Finally bought a dedicated sound card

horrorshow

horrorshow

Lakewood Original
Joined
Dec 14, 2007
Messages
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Well, the last time I purchased a sound card was a vanilla Audigy 2 back in '03.

After experiencing the "quiet voices bug" in Skyrim and crackly unit responses in Warcraft III, I was done with my built-in Realtek 888 sound.

Did some simple research and read a few reviews: the Asus Xonar series definitely seemed like the best bet.

Got a Xonar DG at Microcenter for $20 after rebate and couldn't be more impressed!!

Skyrim finally sounds like it should and using "GX Mode" for older EAX titles works like a charm.

Point of this thread is: if you're still using on-board audio, stop! Even a lower-end dedicated card like the Xonar DG is definitely a worthwhile upgrade.
 
"GX Mode" for older EAX titles works like a charm.
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Maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow, however you will come to loathe this feature since just having it enabled can break audio in some games.
 
ocellaris said:
Maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow, however you will come to loathe this feature since just having it enabled can break audio in some games.
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That's the rumor.

I only have it enabled for Warcraft III and nothing else. (works great on that)
 
ocellaris said:
Maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow, however you will come to loathe this feature since just having it enabled can break audio in some games.
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What GX basically does is act as a XAudio to Directsound wrapper, and EAX 1 & 2 are fully supported as a result. ASUS implemented most of the EAX 5 functionality via driver, but EAX 3 & 4 are not supported [though very few titles used them].

In any case, some titles do hate using Directsound. As a rule, I only enable GX for a few EAX titles, but otherwise leave it off.

And yes, the GX is an absolute beast for it's price.
 
Anyone remember the awesome Turtle Beach Santa Cruze ? It's a damn shame we can't get quality sound cards like that any more. Microsoft killing DirectSound really fucked up the market :(
 
I just ditched my Sound Card a Creatve Recon it sounds THX FULL and everything but the onboard on my Asus Sabertooth is alot nicer for Headphones and speakers.
 
I may have to go that route as well. Thanks for the advice!

I tossed away an old Audigy X-fi few years ago and have been using the Realtek ones from the mobo.

Few weeks ago I noticed some new games will not give good FX or voice sound.

I tried using the audio of my Nvidia card and the result was the same.

So, what's the best cheap card to buy? Xonar DG? or is there a better choice in the same price range?
 
I'm still rocking Creative cards in all my builds.

Retro DOS/Win98SE - AWE64 Gold! + Audigy 2

Wife's - X-fi Extreme Music

Mine - X-fi titanium fatal1ty champion

Daniel-K's driver package for the X-fi series makes everything just work in 8/8.1/10.
 
TechLarry said:
Anyone remember the awesome Turtle Beach Santa Cruze ? It's a damn shame we can't get quality sound cards like that any more. Microsoft killing DirectSound really fucked up the market :(
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I had a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz card, it was amazing. Price/performance/quality was better than the rest out in the market during that time.
 
xXxDieselxXx said:
Just bought the DGX version Thanks!
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Enjoy!

I would've grabbed that one as well (PCI-E instead of PCI)

But, the Microcenter/DG deal was hard to ignore considering it was right down the street and cheaper than online shops etc.
 
I had to take my Xonar out of the main rig with windows 10, for some reason it was giving me performence issues in games. I actually got a slight frame rate increase and render time decrease after removing the card.

But in Windows 8 the Xonar sounded beautiful so I can't wait to have it back on.
 
I had to yank my Sound blaster (well I suppose I could have left it in - just didnt see the point) after upgrading to 10.

I've been looking at the Asus cards for a while, good to see a nice review.
 
trentchau said:
I had to take my Xonar out of the main rig with windows 10, for some reason it was giving me performence issues in games. I actually got a slight frame rate increase and render time decrease after removing the card.

But in Windows 8 the Xonar sounded beautiful so I can't wait to have it back on.
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This may be due to the notated horrendous DPC latency that is common with the Xonar series. Uninstall the drivers, and try reinstalling with the Uni Xonar drivers as shown above, but using either the low DPC option or the C-Media control panel option that prompts during install.

http://maxedtech.com/the-case-of-dpc-latency/
 
Driving Vertigo said:
This may be due to the notated horrendous DPC latency that is common with the Xonar series. Uninstall the drivers, and try reinstalling with the Uni Xonar drivers as shown above, but using either the low DPC option or the C-Media control panel option that prompts during install.

http://maxedtech.com/the-case-of-dpc-latency/
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Ran that DPC Latency test for over half an hour testing various games, Netflix, music, browsing etc etc.

My latency stayed well within "the green" the entire time.

Guess I just got lucky with my particular config or suttin'.
 
Realtek on-board is perfect for movies and HTPC's, if you game then you need a sound card. My way of seeing it.
 
HeavensCloud said:
Realtek on-board is perfect for movies and HTPC's, if you game then you need a sound card. My way of seeing it.
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Seeing as every game that came out since Windows Vista uses software 3d sound I don't know why you'd say that. A very tiny number of games use OpenAL (mostly older ones too) but that didn't really catch on and even if they do use it the effects also support running in software. Any time anyone does a by the numbers test of sound quality the higher-end onboard chips always win. Why pay more for something you already have?

I went from Audigy 2 ZS => Realtek 900 series-> Creative Xonar DSX->Realtek 900 series. The Xonar's drivers were so buggy it wasn't worth having, not only that but the sound quality wasn't any better than my onboard, if anything the bass was muddier. There aren't many applications you need a sound card for anymore. Maybe if you bought one of those $600 cards with professional components, but even then I'd wonder if I couldn't just buy a DAC and hook it up to my onboard's optical out and get just as good sound.
 
HeavensCloud said:
Realtek on-board is perfect for movies and HTPC's, if you game then you need a sound card. My way of seeing it.
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This isn't true any more. On board amps at more sound card like design and implementations are much better than they used to be. I think they are just as good as some sound cards now.
 
Quix said:
Seeing as every game that came out since Windows Vista uses software 3d sound I don't know why you'd say that. A very tiny number of games use OpenAL (mostly older ones too) but that didn't really catch on and even if they do use it the effects also support running in software. Any time anyone does a by the numbers test of sound quality the higher-end onboard chips always win. Why pay more for something you already have?
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10+ years ago people bought soundcards for their hardware acceleration features (EAX via directsound, etc). That is not the case anymore. The main reason now is surround processing in games, features like CMSS-3D (X-Fi) and SBX surround (Z,ZxR,etc). They are very good at either taking a multi-channel source and down-mixing it into stereo (particularly great for headphone usage), or taking a stereo source and upmixing it for a multi-channel setup.

Quix said:
Maybe if you bought one of those $600 cards with professional components, but even then I'd wonder if I couldn't just buy a DAC and hook it up to my onboard's optical out and get just as good sound.
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The audio quality of a soundcard is important but isn't really the driving factor anymore in most cases. In your case, if you were going to get a DAC, you might as well just get as USB DAC and bypass your realtek as it certainly isn't doing anything special for you.


Basically, you need to know what you want and what your goals are.

If you want good surround processing for games, but are okay with "good enough" audio, you can get cards like the Creative Z or X-Fi Titanium. You can always add an external DAC via S/PDIF to increase audio quality while retaining all surround processing abilities.

If you want good surround processing for games, as well as excellent audio in one package, you can get cards like the Creative ZxR or X-Fi Titanium HD. (Yes, these will indeed shit on almost all onboard audio).

If you don't care about surround processing in games, but want excellent audio, you can get a USB DAC (These can usually be found cheaper than DACs that offer S/PDIF input).

If you don't care about surround processing in games, and are okay with "good enough" audio, you can just use your onboard. Onboard sound has progressed to the point where there usually is not any sound quality benefit to using a lower-tier soundcard like a Soundblaster Z, but in almost all cases the onboard would still have it's ass handed to it by a higher-end card like a ZxR or a good external DAC. Don't forget to take into account the specifications of your particular onboard audio, as they vary greatly between motherboards and generalizations will only take you so far...
 
evilsofa said:
Since you are using a Xonar DG, you may wish to be aware of the Uni Xonar drivers (see the version 1.75 notes about Windows 10 compatibility) and XonarSwitch.
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Huh, I had no idea XonarSwitch existed... I was actually thinking of wiring my external DAC/amp via both optical (for Dolby Headphone) and USB for easier switching (or rather, just not switching stuff around on the Xonar drivers)... That app might save me from that tho, one less cable running to the PC.
 
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Also, +1 to everything GotNoRice said. There's a few very different usage cases that benefit from different approaches IMO... If you don't care about virtual surround processing for gaming and all you care about is gaming then you're fine with on board IMO.

Won't be the best in SQ but then neither is a lot of game's audio... If you're running an HTPC you should probably just be running optical/HDMI out to an AVR and will mostly be fine with on board as well. If you're driving headphones and/or a decent analog-in 2.0/2.1 setup you'd benefit from a sound card or external DAC/amp.

If you have lower end headphones (<$100) something like a DGX might be fine, although AFAIK all Xonars had a 10+ ohm output impedance which ironically matters most with lower end and more sensitive headphones. If you care more about music and have decent gear just go external, way less hassle and you'll get even better SQ for the same $ than a Creative ZxR or Xonar STX.

I ended up with a mix simply because I bought the STX first, at only $150, and didn't think it was worth selling it for $100 (at best) to then get a DGX to output DH to my DAC/amp. I do think my Schiit gear was a clear upgrade over the STX's amp output tho, never mind on board

Although the difference is more noticeable with my headphones (ranging from $30-300) than my Infinity Primus bookshelf speakers.
 
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gamerk2 said:
What GX basically does is act as a XAudio to Directsound wrapper, and EAX 1 & 2 are fully supported as a result. ASUS implemented most of the EAX 5 functionality via driver, but EAX 3 & 4 are not supported [though very few titles used them].

In any case, some titles do hate using Directsound. As a rule, I only enable GX for a few EAX titles, but otherwise leave it off.
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What are those few games that GX does work with? The Uni Xonar FAQ did warn that GX is very bad for most games so I've never even tried using it:

11. Why is GX (EAX emulation) bad?

In most of the cases it doesn’t even work and the worse part is that while having GX enabled any audio application that you use is prone to crashes or make your whole system crash (BSOD).

ASUS/C-media emulation of EAX capabilities is disastrous and should have never been released in this state and marketed as a feature. Want a reason to sue Asus? This is it.

GX is labeled as Xear3D in C-Media Audio Panel.
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felt said:
I had a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz card, it was amazing. Price/performance/quality was better than the rest out in the market during that time.
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Not only that but it was the most trouble free piece of computer hardware I'd ever run, which is saying something for a sound card.
 
Just a heads up: after doing some heavy reading last night, apparently DPC Latency is the main issue with Xonar cards.

And while my latency was still within respectable limits, I read to disable "HPET" in the power settings of my BIOS and viola! Latency was cut in half.
 
horrorshow said:
Just a heads up: after doing some heavy reading last night, apparently DPC Latency is the main issue with Xonar cards.

And while my latency was still within respectable limits, I read to disable "HPET" in the power settings of my BIOS and viola! Latency was cut in half.
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A major feature of the Uni Xonar drivers is reduction of DPC latency. In Low DPC Latency mode, "Asus and C-media Panel are disabled from auto starting. If needed, either one of them can be launched from UNi Xonar Drivers category in Start menu.The GX processes are disabled from auto starting. GX is not functional. Ensures lowest DPC Latency and lowest interferences with the system and sound playback." (Uni Xonar Features page). Mainly at the cost of disabling GX which is broken crap anyway.
 
evilsofa said:
A major feature of the Uni Xonar drivers is reduction of DPC latency. In Low DPC Latency mode, "Asus and C-media Panel are disabled from auto starting. If needed, either one of them can be launched from UNi Xonar Drivers category in Start menu.The GX processes are disabled from auto starting. GX is not functional. Ensures lowest DPC Latency and lowest interferences with the system and sound playback." (Uni Xonar Features page). Mainly at the cost of disabling GX which is broken crap anyway.
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I don't dispute what you claim, merely that I found a way to solve the DPC issue.
 
Driving Vertigo said:
This may be due to the notated horrendous DPC latency that is common with the Xonar series. Uninstall the drivers, and try reinstalling with the Uni Xonar drivers as shown above, but using either the low DPC option or the C-Media control panel option that prompts during install.

http://maxedtech.com/the-case-of-dpc-latency/
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Thank you, will try cause I did love the sound coming from that thing.
 
I just wanted to say Thank You!

I installed the DGX card during the weekend and it was a breeze to setup/tweak.

I only had to modify one of the DLL's to allow me to install the drivers over Win 10 64-bit. Somehow Asus doesn't have the W10 drivers ready.

However my issues with sound are gone. I have to say this card is very nice for the price :D

- Thank You -
 
I am using a Creative Z and couldn't be happier. My only issue was my wireless headset used its own hardware, bypassing the sound card. So I ended up buying a wired headset. It is comfortable, just restricting with the wire.
 
xXxDieselxXx said:
I just wanted to say Thank You!

I installed the DGX card during the weekend and it was a breeze to setup/tweak.

I only had to modify one of the DLL's to allow me to install the drivers over Win 10 64-bit. Somehow Asus doesn't have the W10 drivers ready.

However my issues with sound are gone. I have to say this card is very nice for the price :D

- Thank You -
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Glad it worked out! :)
 
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