CHANGSTAR: Audiophile Headphone Reviews and Early 90s Style BBS

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Author Topic: Sound Cards, Should I Bother?  (Read 2561 times)

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rroseperry

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Sound Cards, Should I Bother?
« on: January 13, 2013, 11:04:52 PM »
A couple of years ago when I started paying attention to audio, I bought an ASUS Xonar card. In the last month, I've had problems with the (seriously antique) drivers interfering with M$ updates (registry nightmares). Should I just forget about sound cards and use an external DAC? Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated.
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anetode

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Re: Sound Cards, Should I Bother?
« Reply #1 on: January 13, 2013, 11:19:48 PM »
At this point there are enough USB dacs/headamps out there at soundcard price points to make the card obsolete for the headphone option. I still use the STX for digital output/system audio, but that's about it. As for options you have everything from the short schiit stack/ o2/odac at the 200$ level, to portable options which could serve second duty as desktop replacements like the Leckerton or Pico, to some decent options in the 500-1000 market (like the DM+). By the time you reach 1-2k$ you're in the diminishing returns DAC/headamp category, IMO.
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shipsupt

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Re: Sound Cards, Should I Bother?
« Reply #2 on: January 13, 2013, 11:21:21 PM »
I know nothing about sound cards... and with all that expertise and knowledge I'm going to say without a doubt definitely get yourself an external DAC. 

The only trouble is there are SO many good options.  Lots of good kit out there.  This thread http://www.changstar.com/index.php/topic,485.0.html
Is all over the place but has some valuable information.

Any ideas on budget?

« Last Edit: January 13, 2013, 11:27:53 PM by shipsupt »
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Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man.

Dyaems

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Re: Sound Cards, Should I Bother?
« Reply #3 on: January 13, 2013, 11:26:43 PM »
i have an ASUS soundcard but i only installed the drivers and only use the coax for transport to an external dac haha...
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rroseperry

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Re: Sound Cards, Should I Bother?
« Reply #4 on: January 13, 2013, 11:43:21 PM »
I don't have a budget in mind. I was looking at the little Schiits as a possibility, but in reality my whole listening setup needs re-evaluation.
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shipsupt

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Re: Sound Cards, Should I Bother?
« Reply #5 on: January 14, 2013, 12:02:53 AM »
Those little schitts look like the...  well they look really good!
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Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man.

Cristello

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Re: Sound Cards, Should I Bother?
« Reply #6 on: January 14, 2013, 01:04:19 AM »
depending on the card you have and the quality of your MoBo, upgrading to anything less than $100 might be a step backwards.

what model of Xonar do you have currently?
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Re: Sound Cards, Should I Bother?
« Reply #7 on: January 14, 2013, 01:07:41 AM »
I have an Auzentech Bravura. I quite like it for both speakers and headphones, and it was less than $100 refurbished. The drivers are a bit strange in that they don't support all motherboards, but you can still get enough functionality without them. I haven't had any issues running it for a couple years now, even in Windows 8. The line-out seems a bit "hot," in that if I turn it up all the way in Windows, music seems to distort and clip. I can't remember where I saw it (Head-Fi or a tech website), but I've heard the voltage output on the line-out might be too high for some receivers...? I could be entirely wrong there...just trying to go off my memory. Either way, I just set it at around 50 in Windows. So, the card has its quirks, but I can live with it.

When I got my ODAC + O2, I don't remember hearing a noticeable difference between that and the Bravura. The O2 seemed to go louder. I've never really A/B compared amps, so my judgement here means nothing.
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Cristello

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Re: Sound Cards, Should I Bother?
« Reply #8 on: January 14, 2013, 01:40:10 AM »
indeed, auzentech cards are great. Probably what Creative's should have been like.

they are definitely a step above even Asus' cards. It was like having a steroid-injected Xonar that was actually supported by anything.
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anetode

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Re: Sound Cards, Should I Bother?
« Reply #9 on: January 14, 2013, 01:56:52 AM »
I'd stay away from the Auzentech cards with Creative's chips in it due to the accompanying driver/app baggage, though they are an improvement over Creative's own cards. I haven't had any problems with Asus drivers for the STX, which are basically slightly dressed up CMedia drivers. For comparable quality to the STX and less fuss there's also HT Omega's Claro Halo, which has a similar headamp implementation and stock drivers.
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