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X-Fi Titanium worth upgrading?

B

Bilco

n00b
Joined
Feb 9, 2012
Messages
17
I mostly game with my Sennheiser HD555s and listen to music here and there. What would the best soundcard upgrade be? budget is ~170.

I'm up in the air between Titanium HD, Z, and an Asus stx.
 
The X-Fi Titanium is still a great card and one of the better sound cards don't let its age fool you . the Titanium HD will sound a bit better but nothing out of this world.
 
the_real_7 said:
The X-Fi Titanium is still a great card and one of the better sound cards don't let its age fool you . the Titanium HD will sound a bit better but nothing out of this world.
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This.

It is an upgrade though. If you have some nice cans it's worth it. (Like Senn HD650 categories or better). If you don't, I would stick with the X-Fi Tit. You will notice the difference in music, but not so much in games.
 
I'm using the same setup- X-Fi Titanium to HD555's. These mid-range Sens aren't difficult to drive, and I think that the X-Fi does a great job here. I won't be upgrading my sound card or cans until one of them dies, at which point I'll probably grab a USB DAC/Amp. The only games I play with 'surround sound' have their own headphone HRTF support, like BF3.
 
Bilco said:
I mostly game with my Sennheiser HD555s and listen to music here and there. What would the best soundcard upgrade be? budget is ~170.

I'm up in the air between Titanium HD, Z, and an Asus stx.
Click to expand...

What do you want from an upgrade? What is wrong with the hardware you already have?
 
XFi - Titanium has a SNR of 109DB. A CD has a SNR of 96DB. Your soundcard is already better than the format.

...Especially if what you are mostly doing is gaming, I'd just keep what you have. Your current soundcard is likely to be better than most standalone DACs... This whole DAC chasing thing is kind of a waste IMHO.
 
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matteos said:
This whole DAC chasing thing is kind of a waste IMHO.
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The theory, at least for me, has been that for the same price as a decent sound card with a functional DAC/Amp, you can get a much, much better unit, especially if you're using 'inefficient' cans that need 50+ ohms. Or, you can get something cheaper for just the cans, and not worry about the over-engineered multi-channel hardware and extraneous software sound cards come with.

Given that many/most people prefer to game with headphones of some sort it's not hard to see the appeal of a USB DAC/Amp, and it's probably what I'll be going to when my X-Fi dies.
 
IdiotInCharge said:
The theory, at least for me, has been that for the same price as a decent sound card with a functional DAC/Amp, you can get a much, much better unit, especially if you're using 'inefficient' cans that need 50+ ohms. Or, you can get something cheaper for just the cans, and not worry about the over-engineered multi-channel hardware and extraneous software sound cards come with.

Given that many/most people prefer to game with headphones of some sort it's not hard to see the appeal of a USB DAC/Amp, and it's probably what I'll be going to when my X-Fi dies.
Click to expand...

That's a fair point about the ohms and that may be a reason to upgrade or buy a headphone amplifier.

I guess what I'm trying to point out is that I keep seeing people wax lyrical about their $2000 standalone DAC, and I'm entirely unconvinced there is any improvement over a $200 soundcard. I think too that if you've got a good SC getting one with slightly better specs is very unlikely to yield audible results.

True if your DAC is crap, like onboard audio, there will be improvement.
 
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