add-on sound card vs. external DAC

[Grit]

I'm trying to decide which will sound best - my Creative X-Fi titanium or using a higher end external DAC.

I'm playing mostly games, but with Sennhieser headphones or the bose 2-ch computer desktop speakers (w/subwoofer).

I occasionally get grief from the creative drivers (still have problems w/headphone detection turning itself off, occasionally getting static in sound if I dont reboot for several days, etc). So, I'm examining my alternatives.

I haven't researched DACs yet, but I cant imagine spending much more than about $250 or so.

From what I read and understand, it seems that aside from improved DACs, add-on audio cards do not offer much anymore.

Can anyone offer any input? Is there any software emulation for EAX or would I lose it altogether? How will sound quality change?


Any insight is greatly appreciated.

 

[CoinOperatedBoy]

Are you dissatisfied with the sound you're getting now, or do you just hate the Creative drivers for your card?

If you want EAX, you need an X-Fi sound card. You can get something like an Asus Xonar, but its EAX support is emulated. I can't speak to the actual difference in sound, so you'd have to do some research. In any case, EAX is important to many gamers, but some say it's becoming less relevant... And Vista makes it a little more difficult since you have to use something like Creative ALchemy to get around its lack of DirectSound3D support.

Your Titanium should be able to pass the hardware-accelerated EAX-processed stream to SPDIF out into an external DAC if you want. If you don't care about EAX and you just want a good DAC, any source (including onboard sound, if it has optical outputs) should be fine. Check out Headfi for some good DAC recommendations -- common ones are the Zero DAC and the new Audio-gd Compass.

 

[Grit]

I guess if the creative drivers worked (or there was any hope of an update), I'd be satisfied. At the same time, I'd be all for improved sound and removing one more piece of hardware I don't need.

I guess I'm really not sure what EAX does anymore via Vista, if anything. For that matter, are new(er) games still using EAX? I understood how it all worked when Windows XP could pass the workload off to the soundcard, but that seems like its now impossible in Vista/Windows 7.

If that's the case, what (other than emulation for the OLD games) do sound cards provide? I know they provide a DAC, but other than that, is there any difference in newer (non EAX) games?

 

[zerocool84]

It seems less and less games use EAX now comapred to a couple years ago. Maybe they are going away.

 

[CoinOperatedBoy]

Originally posted by: Grit
I guess if the creative drivers worked (or there was any hope of an update), I'd be satisfied. At the same time, I'd be all for improved sound and removing one more piece of hardware I don't need.

I guess I'm really not sure what EAX does anymore via Vista, if anything. For that matter, are new(er) games still using EAX? I understood how it all worked when Windows XP could pass the workload off to the soundcard, but that seems like its now impossible in Vista/Windows 7.

If that's the case, what (other than emulation for the OLD games) do sound cards provide? I know they provide a DAC, but other than that, is there any difference in newer (non EAX) games?

There are new games that use EAX -- Bioshock, for example. Creative's ALchemy software allows the card to intercept DirectSound3D calls and use OpenAL to restore hardware accelerated postprocessing. You can also use CMSS 3D and other positional audio effects.

Other than that, the value of the soundcard falls mainly on the quality of the DAC. Cards like the Auzentech Prelude have pretty good op amps. But if you don't have need of X-Fi features, you could just as easily use onboard sound with optical/coax to an external DAC.

Since you have an X-Fi card, why don't you do a test yourself? Play some games you already own, turning EAX and 3D effects on and off. If you find it deeply affects your experience, you should stick with what you've got; if the difference is negligible, consider getting a DAC.

 

[themisfit610]

I think EAX is a bunch of crap

If you're looking for a high quality, budget DAC / USB sound card, I strongly suggest the E-Mu 0202. It's cheap, has an awesome headphone out (with an amplifier strong enough to drive my Senn HD-580s), and very clean line outs to go to your Bose desktop speakers. It will even do 24bit 192KHz, for your FLAC vinyl rips

It doesn't have any digital I/O, so if anything you do requires S/PDIF, it's not a good option. It also doesn't do any 5.1ch stuff, so stay away if that's important.

For clean, pure 2ch output though - it's hard to beat! It also has 2 nice mic/line/guitar inputs with adjustable gain controls and direct monitoring if you're into that kind of thing. I use it occasionally for recording a guitar and mic. ASIO support is very good with apps like Ableton Live and SoundForge.

Oh, and it's also entirely USB bus powered, which makes it fantastically portable (I take it to and from work every day)

~MiSfit