraded to the new headphones because the old ones (Logitech) would warp/warble when listening to music, but 100% of the time while gaming online with friends via TeamSpeak or Mumble, I was always "popping" to them. And it turns out these Logitechs had a known issue of this that my online gaming friends pointed out to me. I bought these for conference calls via VoIP and GoToMeeting on my PC, and not necessarily for gaming but they worked fine (back in 2009-2010).

So now after finally getting harrassed politely, I purchased (instead of Turtle Beach or Astro), a really nice pair of gaming headsets from a company I hadn't heard of until recently, called Sennheiser. Turns out this company has been making hi-end audio gear for many years, and reading reviews, and getting a recommendation, I purchased them.

Now I went from wireless, via USB to wired, directly into my sound card. Underwhelming was my initial reaction. And after freaking out, I read up and it turns out, like my stereo speakers in my HTS (Martin Logans), they need to be properly driven as the impedance on these Sennheisers is 150ohms. My current audio card does NOT have an amp.

So the question is: Would the ASUS Xonas Essence STX be a perfect fit?

I bought the headsets 100% for gaming online. When not with friends, then I use my 15yr old Altec Lansing 2.1 speakers (ACS495) that are unbelievable at this age. If the STX is ideal, then I can sell or just keep my old X-Fi Soundblaster, and sell my Logitechs.

Thanks,
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All you need is a simple headphone amplifier.
 
dg vs dgx ?
What would be best for creative aurvana live ?

I've heard that dgx have some problems with drivers and releated to pcie
 
The sad thing about the Pheobus is no support. The updated firmware was later found out to be nothing for the card. It is amazing that a firmware upgrade did nothing but change some numbers. Still no WHQL drivers or anything at this point and time. Nothing like buying a top end sound card and having to do beta testing for Asus for over a year for them.
 
and truly a shame. The card had "the goods" so to speak on its PCB, but the software was and is a disaster.
 
So anyone has any issue with the Phoebus so far? Im deciding if i should get it or the new ZxR.
 
What os are you using? Because windows 8 drivers are still in beta a year later. You cannot play protected audio with the beta drivers either. There is the dreaded ASIO latency issue with the sound card. The reason for no WHQL is because Asus hasn't paid Microsoft the money to have a driver signed by them for Asus.

Not sure about you but two beta drivers in a year for their top end sound card, with a ROG tag on it is to say the least disappointing in my eyes. Even windows 7 only has 3 drivers for it. Maybe if all you do is gaming it is okay though. What about the firmware update for the sound card also? That was later found out only to just change some numbers on the sound card and nothing more. How do you honestly mess something up like that?

Also I didn't purchase a top end sound card to be a beta tester for Asus and submit bugs and get no real drivers in return. Or how about let us release a new model card with no breakout box. And not focus on the no driver support for the sound card.. That really makes perfect sense right?


This is why Asus now has a "F" rating with Better Business Bureau now. That is the lowest rating you can get there. Best thing for Asus to do is pull the sound card off the market. Give people refunds for selling a mislabeled product that had no Windows 8 support or drivers. When clearly it was printed on the box. Hire some people that want to work and can write drivers.

Again if you are happy then I'm happy for you. But two beta drivers in a years time isn't really making me smile or happy.

Official/Unofficial? Beta Tester For The Asus Pheobus ROG Xonar 2012 - 2013

Violator said:
No issues with mine. Great sound and not had any problems with the software/drivers.
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Without a doubt buy the ZxR sound card. And get the support for a product you deserve.

jincuteguy said:
So anyone has any issue with the Phoebus so far? Im deciding if i should get it or the new ZxR.
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