AuzenTech XPlosion 7.1 VS X-Fi

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{NcsO}ReichstaG

[H]ard|Gawd
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Aug 13, 2004
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Hello,
I recently purchased Sennheiser HD485 headphones. I also have a Sony STR-K740P sound system (5.1). It say capable of DTS and Dolby Digital on the A/V receiver. What soundcard should I get to use with my HD485s and the surround sound system. Also, the surround sound system has to be connected to the computer either via SPDIF (i am using coaxial right now).
So... AuzenTech XPlosion 7.1 for $92 (newegg) or AuzenTech XPlosion 7.1 (~$60) or X-Fi Xtreme or X-Fi Platnum for $141 after tax and rebates from the egg?
-Thanks
EDIT: THe surround sound system is called Sony HT-1700D
 
{NcsO}ReichstaG said:
Hello,
I recently purchased Sennheiser HD485 headphones. I also have a Sony STR-K740P sound system (5.1). It say capable of DTS and Dolby Digital on the A/V receiver. What soundcard should I get to use with my HD485s and the surround sound system. Also, the surround sound system has to be connected to the computer either via SPDIF (i am using coaxial right now).
So... AuzenTech XPlosion 7.1 for $92 (newegg) or AuzenTech XPlosion 7.1 (~$60) or X-Fi Xtreme or X-Fi Platnum for $141 after tax and rebates from the egg?
-Thanks
EDIT: THe surround sound system is called Sony HT-1700D
Click to expand...

I am using HD485's and an X-Fi and have no complaints.

There was a decent review that did some comparisons but i cant seem to find it.
 
I have the x-plosion card and it's been way better than my previous xfi-platinum. Everything sounds better, only downside of the card is during gaming, like games that use a lot of voices ect..kinda sucks in that regard bc the card can't handle more than 64 voices I believe. Other than that it's excellent!
 
Which X-Plosion version are you using? The cheaper or more expensive one?
EDIT: opps the other one is called XMYSTIQUE.
How is it?
 
It's more or less DDL / DTS, since X-fi cards don't have that, it's a more admirable feature (for movie lovers and few games). Makes everything sound a lot better, another big factor is what cans you put on too. The X-plosion cards are more or less better suited for HT Systems w. receivers ect.
 
eh..I bought the X Mystique. I have my receiver supports Dolby Digital and DTS. However, I don't think the $30+ extra cost for DTS makes it worth it when most ppl can't hear the difference. Am I wrong?
 
Depends on the scenario, but generally, yes. The total bitrate of DTS Connect is much higher than that of Dolby Digital Live. The encoders differ in other respects as well, so anyone in a critical listening state of mind could likely tell the difference.
 
well if you play a lot of games that come from companies who are total assholes, then you need to get a creative card that has EAX. Theres no need for it AFAIK, halflife 2 didnt have EAX and the sound quality in that game was equal if not better than creative cards, especially when i had it hooked up to my receiver with dolby digital encoding on an nvidia soudnstorm

i digress however, if you listen to a lot of music and not games, then i think an av710 should be fine, its got the envy chip or whatever, and will do good with headphones..
 
Sorry, the sound in BF2 on Ultra High is greater than the sound of HL2.

However, the sound quality IMO of the X-Plosion is better than that of the X-fi. Again, its my personal opinion, and that is mostly on headphones (HD650 and DT770 on a Gilmore)

So if its for games... X-fi
For all else there's mastercard... err Explosion
 
{NcsO}ReichstaG said:
I guess.what i am asking is: IS DTS worth the money?
Click to expand...
Oh yes! I went from a normal creative card to the x-plosion and wouldn't go back!!
 
The problem is that Creative has a monopoly soundcards for gaming. EAX is their baby and they milk it for all it's worth. It does sound really good though. They do not support encoding to DTS or DD most likely because there is a small market for it, granted that market might be getting bigger, but it's still small. If people are that interested in hooking the soundcard up to a receiver, it's just as easy to use the analog inputs. Chances are that the DACs are just as good on your soundcard if not better than your receiver.
 
 
I bought the X-Mystique...saved $30+. My receiver is not that great..Sony STR-K740P and I honestly do not think that Dolby Digitial encoding "is crap sounding" considering I have lived with Onboard sound for years..
Anyway, thanks for your help/opinions.
 
Cant you run say an X-FI, and AuzenTech card together if you have two free PCI slots? I think this would work best.
 
dchrsf said:
Cant you run say an X-FI, and AuzenTech card together if you have two free PCI slots? I think this would work best.
Click to expand...
And mess around with connecting and disconnecting your speakers every time you want to either game or listen to music? No thanks.

I don't even think it will work, since 2 sound cards would most likely cause some kind of OS compatibility issue, and even if it worked, you would pay the performance hit for BOTH of the cards combined. Think about it, wouldn't both of the cards be trying to process the sound? This in effect would defeat the purpose of having the x-fi (for most people who expect better fps) for games.
 
-Rc- said:
And mess around with connecting and disconnecting your speakers every time you want to either game or listen to music? No thanks.

I don't even think it will work, since 2 sound cards would most likely cause some kind of OS compatibility issue, and even if it worked, you would pay the performance hit for BOTH of the cards combined. Think about it, wouldn't both of the cards be trying to process the sound? This in effect would defeat the purpose of having the x-fi (for most people who expect better fps) for games.
Click to expand...


technically you could run the Xplosion into the xfi's Digital IN, but then you'd just be converting the Xplosion into analogue via the Xfi..

unless you wanted to push the Xfi digitally to the receiver (which at that point you might as well not even have the Xfi), then the Xfi would just passthrough the Xplosions DDL/DTS Stream directly to the receiver..

although not sure why you'd want to do that..

for me personally it came downto a pretty simple split..

if you use an external receiver/speaker set get the Xplosion
if you use headphones get the Xfi
 
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