Replacement soundcard for games/music/movies with headphones.

[phrozenfayte]

G'day [H]'ers,

I've had a revision 1 Auzentech X-Fi Forte for the last 2 years, and about 6 months ago it started to kick the bucket. Lots of investigation, swapping opamps, searching, the card's just dead thanks to a revision 1 fault.

Anyway, I'm looking for a replacement, hopefully a slight upgrade around the same price range. I can't seem to narrow down the choices. I'm a bit of an audiophile and primarily a gamer. I've got my headphones on for the entire duration of my computer usage (which is 10-16 hours a day), listening to sound or not, I just feel naked without them.

I use a pair of DT880 250ohms and I rather enjoy the 5.1 virtualisation by the X-Fi chip. I enjoy it for gaming (legacy or new), and its fantastic at spacial differentiation, height, behind, above etc. It works wonderfully for 5.1 movies as well.

I've tried to research around but nothing seemingly fits the bill. I don't want to buy another Forte because the drivers suck, the hardware is still faulty (even in later revisions) and Auzentech's tech support is disgusting.

I keep hearing wonderful things about the various Xonars, STX etc, but they apparently suck with gaming. Since at least 30% of my pc time is gaming, i'd prefer not to have this issue. I also hear things about the Titanium HD, but i've owned a creative card in the past and i've been burned, and from what I hear, the drivers still have issues and play up. It also loves to specify that its got 117dB SNR from the 330ohm setting on the headphone amp.

Trying to find a review for the ROG Phoebus is a nightmare. The card is for sale everywhere, but no one wants to review it. There's a german review or two out, and the results are mixed. While its primarily a gamer oriented card (and has the nice little hardware volume control nob /w directed mics for vent/mumble, which i do a lot), i see it has issues with games and freezing. I also hear the headphone amp is rather low quality.

I've also been seeing a lot of positive stuff about getting a cheaper card and an DAC / headphone amp. I'd still prefer the card to my onboard because of the EAX, etc effects for games, but I have heard a lot about the quality for money spent.

I suppose its a tall order. The X-Fi has been pretty good to me, before the issues with it dying. It's also the cheapest of the lot, but if i'm going to spend this cash after 2 years it might as well be an upgrade, however slight.

Any suggestions?

 

[D-Wiz]

The Xonar STX does not suck with gaming, it is great. Natively it uses Dolby headphone which I find works best with open headphones, for me this would be my Sennheiser's HD595 and Koss KSC-75 (still the best deal in audio). With my Ultrasonne Pro750's I find no audio processing the best since S-Logic works well for me. For my JH-13 IEM I actually use MyEars (a 3rd party custom HRTF solution, check them out).
But then again X-Fi never did wonders for me (like i never heard height) with my X-Fi Fatality board. So YMMV. If you are looking for an alternative to X-Fi then Dolby Headphone is the only game in town besides MyEars. So try out MyEars with their free trial on your current stuff, if it is enough then you can go the usb DAC/Amp route. if you want to try DH without too much cost try the Asus cheaper products like the DG or U3.
Also I'm assuming you already have an amp for you DT880's if not the STX will be a pretty big upgrade just from having real amplification.

 

[phrozenfayte]

I've previously owned a pair of Sennheiser HD595's and i found that they weren't the best for gaming (by far). While in most reviews I see little and less to recommend the DT880's for gaming (comfort was a huge factor), they wipe the floor with the HD595's. That said, i previously tried dolby headphone, CMSS and MyEars (just the trial) with my Sennheiser's and found CMSS to be the greatest of the 3 options, but this might be simply due to the headphones themselves.

I'm also using the internal amp on the Forte to drive my DT880's. It's rated for 600ohms, but i've heard it struggles when you actually approach that. That was the idea behind the purchase of the 250ohm version of the DT880's.

Thanks for the advice, i'll try to find more "user reviews" for the STX (more specifically with gaming, i do know how good it is with music/movies).

 

[guitarslingerchris]

I've previously owned a pair of Sennheiser HD595's and i found that they weren't the best for gaming (by far).

They have a very small soundstage, this is no surprise.

While in most reviews I see little and less to recommend the DT880's for gaming (comfort was a huge factor), they wipe the floor with the HD595's.

Huge soundstage and very accurate and neutral reproduction of sound, obviously the DT 880s will excel as gaming headphones. If you're not reading that they're excellent picks for gaming then you're not looking very hard for legitimate reviews.

That said, i previously tried dolby headphone, CMSS and MyEars (just the trial) with my Sennheiser's and found CMSS to be the greatest of the 3 options, but this might be simply due to the headphones themselves.

CMSS is slightly better, I feel, than Dolby Headphone but it's a lot of user preference and personally I am okay with Dolby Headphone. If it came down to using an STX and Dolby Headphone or an X-Fi with CMSS I'll take the STX any day of the week.

 

[Dantrax]

HT Omega eClaro (needs a pcie 1x or 4x slot) but it sounds great & even comes with a replaceable amp for headphones or front speakers. No software hiccups it just works & sounds great.

 

[D-Wiz]

I've previously owned a pair of Sennheiser HD595's and i found that they weren't the best for gaming (by far). -

By all means the HD595, which tend to get lauded as great gaming phones, are the least favorite of my headphones. In fact my KSC-75's are better for gaming by far (they work really well with DH to my ears). That was the only point I was trying to make, that the all the processing solutions are highly dependent on both your particular ears and the headphones you are using. So buying a sound card for its particular processing is dependent upon what it sounds like to you.

I will say after owning creative and dealing with its driver since the WDM driver model, well the never again. The STX is also the superior hardware, but in gaming the processing algorithms may win out for you. I am a huge gamer and when I play serious it is my JH-13's and MyEars which give me the best positioning. The most fun is 8-channel mix-down to stereo from my STX to my 750's and for casual it is my open headphones for comfort and convenience.

 

[phrozenfayte]

Huge soundstage and very accurate and neutral reproduction of sound, obviously the DT 880s will excel as gaming headphones. If you're not reading that they're excellent picks for gaming then you're not looking very hard for legitimate reviews.

Sorry, i didn't explain myself very well. The DT880's are great for gaming, both in reviews and in personal experience. Upon looking at reviews, if you were purely looking for great gaming headphones, there are better options on the market at slightly better price points. I wasn't specifically looking for a 100% gaming only headphone though, i wanted the whole package. Most of the negatives put up to the DT880's revolve around the clear and 'overpowering' treble. This however, is fantastic for gaming, and personally I love it.

HT Omega eClaro (needs a pcie 1x or 4x slot) but it sounds great & even comes with a replaceable amp for headphones or front speakers. No software hiccups it just works & sounds great.

Quickly googling the eClaro, i'm seeing a trend of problems with the sound and software. Additionally while the card seems to be quite a heavy hitter, despite the small amount of reviews, I can't seem to find any in australia. International shipping would raise this card, especially if it arrives faulty and i need to send it back.

 

[Forceman]

I've got the 600 ohm DT880s and a Essence STX and it is a great combo for gaming. A little pricier than the X-Fi Forte you had but worth it, I think.

 

[Impulse]

I don't feel like I'm missing anything since moving to a Xonar STX, DH sounds pretty good for positioning... Then again I'm using some budget JVC headphones right now (RX700) and I upgraded from a pretty old X-Fi Titanium. I don't think Creative has put out anything worthwhile since then tho, other than the Ti HD... By all accounts the Recon3D was a step back.

I opted for the STX over the Ti HD becauseof the headphone amp and the fact that the STX allows you to mechanically switch from headphones to speakers in software, pretty happy with it. I've been thinking about getting those DT880 tho so I guess my situation's the exact opposite... Waffling between them and the HD598.

 

[spaceman]

Impulse. Get the Samson 850s already.

Anyway, go with asus. Use the unity drivers if they apply to your model. That is all.

 

[Draxanoth]

I have a set of PC360's, with a Titanium Fatal1ty Platinum I think. Had to use 3rd party drivers to get the sound card working perfectly, Creative drivers really do suck, but the CMSS-3D Creative employs for headphone positional is stellar. I was very impressed with how well it works. It helped me wreck people in BF3 CQ all weekend.

It has a slightly odd setup though. I had to set my windows audio control panel to 5.1, while the Creative audio panel was set for headphones. Otherwise it sounded totally screwy. I had never used CMSS with my old headphones, but when I got the PC360's for the built in Mic I took a second look at my setup and figured out why it had always sounded funky before.

Dolby seems to work alright too, but to me it sounded more tailored towards surround sound for movies than hearing guys sneaking up behind you. I can't really put my finger on what the difference is, but I prefer the CMSS for games. Luckily I can do both so I don't have to pick.

I think there are some non-creative cards that carry the CMSS features now that might be good alternatives. If it wasn't for 3rd party drivers I would have set fire to my Fatal1ty card.