Hey everyone. I'm wondering about the Asus Xonar DX's quality. I've read some good things on this forum about this card and want to know if there are any other comparable cards in the $70-100 range. Uses will primarily be for gaming and music output to Swan D1080mkii and possibly output to home theater system through RCA.
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Asus Xonar DX
- Thread starter kkl1014
- Start date
So basically you've read positive reviews but won't buy it because...
by comparable I'm assuming you mean features/price
so you've also got the Xonar D1 to look at, from Asus, as well as the Auzen X-Raider and X-Plosion, Creative X-Fi Titanium, HT Omega Striker, and a little bit cheaper you've got the Turtle Beach Montego DDL, Auzen X-Studio, and Creative X-Fi Extreme Audio
by comparable I'm assuming you mean features/price
so you've also got the Xonar D1 to look at, from Asus, as well as the Auzen X-Raider and X-Plosion, Creative X-Fi Titanium, HT Omega Striker, and a little bit cheaper you've got the Turtle Beach Montego DDL, Auzen X-Studio, and Creative X-Fi Extreme Audio
strike that Creative X-Fi Xtreme Audio off, its a cheap Audigy card not good for gaming!
I believe if gaming is most of what you do, then you'd probably want to look at the Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty series that also has the extra X-ram, EAX 5.0, OpenAL, CMSS. This isn't the end all be all card, but looks like it has the most feature set for games. Although be warned driver updates look few and far between!
I believe if gaming is most of what you do, then you'd probably want to look at the Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty series that also has the extra X-ram, EAX 5.0, OpenAL, CMSS. This isn't the end all be all card, but looks like it has the most feature set for games. Although be warned driver updates look few and far between!
strike that Creative X-Fi Xtreme Audio off, its a cheap Audigy card not good for gaming!
so because it supports EAX and OpenAL its somehow bad? what? and its a cheaper alternative, of course its gonna be missing things
it doesn't really compromise sound quality, it just lacks some of the processing power of EMU20k, it still meets the OP's needs
I believe if gaming is most of what you do, then you'd probably want to look at the Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty series that also has the extra X-ram, EAX 5.0, OpenAL, CMSS. This isn't the end all be all card, but looks like it has the most feature set for games. Although be warned driver updates look few and far between!
when will people learn that X-RAM is not some software feature or otherwise analogous to something like PhysX, its a simple hardware feature, there is no "develop for X-RAM" train of thinking, and the performance gains are debatable, yes the Titanium lacks it, but it really isn't gonna change SQ or features, but if you really want to spend extra cash for a fancy box and the memory, go for it
furthermore, ALL X-Fi (and Audigy) boards support OpenAL and have CMSS in drivers, and ALL X-Fi boards support EAX 5.0 (which is deprecated and basically doesn't matter anyways, because hardly anything uses it, EAX 3/4 support is more relevant, and even there, if you're using Vista/7, its through emulation (its still neat to have))
as far as "has the most feature set for games", OpenAL, DS3D emulation in Vista/7, h/w 3D audio, EAX support, nothing is looking X-Fi unique, especially if you aren't too worried about EAX (which isn't every game, and in some games, doesn't mean a thing)
so because it supports EAX and OpenAL its somehow bad? what? and its a cheaper alternative, of course its gonna be missing things
it doesn't really compromise sound quality, it just lacks some of the processing power of EMU20k, it still meets the OP's needs
unfortunately the Xtreme Audio doesn't meet the OP's requirements, wanna read up on it, go here: http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=200348
Quote from the thread there (don't want to [ qoute] it to save confusion):
The X-Audio is basically a re-badged SBLive 24 bit/Audigy LS/SE/DE/Value in that it doesn't not have the X-Fi processor on it (as already mentioned) and has to do all processing in software. It also has its own drivers. Another thing is that the X-Audio does not support Game mode, which the rest of the X-Fi's (including the X-Gamer) do.
In the end, it's cheap yes. The best thing for gaming, not really.
when will people learn that X-RAM is not some software feature or otherwise analogous to something like PhysX, its a simple hardware feature, there is no "develop for X-RAM" train of thinking, and the performance gains are debatable, yes the Titanium lacks it, but it really isn't gonna change SQ or features, but if you really want to spend extra cash for a fancy box and the memory, go for it
furthermore, ALL X-Fi (and Audigy) boards support OpenAL and have CMSS in drivers, and ALL X-Fi boards support EAX 5.0 (which is deprecated and basically doesn't matter anyways, because hardly anything uses it, EAX 3/4 support is more relevant, and even there, if you're using Vista/7, its through emulation (its still neat to have))
as far as "has the most feature set for games", OpenAL, DS3D emulation in Vista/7, h/w 3D audio, EAX support, nothing is looking X-Fi unique, especially if you aren't too worried about EAX (which isn't every game, and in some games, doesn't mean a thing)
While some of these features didn't see much of the light of day like the X-ram, doesn't mean that something in the future might have the ability to use it. Just think if OpenAL could use the memory as a storage buffer for future games. Not everyone plays the newest games that are OpenAL/DirectSound support only, lots of people like to go back and play older games that will have EAX 1.0 through 5.0. I'm just throwing out there that true X-Fi series should support this (yes even some non SB product support EAX but don't know about every version like 5.0?!), even if you need Alchemy to help enable it on Vista and 7.
Even older cards like the SB 32AWE used memory to help buffer sounds, X-ram not a new idea. Just something else that SB marketed but didn't help it get off the ground with game developers.
the OP wanted something with analog out that can drive his stereo speakers with "gaming and music", where is the XtremeAudio not meeting those requirements?unfortunately the Xtreme Audio doesn't meet the OP's requirements, wanna read up on it, go here: http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=200348
Quote from the thread there (don't want to [ qoute] it to save confusion):
The X-Audio is basically a re-badged SBLive 24 bit/Audigy LS/SE/DE/Value in that it doesn't not have the X-Fi processor on it (as already mentioned) and has to do all processing in software. It also has its own drivers. Another thing is that the X-Audio does not support Game mode, which the rest of the X-Fi's (including the X-Gamer) do.
In the end, it's cheap yes. The best thing for gaming, not really.
seriously, no travesty has been comitted here, it will work (and I already understood the differences, evidenced by pointing them out)
While some of these features didn't see much of the light of day like the X-ram, doesn't mean that something in the future might have the ability to use it. Just think if OpenAL could use the memory as a storage buffer for future games. Not everyone plays the newest games that are OpenAL/DirectSound support only, lots of people like to go back and play older games that will have EAX 1.0 through 5.0. I'm just throwing out there that true X-Fi series should support this (yes even some non SB product support EAX but don't know about every version like 5.0?!), even if you need Alchemy to help enable it on Vista and 7.
Even older cards like the SB 32AWE used memory to help buffer sounds, X-ram not a new idea. Just something else that SB marketed but didn't help it get off the ground with game developers.
yet another who doesn't understand what X-RAM is, and thinks of it as a processing feature like PhysX or Pixel Shaders, this is not true, its simply an onboard buffer for the EMU20k, and its not directly accessable via OpenAL or similar, its just like graphics adapters having onboard memory, the developer doesn't have to write custom code to use that, the drivers handle the abstraction, and the sole advantage is that the processor isn't waiting on [bus] to read/write from system memory, and it did see the light of day (why do people act like it was some "unimplemented feature" for the X-Fi line?) everything with Fatal1ty in the product line, as well as the Auzen cards, and the Elite Pro ship with 64MB of memory installed, thats the majority of X-Fi cards (and if you're an elitist, as above, its "all" X-Fi cards)
as far as EAX emulation, fairly sure Xonar can emulate through at least EAX 4, and honestly thats more than good enough, go find a list of how many games support EAX 3, 4, and 5, EAX5 support is like PhysX support, it never really took off (and Creative now considers development deprecated due to Vista/7), because only X-Fi originally supported it, and X-Fi was originally quite expensive, and performance usually takes a hit with 128-voice EAX5 enabled, its a neat feature, but it isn't a dealbreaker imho, now having EAX 3, thats a big deal, and Creative no longer has the premium on that feature
srsly, don't troll me bro