my x-fi fatality finally died...

[finbarqs]

so Now I'm looking for a new sound card... I wasn't a fan of the x-fi's Win7 drivers.. they were horrid. But seeing now that they have this new "recon3D" sound card out, is a little tempting. Reviews has been fairly consistent:

Great on gaming, but mediocre on everything else. I do watch shows, I do play music, and of course, I play games. I have the Klipsch Ultra 5.1 setup, and I HATE X-Fi Drivers. Apparently Recon3D Drivers are awesome in Win 7.

So my dilemma is this: is EAX even relevant anymore? do games even care about EAX? Or do all games use Direct Sound and they all basically sound the same? I really want a good music listening, movie player, and game playing sound card with good drivers. No more X-Fi crippled Windows 7 drivers... unless they really improved on them, and haven't really noticed. I looked at the Titanium HD, but I have stereo mini jacks for my Klipsch Ultra 5.1. Also, X-Fi drivers, yuck. But I haven't updated my X-Fi Fatality drivers ever.

Any thoughts?

 

[ShintaiDK]

Considered using your onboard sound and see how it goes? I havent used discrete soundcards since SB live. And I got my stereo connected.

You can always buy a new soundcard if you aint happy.

 

[Carmen813]

so Now I'm looking for a new sound card... I wasn't a fan of the x-fi's Win7 drivers.. they were horrid. But seeing now that they have this new "recon3D" sound card out, is a little tempting. Reviews has been fairly consistent:

Great on gaming, but mediocre on everything else. I do watch shows, I do play music, and of course, I play games. I have the Klipsch Ultra 5.1 setup, and I HATE X-Fi Drivers. Apparently Recon3D Drivers are awesome in Win 7.

So my dilemma is this: is EAX even relevant anymore? do games even care about EAX? Or do all games use Direct Sound and they all basically sound the same? I really want a good music listening, movie player, and game playing sound card with good drivers. No more X-Fi crippled Windows 7 drivers... unless they really improved on them, and haven't really noticed. I looked at the Titanium HD, but I have stereo mini jacks for my Klipsch Ultra 5.1. Also, X-Fi drivers, yuck. But I haven't updated my X-Fi Fatality drivers ever.

Any thoughts?

The new budget Asus cards have gotten some positive reviews, HardOCP put one up recently.

 

[Zap]

So my dilemma is this: is EAX even relevant anymore? do games even care about EAX? Or do all games use Direct Sound and they all basically sound the same?

EAX future development
"EAX should be considered deprecated"

Translation = EAX no longer matters

Considered using your onboard sound and see how it goes?

That was my first thought.

 

[finbarqs]

i have the first generation i7 mobo... I forgot what chipset, but I'll try out my onboard. But what's a good alternative? I do remember when I plugged in my X-Fi, immediately I heard the difference between onboard and the X-Fi. The quality of the sound of the X-Fi was obviously superior, and gaming was the bonus end of it.

But (just like everything else) once you adapt to the "higher sound fidelity" it doesn't become an "impressive" feature anymore, as it becomes expected. But I thought about the ASUS STX card..

update* just found out that the asus STX (xonar essence series) are mainly for headphones!

 

[theevilsharpie]

update* just found out that the asus STX (xonar essence series) are mainly for headphones!

Although the Essence STX is designed with headphones in mind, you can still use speakers. The only thing it lacks compared to typical consumer soundcards is multi-channel analog outputs; you'll need to connect it to an external receiver via SPDIF if you want multiple channels. If multi-channel analog outputs are important to you, look at the Xonar D2X instead.

 

[Zap]

I do remember when I plugged in my X-Fi, immediately I heard the difference between onboard and the X-Fi. The quality of the sound of the X-Fi was obviously superior, and gaming was the bonus end of it.

That's because Creative Labs tunes them to sound a certain way. There are sound cards which have more accurate and/or cleaner sound, but lots of people think that Creative Labs sound cards sound "better" to their ears for the same reason that most rental cars I've been in have the bass and treble turned up all the way.

 

[mfenn]

That's because Creative Labs tunes them to sound a certain way. There are sound cards which have more accurate and/or cleaner sound, but lots of people think that Creative Labs sound cards sound "better" to their ears for the same reason that most rental cars I've been in have the bass and treble turned up all the way.

:thumbsup::thumbsup: So true. That was the true genius of Creative back in the day. They deliberately tuned the sound to be different from a faithful reproduction and then used marketing to convince everybody that their sound was "better".

Not to say that the higher-end Creative cards don't use quality components, but that's not what most people are thinking of when they say it sounds "better".

 

[finbarqs]

Although the Essence STX is designed with headphones in mind, you can still use speakers. The only thing it lacks compared to typical consumer soundcards is multi-channel analog outputs; you'll need to connect it to an external receiver via SPDIF if you want multiple channels. If multi-channel analog outputs are important to you, look at the Xonar D2X instead.

It is important because I have my klipsh Ultra 5.1 (going on 6 years now lol)

Problem with D2X is that I can't find it anywhere! What's on the horizon? or is everyone just using on board sound? I thought the Auzentech, but then again, they X-Fi drivers... Too bad the Recon3D doesn't have any good music/movie listening reviews...

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

That's because Creative Labs tunes them to sound a certain way. There are sound cards which have more accurate and/or cleaner sound, but lots of people think that Creative Labs sound cards sound "better" to their ears for the same reason that most rental cars I've been in have the bass and treble turned up all the way.

Sound cards work especially in gaming. They are able to process many different sounds all at once. My onboard would literally become a jumbled mess while playing bioshock. Once I used the sound card I was able to distinctly hear each voice, blast, etc.. instead of hearing all the sounds in one jumbled mess.

 

[oynaz]

Sound cards work especially in gaming. They are able to process many different sounds all at once. My onboard would literally become a jumbled mess while playing bioshock. Once I used the sound card I was able to distinctly hear each voice, blast, etc.. instead of hearing all the sounds in one jumbled mess.

Sound is not rendered in the cards anymore. That changed with Windows Vista.

 

[finbarqs]

okay onboard sound, I literally can hear a major degradation in quality.

 

[Zap]

okay onboard sound, I literally can hear a major degradation in quality.

You are probably hearing the "difference" and are perceiving it to be a degradation.

Or, you might actually have a lousy onboard audio. I've actually encountered that on occasion, but luckily most sound just fine.

 

[finbarqs]

yeah I actually hear a little hiss from my speakers now that they are connected to the onboard. Which can say that my Klipsch 5.1 has finally blown. But then again, connected to the X-Fi it sounds literally sounds like the speakers are completely blown, but then it'll make it's own noises... connected to my iphone it'll sound fine. Funny, my iPhone sounds better than my on board audio. Anyways, I have the EVGA X58 LE board.

 

[finbarqs]

P.S. what's the best PC speakers out there? I don't know if you guys agree, but I have the 5500 logitech on one rig, and the klipsch 5.1 ultra on another. The klipsch does sound better than the 5500. So what would be a good speaker system?

 

[wirednuts]

dont forget, onboard sound usually isntalls with defualt quality bitrate settings, which is mediocre at best. jack up the setting all the way and youll hear a major difference.

 

[wirednuts]

P.S. what's the best PC speakers out there? I don't know if you guys agree, but I have the 5500 logitech on one rig, and the klipsch 5.1 ultra on another. The klipsch does sound better than the 5500. So what would be a good speaker system?

tripath amps running bookshelf speakers are popular right now. very clean reproduction.

 

[finbarqs]

any recommendation on what bookshelf and tripath? I'm not gonna go for ultra high end, but I have a little money to throw down the drain... kind of saddened that the Klipsch finally gave out, but 8 years of service is nothing to scoff at...

Researched about the edifier S550.. anybody has experience with these?

 

[sxegloxx]

I can hear the difference between an AC 97 Codec Driven On board sound and my discreet Audigy 4 sound card. Then again I'm an audio snob. I'd never go back to onboard sound and NO its not percieved.

 

[It's Not Lupus]

EAX future development
"EAX should be considered deprecated"

Translation = EAX no longer matters

It never mattered. EAX is a useless reverb engine.

I can hear the difference between an AC 97 Codec Driven On board sound and my discreet Audigy 4 sound card. Then again I'm an audio snob. I'd never go back to onboard sound and NO its not percieved.

That's probably just confirmation bias.

 

[moonbogg]

Not to crash your party here, but I am wondering about the same thing. My old rig had an X-Fi extreme gamer and now I am using my X79 onboard. Right away I noticed the sound to be more muffled sounding and less crisp. The X-Fi had a more clear, sharp sound to it that I did perceive to be better. Maybe all i have to do is mess with the EQ in the drivers to get a similar sound back.
Anyway, are sound cards basically useless for gaming now? From what I understand, the realtek onboard sound for my Asus X79 Pro is pretty good and if all sound cards do anymore is pass the audio straight through, then i'll save my money.

 

[mfenn]

That's probably just confirmation bias.

Pretty much.

Q: How can you spot an audiophile?
A: They're always complimenting themselves on their golden ears.

 

[mfenn]

Not to crash your party here, but I am wondering about the same thing. My old rig had an X-Fi extreme gamer and now I am using my X79 onboard. Right away I noticed the sound to be more muffled sounding and less crisp. The X-Fi had a more clear, sharp sound to it that I did perceive to be better. Maybe all i have to do is mess with the EQ in the drivers to get a similar sound back.

Yes, you will probably just have to fiddle with the EQ. What you are perceiving as "clear, sharp" is likely just the treble being jacked up.

Anyway, are sound cards basically useless for gaming now? From what I understand, the realtek onboard sound for my Asus X79 Pro is pretty good and if all sound cards do anymore is pass the audio straight through, then i'll save my money.

All positional processing is being done in software these days. I can see the argument for a sound card if you have high-impedence headphones that the onboard cannot drive properly, but that's about it.

 

[wirednuts]

good to see more people finally realizing that current onboard sound is just as good as dedicated. its been that way for years now...

 

[oynaz]

good to see more people finally realizing that current onboard sound is just as good as dedicated. its been that way for years now...

When playing back at least. Things change radically when we are talking recording, but in that case we are quickly moving out of Creative/Asus territory, of course.