Gaming soundcard, maybe external

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vbuggy

vbuggy

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Nov 13, 2005
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So I'm thinking I should give my MMX300's a bit more of a workout over my Logitech G35. I have reasonable onboard on my Asus mobo, but I'm primarily after Dolby Headphone in the vein of the Logitech.

Software / DH drivers should be lightweight, integrated in operation and stable.

External with controls like the old X-Fi Elite Pro, or maybe some sort of satellite remote control with volume, Dolby and mic mute controls would be best.

Suggestions?
 
vbuggy

vbuggy

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Nov 13, 2005
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Forgot to add, if internal then PCI-E x1.

Looking to buy fairly soon. Completely out of touch especially with PCI-E soundcards.

Need *DOLBY HEADPHONE*. Don't like CMSS as much, so that kind of rules out any Creative cards if I'm not mistaken.
 
looper

looper

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Oct 22, 1999
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If your budget allows, the Asus Xonar Essence ST (internal)... great for gaming, awesome for music.

My son and I play mostly BF3 right now. Use either the Sennheiser PC360 headset or the speakers, depending on whether the boss is home or not...
 
BrightCandle

BrightCandle

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Mar 15, 2007
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I would second a Xonar based card. Dolby Headphone is quite a bit better than CMSS (and I've had an X-fi for a many years before my Xonar) and I'm sold in an instant. They do plenty of cheap and expensive options with headphone amps in built. Just take a look through the Asus product range on their site and choose the cheapest one that meets your needs. The variants are partly about better components but also a lot to do with what types of plugs you need.
 
R

Remobz

Platinum Member
Jun 9, 2005
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videogames101 said:
uh, not the Xonar ST/X
Click to expand...

Type this in google search engine ---> "asus xonar essence stx vs creative x-fi titanium hd"

As you can see its a very heated debate as to which card is better.

If you take the time and ONLY read the opinions of people who owned BOTH sound cards then you will see that they tend to give the slight edge to the Creative cards especially in gaming.

Music wise its pretty even, but gaming wise the Creatives have a slight edge especially with positional audio.

Like I said, try to read the reviews from people who owned Both sound cards.
 
videogames101

videogames101

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Aug 24, 2005
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Remobz said:
Type this in google search engine ---> "asus xonar essence stx vs creative x-fi titanium hd"

As you can see its a very heated debate as to which card is better.

If you take the time and ONLY read the opinions of people who owned BOTH sound cards then you will see that they tend to give the slight edge to the Creative cards especially in gaming.

Music wise its pretty even, but gaming wise the Creatives have a slight edge especially with positional audio.

Like I said, try to read the reviews from people who owned Both sound cards.
Click to expand...

Lol you funny.
 
vbuggy

vbuggy

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"but I'm primarily after Dolby Headphone"

I stress, Primarily.

I don't care about listening to music - but I want the highest quality soundcard within reason that delivers Dolby Headphone. Not CMSS - in a comparison I prefer DH implementations.

I've been looking at the STX - just the lack of any external controls that concerns me, I think I'm quite confident I'll find the lack of that extremely irritating. Anyone got potential fixes? (mic mute and DH on/off in the main - although volume and transport controls would be nice)
 
vbuggy

vbuggy

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To coda this thread I've ordered one each of the STX and the Fatality Champion. I said I wasn't a fan of CMSS but I thought I might as well give it a fair shake again.
 
AnitaPeterson

AnitaPeterson

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Apr 24, 2001
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Nice! That's one road not many people take! Please, please post impresions and let us know which one you find best :)
 
vbuggy

vbuggy

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Overall impression:

Waste of money.

Testing with a variety of modern games which supports DH and using all the DH modes, the Asus is utterly whipped by the Logitech G35 for positioning accuracy - as well as the ability to deliver sub emulation / enhanced bass while keeping intelligibility of the overall sound - regardless of how good a headphone you stick on this thing (I used the MDR-7520 and the Tesla T1 as well as the MMX300).

Fatality - debatable effectiveness over DH implementation on Asus, and yes - I still feel that CMSS is inferior to a *good* DH implementation, but maybe it's not as bad bet in terms of a soundcard-based choice between these two.

Given a choice between the two, I'd probably go very hesitantly for the Fatality. But given the choice of the two running $1300 headphones and a Logitech G35, for gaming I'd take the Logi with DH any day of the week. I guess the Beyers will continue to be underemployed for games.

Oh yes, further edit: If you're buying these for music use, once again - a pro soundcard would deliver better results.

---------------------------------

I'm hitting up the local classifieds later and seeing what I can get for these turkeys, though I might keep the Creative. The STX has zero use for me.
 
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R

Remobz

Platinum Member
Jun 9, 2005
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vbuggy said:
Overall impression:

Waste of money.

Testing with a variety of modern games which supports DH and using all the DH modes, the Asus is utterly whipped by the Logitech G35 for positioning accuracy - as well as the ability to deliver sub emulation / enhanced bass while keeping intelligibility of the overall sound - regardless of how good a headphone you stick on this thing (I used the MDR-7520 and the Tesla T1 as well as the MMX300).

Fatality - debatable effectiveness over DH implementation on Asus, and yes - I still feel that CMSS is inferior to a *good* DH implementation, but maybe it's not as bad bet in terms of a soundcard-based choice between these two.

Given a choice between the two, I'd probably go very hesitantly for the Fatality. But given the choice of the two running $1300 headphones and a Logitech G35, for gaming I'd take the Logi with DH any day of the week. I guess the Beyers will continue to be underemployed for games.

Oh yes, further edit: If you're buying these for music use, once again - a pro soundcard would deliver better results.

---------------------------------

I'm hitting up the local classifieds later and seeing what I can get for these turkeys, though I might keep the Creative. The STX has zero use for me.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the review.


I need a new soundcard but SOOOO many mixed reviews about the Xonar STX:(

Not sure what the heck to get now.
 
vbuggy

vbuggy

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Nov 13, 2005
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Remobz said:
Thanks for the review.


I need a new soundcard but SOOOO many mixed reviews about the Xonar STX:(

Not sure what the heck to get now.
Click to expand...

It just depends on what you want. The card is OK as an all-purpose card, it's just that what I was specifically looking for - good virtual surround - it doesn't deliver on for example despite the Dolby Headphone feature claim. I think the supposed class-leading measurements are at least partially BS - I also noticed quite a bit of audio interference while gaming on the card.

Is it worth it? As a casual gaming card - I really don't think so and I think (and it's a narrow margin as I'm not exactly blown away by the Creative either) the Fatality is a better buy in this respect. Is it worth it an an 'audiophile' card? Not if you can afford a pro audio interface that's only slightly more expensive.
 
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cantholdanymore

cantholdanymore

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Mar 20, 2011
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Remobz said:
Thanks for the review.


I need a new soundcard but SOOOO many mixed reviews about the Xonar STX:(

Not sure what the heck to get now.
Click to expand...
IF you're looking mainly for music there aren't any mixed reviews
http://www.stereophile.com/computeraudio/asus_xonar_essence_ststx_soundcards/

Quote:
The Xonar Essence STX and Essence ST soundcards are by far the least expensive way of turning a PC into a genuine high-resolution audio source I have yet encountered. Neither the Essences' resolution nor their low levels of noise are compromised by having to operate in the electrically unfriendly environment of a computer chassis.
 
vbuggy

vbuggy

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Nov 13, 2005
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cantholdanymore said:
IF you're looking mainly for music there aren't any mixed reviews
http://www.stereophile.com/computeraudio/asus_xonar_essence_ststx_soundcards/

Quote:
The Xonar Essence STX and Essence ST soundcards are by far the least expensive way of turning a PC into a genuine high-resolution audio source I have yet encountered. Neither the Essences' resolution nor their low levels of noise are compromised by having to operate in the electrically unfriendly environment of a computer chassis.
Click to expand...

As opposed to what else?

It's probably true that it's the best internal solution you can get at a consumer level. But if you're looking purely for music, it's not really a 'must have' factor, is it?

I definitely heard artifacts / interference in gaming - i.e. when the activity of the GPU right next to it was at its peak - that I didn't hear with the G35 or the X-Fi.

And once again given what it is, I don't see what an internal card brings to the table that's better from an audiophile solution - the lack of external controls for level control etc, as well as the comparative lack of I/O compared to a pro audio soundcard seems to leave it trailing.
 
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