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New sound card

D

DarK_HawK

n00b
Joined
Sep 14, 2008
Messages
11
Hi,

I need to buy a new Sound card to replace my aging Audigy 2 ZS.

I mainly use my analog 7.1 Creative Speakers and occasionally headphones.
I play games, listen to music (nothing loseless) and watch movies but not really a professional

After long research I've found the XONAR DX will be fine to my needs, but I'm not that comfortable buying a 4 year old sound card.

The XONAR Essence ST/STX does not support 7.1 analog output, and neither is the new Creative Xi-Fi Titanium HD.

Also I don't want the bloated and buggy drivers of the Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty, which is also a 4 year old sound card.

As for the Xonar Xense, it would be good but I don't need neither the headphones nor the price premium.

Any ideas is highly appreciated.

Thanks.
 
There haven't really been any advancements in sound card technology in those four years, just...tweaks; if you're deadset on not buying "older" hardware, for better or worse you're probably kind of stuck right now. (Unless you want to wait for Creative's Recon3D line, assuming it doesn't suck.)

If you have to upgrade right this second, I'd say just buy the DX.
 
I figured i was stuck, when did it become so hard choosing a sound card.

I won't hold my breath for the Recon3D line, Creative may make theoretically good hardware but the drivers and software are bloated and buggy, when you need to install a 350MB driver, something is wrong.

I wish they sold the Xense without the headphones.
 
I have the exactly same old soundcard. I play classical (hd-flac) thru it to my professional studio monitors (see sig) to reference levels without any issues at all. It sounds fantastic to me
I honestly see no reason for you to swap the soundcard. Now your speakers is a different subject
 
BoredSysAdm said:
I have the exactly same old soundcard. I play classical (hd-flac) thru it to my professional studio monitors (see sig) to reference levels without any issues at all. It sounds fantastic to me
I honestly see no reason for you to swap the soundcard. Now your speakers is a different subject
Click to expand...

One word, drivers.

Running Windows 7 64bit and just 2 hours ago while playing a game, my computer froze, with a constant note playing through the speakers.
This happens randomly when I'm using the Audigy, while when using the on board sound card it seems to never happen.
 
DarK_HawK said:
One word, drivers.

Running Windows 7 64bit and just 2 hours ago while playing a game, my computer froze, with a constant note playing through the speakers.
This happens randomly when I'm using the Audigy, while when using the on board sound card it seems to never happen.
Click to expand...

I'm also running windows 7 x64 and play games. Constant note thru speakers doesn't necessary indicate badly made drivers, but possibly corrupt drivers.
Try to remove the drivers, get the latest from their site and reinstall them....
 
Done that, actually I uninstall/install the drivers every once in a while, a clean uninstall then install, done it so many times that I hated the card and uses the on board card more often.

Maybe something wrong with the card itself, I don't know, all I know is that I need to upgrade and I'm stuck with 4 year old cards. :)
 
Buy the Xonar ST and then the Xonar H6 off the Bay. 7.1 channel analog problem solved. Note H6 expansion board only works with the ST and HDVA 1.3, not the STX.
 
DarK_HawK said:
Done that, actually I uninstall/install the drivers every once in a while, a clean uninstall then install, done it so many times that I hated the card and uses the on board card more often.

Maybe something wrong with the card itself, I don't know, all I know is that I need to upgrade and I'm stuck with 4 year old cards. :)
Click to expand...

I see, then Asus Xonar DX is not bad way to go and worry about they being older model
 
SithSolo1 said:
Buy the Xonar ST and then the Xonar H6 off the Bay. 7.1 channel analog problem solved. Note H6 expansion board only works with the ST and HDVA 1.3, not the STX.
Click to expand...

Xonar ST 186$ + Xonar H6 76$ = 262$

I could buy the Xense for 288$ from amazon, but both options are way past my budget for a sound card.

Why Asus won't add digital-to-analog converter on the Essence like they did in the Xense is beyond me.
 
HT Omega Claro Plus+ 7.1 if you have an open PCI slot, the HT Omega eClaro 7.1 if you only have open PCI-E.

Both at a casual glance appear to offer 7.1 analog and seem to have rave reviews for sound quality.
 
I did consider the Omega Claro and was going to buy one but unfortunately I can't buy from newegg (outside the US), I can only buy from amazon, and they don't have any of the HT Omega products available.
 
Across the ocean.

Do you own a claro or an eclaro, If so, how is the performance in games?
 
I actually just upgraded from onbaord to a Xonar STX, so far I'm loving it. Much greater detail in the sound is coming through. I was mainly for a better DAC to output to a stereo.
 
I would have loved to get the STX/ST, alas I need the analog output.

Maybe I should Invest in some digital speakers.
 
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