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 Posted: Fri, 5th Apr 2013 11:24 Post subject: Recommend me a soundcard :D |
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So I am curious to see for myself what's the difference is between my G35's and a good pair of stereo headphones paired with a good soundcard.
My budget for the card would be between 100-150€ and 50-100€ for the headphones.
I've been thinking about an ASUS soundcard but I'm not sure which and I was thinking of a pair of sannheiser headphones but not sure which there either. 
https://www.asus.com/ROG/ROG_Xonar_Phoebus/
I was checking out this one, but how much is just bells and whistles and how much is usefull features?
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| Posted: Fri, 5th Apr 2013 11:26 Post subject: |
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Just get Asus Xonar DGX with headphone amp (about 40€) and put rest of the money for good pair of stereo headphones (which cannot be bought for 50-100€). You are not gonna notice difference between that ROG and DGX unless you have like 1 grand headphones, and it really doesnt have even better sound quality, can just drive higher ohm headphones.. Or alternatively buy cheap usb DAC like Fiio or something.
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| Posted: Fri, 5th Apr 2013 11:32 Post subject: |
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| Posted: Fri, 5th Apr 2013 11:44 Post subject: |
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By the way, forgot to add that it's mostly for gaming and movies secondary (have speakers for music).
And thanks, I'll definitely consider those tips. ^_^
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| Posted: Fri, 5th Apr 2013 12:13 Post subject: |
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I have to warn you that there's a bad thing with ASUS chips though, they tend to drop driver support really fast.
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| Posted: Fri, 5th Apr 2013 12:14 Post subject: |
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| farne wrote: | | I have to warn you that there's a bad thing with ASUS chips though, they tend to drop driver support really fast. |
Hmmm, that could be a problem then. 
However, how is SB these days then? Their drivers were pretty ass back when I still owned an Audigy 2. |
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| Posted: Fri, 5th Apr 2013 12:38 Post subject: |
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Auzentech might be worth looking up, although I have no experience with them, I've heard nothing but praises regarding them though.
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| Posted: Fri, 5th Apr 2013 12:54 Post subject: |
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| farne wrote: | | Auzentech might be worth looking up, although I have no experience with them, I've heard nothing but praises regarding them though. |
Auzentech and HT Omega are the only two sound card companies I ever recommend or would buy. I'd rather go through a receiver and get real sound |
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Przepraszam
VIP Member
Posts: 14517
Location: Poland. New York.
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| Posted: Fri, 5th Apr 2013 13:04 Post subject: |
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| SpykeZ wrote: | | farne wrote: | | Auzentech might be worth looking up, although I have no experience with them, I've heard nothing but praises regarding them though. |
Auzentech and HT Omega are the only two sound card companies I ever recommend or would buy. I'd rather go through a receiver and get real sound |
I have had both Auzentech X-Fi Forte AND HT Omega Claro. I loved both of them. Only thing, I hated is that Auzentech support is non-existant. Had some problem with mine and I think I send about 5 different emails and created few support tickets but no answer each time. I quickly sold it off on ebay.
Right now using HT Omega Claro, and that card is amazing but I decided to sell it coz im poor atm. I got lucky, got it for $100 almost brand new while new one still costs $100.
But like SpykeZ, said, get receiver and a pair of real 2 speakers + sub..but that might set you back a few hundred backs. |
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| Posted: Fri, 5th Apr 2013 13:26 Post subject: |
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You cant put speakers to your head tho, hes searching headphones. Also SpykeZ means that you can plug headphones to the receiver (which is same thing as dedicated amp for headphones). Asus Xonar cards has unified drivers available, which has support all the time, and they are flawless, and will output good sound for humper. Ofc if you go for HT omega Claro etc... Then buy premium headphones.
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| Posted: Fri, 5th Apr 2013 13:29 Post subject: |
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Can't fail with a Creative soundcard. Maybe the Soundblaster Z?
Recently bought new headphones (Creative Sound Blaster Tactic3D Sigma). Pretty good quality, comfy while wearing and the sound is really great. This version even has a build-in USB-soundcard.
Drivers don't seem to be a problem anymore, but it's still a shame they didn't care about proper Vista/7 support for the audigy cards (and others prior Vista/Win7).
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| Posted: Fri, 5th Apr 2013 14:01 Post subject: |
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| farne wrote: | | I have to warn you that there's a bad thing with ASUS chips though, they tend to drop driver support really fast. |
This already shows you how much driver support you will get with the Phoebus http://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?15703-Xonar-Phoebus-Drivers-thread&country=&status= Look at the dates.
And that's not very good for a new card
The beta driver flashed the card to a newer firmware, but the newer FW is exactly the same as before and it was a bug, so the only difference is what the firmware version reports it as.
Ryzen 5 5600, ASUS ROG STRIX B550-F GAMING WIFI II, Corsair Vengeance RGB RT 32GB 3600MHz C16, MSI RTX 5070 Ti Ventus 3X OC , Corsair RMx Series RM750x. AOC AGON AG324UX - 4K 144Hz 1ms
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Werelds
Special Little Man
Posts: 15098
Location: 0100111001001100
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| Posted: Fri, 5th Apr 2013 14:24 Post subject: |
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| SpykeZ wrote: | | Auzentech and HT Omega are the only two sound card companies I ever recommend or would buy. I'd rather go through a receiver and get real sound |
That only has any use if you use a digital signal and send it through as-is (so HDMI or via S/PDIF) and a receiver that can do what Creative do with CMSS still costs a fortune for some reason (Dolby Headphone support is still not standard and considered "added value"). For gaming, what CMSS (or ASUS' equivalent, which I can't remember what the fuck was called exactly) does is pretty amazing. As much as I value good audio quality, getting a proper 3D soundstage transmitted to your stereo headphones adds a lot to immersion. And while a simple X-Fi certainly won't produce the same quality you get with a Fiio or similar, it's still not bad by any standard. And from what little I've read about the Z series now, they are actually really good (they got an amp on them now). Considering Fiio's only offering with Dolby Headphone is the E17 I think, I'm not sure which is the better choice.
Actually, I need to look up some reviews from both tonight 
And even with shit headphones / headsets you'll hear the difference between your on-board piece of shit and a Xonar or X-Fi. Better headphones will obviously benefit more, but the amount of noise Realtek's 889 (which is probably what you have) adds is ridiculous.
@ Breezer: that's not Creative's fault. I've had my X-Fi for like 5 years now, not once did their drivers fuck up my system or not work. With Windows 7 you don't even need to manually download them either, Windows will do that for you. There's a lot of bloatware in Creative's package, but just untick it all and stick to the console + driver and it's fine. |
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| Posted: Fri, 5th Apr 2013 16:53 Post subject: |
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Well, I can't seem to find neither the Omega or Auzentech (forte) anywhere here so I guess I can't even consider those.
And yes, it looks like there's basically no support with the ASUS ROG thingie (just like with their motherboards which have a minimum of updates available).
So, sound blaster then?
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| Posted: Fri, 5th Apr 2013 18:14 Post subject: |
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Sound blasters driver support is garbage. Had one, never again.
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Werelds
Special Little Man
Posts: 15098
Location: 0100111001001100
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| Posted: Fri, 5th Apr 2013 19:21 Post subject: |
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All I can say to that is  because I've not had a single fucking problem with Vista or 7; XP was always a bit fiddly, but that's because XP is such a piece of shit.
Out of all the components in my PC, the X-Fi is the one thing that simply does not give a single shit and just works. In 5 years I've had less problems with that thing and its drivers (which, again, Windows gets via Windows Update) than I have with any single one of my graphics cards in that same period of time. And some of those I only had for 6-9 months. I highly doubt that if Creative sucked I would be the one having 0 issues over not 1, not 2, but 3 separate PCs (and as many OSs).
Now, if you said Linux support, that's a different matter, because there Creative really do suck balls.
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| Posted: Sat, 6th Apr 2013 01:46 Post subject: |
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Hmmm, well....might be soundblaster. However I'm unsure of the DGX.
I have no clue as what the difference would be with a headphone amp. o.O
Also, I'm willing to go as high as 150€ (don't have to but that would be my budget).
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| Posted: Sat, 6th Apr 2013 01:56 Post subject: |
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For headphones I would recommend the Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro's 250 Ohms, but they will need an amp to work properly. Or you could get the 80 Ohms version. I nearly bought them but instead went for some Audio-Technica ATH M50's. I wish I hadn't as the leather on the cups makes you sweat.
Ryzen 5 5600, ASUS ROG STRIX B550-F GAMING WIFI II, Corsair Vengeance RGB RT 32GB 3600MHz C16, MSI RTX 5070 Ti Ventus 3X OC , Corsair RMx Series RM750x. AOC AGON AG324UX - 4K 144Hz 1ms
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| Posted: Sat, 6th Apr 2013 02:14 Post subject: |
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| Prefetian wrote: | Hmmm, well....might be soundblaster. However I'm unsure of the DGX.
I have no clue as what the difference would be with a headphone amp. o.O
Also, I'm willing to go as high as 150€ (don't have to but that would be my budget). |
Basically headphones sounds like shit without headphone amp, without amp some headphones can be very shitty, then you put them to amp and boom, like night and day difference. I bought couple months ago Sony XB-600 Bass headphones for movies, with integrated and Steelseries USB soundcard there is no bass at all, with Xonar DGX the bass is so deep that it nearly removes my teeth . But if you are going for some logitech shit headphones or "gaming" headphones, you are not gonna see pretty much any difference.
DT 770 pro (the 80 ohm version) is very good buy, also there is insanely good headphones from superlux (very cheap but they are basically exact replicas of some AKG and Sennheiser models for 20-40€ ) their sound quality is just mindblowing for the price, also amp is required for them. I have Superlux HD681 with AKG soft pads (25€ for headphones + 20€ for softpads) and they are just awesome. Made heatset from them with mod mic (25€), so in total they costed 65€ with all modifications. For example they sound in everything better than my expensive HD 595 sennheiser .
Usually its that for cheap you cant get good, but Superlux, they are very good... You might want to check them out. There is many models available, 661 and 668 atleast are very nice models (661 being the most balanced).
http://www.head-fi.org/products/superlux-hd-681/reviews
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| Posted: Sun, 7th Apr 2013 03:29 Post subject: |
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If this is just for headphones, I wouldn't even bother with a sound card. Get something like the FiiO E7 or E17 which is a DAC using it's own sound chip. They're a bit pricier but you don't have to worry about bullshit drivers working on anything. Windows detects a usb sound device and that's that.
Then you can dock both of those in the FiiO E9 amp if you want which can also be used to hook up speakers.
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Werelds
Special Little Man
Posts: 15098
Location: 0100111001001100
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| Posted: Sun, 7th Apr 2013 11:18 Post subject: |
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I've been reading up a bit and the new Soundblaster Z series actually have a pretty good headphone amp on them. For SpykeZ: they can do 80mW @ 600 Ohm - that's not bad at all, easily on par with the Fiio's (think the E07K doesn't even manage that). And unlike the Fiio's, you still get the benefit of virtual 3D, although on the Z-series it's sadly no longer CMSS-3D, but only Dolby Headphone or the THX crap (which is crap).
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Werelds
Special Little Man
Posts: 15098
Location: 0100111001001100
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| Posted: Sun, 7th Apr 2013 12:12 Post subject: |
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Just on a sidenote, for optimal results you can also get something that can do the CMSS-3D or Dolby Headphone processing and then run into an amp from there. So with older X-Fi's which still have CMSS-3D, you can still put something like a Fiio after it and get the best of both worlds.
If you want something that can be used with everything and not just your PC, there's the Mixamp from Astro; their headsets are shit but the Mixamps are decent enough for what they do: take any DD (sadly, no DTS ) signal and convert it to Dolby Headphone. Run from that thing to an amp and you've got a setup that you can plug into anything that has a TOSLINK output and can output DD 5.1/7.1. That means virtual surround from PS3, XBOX, DVD/Bluray and your PC (as even crappy Realtek chips have the TOSLINK outputs now).
And even on places like Head-Fi, where shit like this usually gets shot down this is what they recommend. Purely because Dolby Headphone does work, brilliantly - if you have good headphones.
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| Posted: Sun, 7th Apr 2013 12:34 Post subject: |
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I'm gonna hijack this thread quickly!
So about a year ago I bought a 2.1 speaker set, Corsair SP2500. Now, it is a really good kit, IF you get to crank up the volume high enough to get a great soundstage. Now, this is not a luxury I get to enjoy, living in an apartment with pretty bad soundproof. So, I've been thinking about selling these off secondhand and get something new. So I have an ASUS Xonar Essence STX, so bring me some good suggestions, puh-leeze! Basically I want something that is affordable, with great soundstage, preferably not a colossal subwoofer ( if a subwoofer at all ). I dont mind if the speakers itself take up plenty of room, I can adapt to that easily. The soundcard has an optical input as well as analog RCA inputs.
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| Posted: Sun, 7th Apr 2013 15:19 Post subject: |
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Holy bananas, this became way more complicated than I was hoping for. I'm probably just going to stick with what I have now for the time being until I can try stuff out on my own cause there seems to be a fuck load of options on what to get...
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| Posted: Sun, 7th Apr 2013 17:29 Post subject: |
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Just get the Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro's and the new Creative card. I don't think you will be disappointed.
Ryzen 5 5600, ASUS ROG STRIX B550-F GAMING WIFI II, Corsair Vengeance RGB RT 32GB 3600MHz C16, MSI RTX 5070 Ti Ventus 3X OC , Corsair RMx Series RM750x. AOC AGON AG324UX - 4K 144Hz 1ms
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Frant
King's Bounty
Posts: 24656
Location: Your Mom
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| Posted: Sun, 7th Apr 2013 22:41 Post subject: |
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Creative have the worst driver team in the industry. When I first got my X-Fi Platinum (it was brand new) it felt like the drivers were made by two software engineering students working extra on the weekends @ Creative Labs. There were all kinds of problems, crashes, crackling, noise issues etc... And the updates were coming line once every year and those were minor. They make/made great hardware but ever since the first X-fi they've sucked so bad when it comes to drivers.
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!
"The sky was the color of a TV tuned to a dead station" - Neuromancer
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