Recommend me a soundcard

[Cookie Monster]

Basically, Ive been looking for a soundcard for my logitech Z-2300 speakers. Current rig specs are in my sig. I listen to music 70% of the time, 20% watching movies and 10% gaming.

After doing abit of research, I was looking at cards like the xonar D2X/DX, maybe even the STX since I will not upgrade to 5.1 in the nearby future. Choices are limited at this side of the world (or more literally at the bottom of the world) but no limits on my budget. As long as the end results are there, Ill be more than happy to pay for it.

What do you guys suggest?

On a side note should I have had started this new thread in audio/video & HT sub-forum?

 

[0roo0roo]

get nicer speakers before you bother with a better soundcard otherwise ur just wasting your time.

 

[imported_Scoop]

If you listen to music, get a decent A/V receiver and good speakers. That's all.

 

[nerp]

Get an m-audio 2496 or something and yes, get better speakers. Or use spdif connected to a top quality reciever and mind blowing speakers.

 

[The Keeper]

What's wrong with the OP's speakers exactly? IMO they're pretty good and I own the older Z-2200 THX myself.

 

[roid450]

I love my Creative X-Fi gamer, not too expensive either. no problems.

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: The Keeper
What's wrong with the OP's speakers exactly? IMO they're pretty good and I own the older Z-2200 THX myself.

they are the bottleneck in this system. it would be like upgrading your dvd to bluray while using a 27" crt tv. it would be a waste.
the z2300 are ok for gaming, light music use, but they are hardly justification for a nice sound card. speaker technology is rather simple and well known, good speakers require more size and better construction than weedy little satts of the z2300 line. don't let that thx rating or the sub thump fool you, that rating is minimal for "multimedia" systems, and the system is hardly made for reproducing accurate sound. its basic multimedia/youtube/gaming speakers. they don't perform miracles at that price range.

 

[Cookie Monster]

Would a Xonar DX be worth it for the speakers I have currently? or is the motherboard audio more than enough for the Z2300s? I know the Z2300s aren't all that impressive, but at the moment I will stick with it til my next upgrade when westmere arrives.

 

[The Keeper]

I've been plenty happy with my Realtek 889A and Z-2200. Your HD Audio codec doesn't look too shabby either so why not stick with it unless you really think it's the one holding you back on audio quality?

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: Cookie Monster
Would a Xonar DX be worth it for the speakers I have currently? or is the motherboard audio more than enough for the Z2300s? I know the Z2300s aren't all that impressive, but at the moment I will stick with it til my next upgrade when westmere arrives.

lol no, as said the speakers are pretty much the barrier for quality at this point. don't waste your money till you upgrade to significantly better set of speakers.

for decent speakers..you need a decent sub, 3.5+ inch midrange, and tweeters. what you have are speakers built on compromise for price and form factor. they are good for what they are, but they are not good for musical sound quality. they were built to impress the punters with a bit of bass, never mind that its muddy and the midrange is lacking. you can't magic sound quality into poor speakers. it has to be engineered/built into the set from the get go.

 

[KGB]

If you can still find an X-Fi Extreme Music for $50-$70, get it.

 

[StupendousMan]

+1 to M-Audio 2496. I originally bought it for transferring cassettes to mp3, but found that it has excellent sound output too.

 

[Cookie Monster]

Alright thanks for the input peeps.

 

[imported_Scoop]

Originally posted by: nerp
Get an m-audio 2496 or something and yes, get better speakers. Or use spdif connected to a top quality reciever and mind blowing speakers.

If you're going the A/V receiver route, might as well forget about soundcards when using digital output when the receiver handles DAC.

EDIT: Crap! I somehow missed that 'or'. Take my original message as a guide to what was said in the quote and why.

 

[WraithETC]

Your speakers should be much more expensive than your sound card.

 

[superunknown98]

Yea, These people are right. I have a pair or Z2300's and recently went from a realtek 895 codec to the asus realtek 1200 codec and heard no sound improvment at all. I was expecting something but realized the speakers were the bottleneck. Without major equalization they sound downright awful, at least to me, for music. Movies are good though.

 

[Patrick Wolf]

How would the Quintet III +sub fair against the Z-2300, or the ProMedia 2.1 for that matter? Aside from the obvious that it's 5.1 compared to 2.1.

 

[0roo0roo]

lol it would destroy the 2300. its in a different league.