ASUS Xonar DX vs. HT OMEGA Striker

N

nerr

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jun 19, 2008
Messages
216
ASUS Xonar DX:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132006

Pros [+]:
- PCI-E connectivity (although this may need to find a home in my second PCI-E x16 slot)
- 24-bit/192 KHz sampling
- Front panel audio connector

Cons [-]:
- No DTS decoding
- Requires floppy power connector

HT OMEGA Striker:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829271001&Tpk=HT%20OMEGA%20STRIKER

Pros [+]:
- 8 outputs for both analog and digital sound
- 24-bit audio sampling
- Front panel audio connector
- DTS decoding
- No external power connector!

Cons [-]:
- Only 96 KHz sampling rate (Although I'm not sure if this matters much)


Your thoughts? I'm leaning toward the HT OMEGA Striker myself, but could use some last advice. Price is the same for both.
 
I'd go with the Omega Striker. Provides more flexibility and is upgradeable with the swappable opamps. The sampling rate doesn't matter terribly much unless you have digital sources that can actually output at higher 96KHz sampling rate or a receiver that can take a higher than 96KHz sampling rate.
 
tazzmissionx said:
Dunno, but I am already looking at the ASUS Xonar HDAV1.3 Deluxe for a future upgrade.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132008
Click to expand...

Very very nice, but I don't have a receiver with HDMI, nor a receiver close enough to benefit from that. Bummer, eh?

And King of Heroes, what do you mean by swappable opamps? I could buy some parts for it to make it sound better, or what? o_O Also, I'm fairly certain I don't have any digital source with a sampling rate of 48 KHz even, so I should be okay. Thanks for the opinions!
 
i was once in this situation aswell.. and i went with the striker..and boy..im happy. it was a great buy. and igot it while it had the promo. 70bucks shipped? =D, trust me buddy, whichever card u go with..youll be glad, but just from my experience so far with the striker? the moment i installed the driver and went for sound testing? and holy, i heard sounds being channel'ed alot more clearly and more accurate. and yes the sampling doesnt erally matter unless u have a 96hz or higher reciever. and also IMO the striker card looks more professional anyway. =D
 
Nerr - Are you a gamer? If so, you might want to check out the Auzentech Prelude. It's got X-Fi which isn't a component on either the Asus or HT cards.
 
nerr said:
And King of Heroes, what do you mean by swappable opamps? I could buy some parts for it to make it sound better, or what? o_O Also, I'm fairly certain I don't have any digital source with a sampling rate of 48 KHz even, so I should be okay. Thanks for the opinions!
Click to expand...

You're correct. Opamps are critical in the quality of sound you get from the card. There are two types, soldered and socketed. The Xonar DX has soldered opamps which, unless you're awesome at that type of thing, can't be changed. HT Omega Striker has socketed opamps, which can be changed. Being able to change the default opamps with higher quality ones can bring a noticeable improvement in sound (depending on the opamp and your speaker setup of course).
 
you sure the base model striker has swappable op amps? It doesnt look swappable to me on the base model. Please clarify.
 
Hi. First post here.

I'm facing the same question now. Striker or Xonar DX? The reason I'm asking the question again is because I use my computer mostly for gaming, then movies and almost never music. With gaming in mind, is it better to get the Xonar with EAX 5.0 over the Striker which only has EAX 2.0? Will it really make a difference, or should I still get the Striker?

Thanks!
 
Xonar does not have EAX 5.0. It has EAX 5.0 emulation. Not very good emulation either. If you're that worried about the EAX, go get the hot deal of refurbed Creative cards at the Creative store. You can grab an Elite Pro for like... nothing compared to the original price.
 
I don't want a Creative. They're supposed to be terrible with Vista x64.

As far as EAX emulation goes, I heard that both of these cards to a pretty fair job of it. I guess in your opinion though, 2.0 emulation will be just as good as the 5.0 emulation?
 
Both are great cards. I own a Xonar D2X and I love it. The EAX emulation is actually fairly decent. Mind you it is not as good as Creative, but it is close enough for me.

Good luck with your choice. I would go with the Xonar DX, just because I have experience with the ASUS cards and they are very nice cards.
 
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