Sound Card for HK Soundsticks 3

nimzabo

n00b
Joined
Aug 29, 2015
Messages
17
Hi, i have one of these sets for some time now and i think they are great, better than the Edifier M3280BT i had before.
I only use speakers and mostly for music, all kinds of music.

That said i first had a Xonar DG soundcard that had good sound quality but not as high as i wanted.
Then i bought a Creatve Z and i'm not sure about the compared sound quality but now the speakers play way louder than with the DG and they still sound very good.

Now i'm looking at some used cards deals.
I've seen two good deals: Asus Essence ST or Creative ZXR.
I'm leaning for the Asus because it is said to be better for music but i have some questions.

- First, why was that the Z had louder sound than the DG? Can that be seen in the specifications of the cards?
- Second, sould i expect to have more volume with ST or ZXR too, moving from the Creative Z i have now?
- Third, the ST has no 3,5 jack connection, the one that my Soundsticks use. It has RCA x2 or 6.3 for headphones and then i must use an adaptor. Where should i connect the Soundsticks?
- Finally, since i'm pleased with the current sound i have, would it be worth to change?
 
The loudness of the output is a function of the output voltage the sound card puts out. There is no clear standard to the output voltages of preamps, they range from 0.8V to 15V which is a huge variation. Typically a home amplifier reaches max output between 1.5 and 2 volts. With balanced amplifiers voltages are higher but those are rarely used at home.
 
- First, why was that the Z had louder sound than the DG? Can that be seen in the specifications of the cards?

The Z's stereo output also doubles as it's headphone amp. As a result, it's going to be a LOT louder then a non-amped soundcard output.

- Second, sould i expect to have more volume with ST or ZXR too, moving from the Creative Z i have now?

I would expect the stereo out to have the same volume.

- Third, the ST has no 3,5 jack connection, the one that my Soundsticks use. It has RCA x2 or 6.3 for headphones and then i must use an adaptor. Where should i connect the Soundsticks?

I don't believe the ST has a dedicated sub channel; it's really focused on either headphone are stereo speaker output. The ST used to ship with a daughter card that had a full set of 3.5 jack connections, though I don't know if that card is still available.

- Finally, since i'm pleased with the current sound i have, would it be worth to change?

Not really; you're splitting hairs at this point.
 
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