Which soundcard for me?

[thunda]

About to do my first big upgrade for about 4 years, cpu, motherboard, ram and soundcard. The Xonar Essence STX statistically fits the bill but I'm not sure of what else might be available. Here's pretty much what I require

- music is the focal point, I do still game but could care less about the sound quality for gaming. I listen to FLAC's at home. For what it's worth mainly rock/blues
- currently using AD-700's and have no intention of upgrading them, until I listen to music thru something better, my AD-700's are the ant's pants to me (ignorance is bliss)
- also use my DSE stereo amp and bookshelves, this will be the next upgrade however I wont spend over $500 there for a new amp and 2x bookshelf speaker setup
- love the setup on the STX as I can have my cans and speakers both connected just requiring a software change, I have been running 2 cards for years to do just that
- should be under $200 or there abouts
- for what it's worth I actually prefer music thru my Chaintech AV-710 than I do the X-Fi, the sound to me is fuller/richer (less harsh) on the AV-710. The X-Fi is more precise though which I like too
- running Windows 7 x64

So any other suggestions? Or reasons why I should steer clear of the STX maybe? And if you got this far thankyou and sorry for the long post :P

[spAm^bOy]

My advice - if you plan on staying with dektop computers for a few years to come, buy the STX and enjoy your music.

If there's any chance you might move to a laptop within the next year or so, maybe a USB DAC would be a more sensible option.

[thunda]

I'll be using a desktop for as long as they're still available cause I like the ability to change parts as i choose to change them. So you think the STX is the best I will get for my needs and budget?

It ticks all the boxes I just wasn't sure if there might be something better or if their were issues with the STX that I'm not aware of. I read about a few issues with W7 x64 however they seem to be few and far between.

[spAm^bOy]

There have been reported driver issues with Xonar cards, however you're probably going to find instances of driver issues with any sound card, or piece of hardware for that matter.

The STX will make your AD-700's sing, and it does a pretty good job with games too. The STX is fairly commonly accepted as the Rolls Royce of consumer-grade sound cards.

When you're looking to upgrade your speakers, have a look at the Aktimate Mini's and check out my review. Those speakers fed by the STX would be an incredible setup for the money (I'm running them with a Xonar D2 and love the sound they produce).

[thunda]

Thanks heaps spAm^bOy and that's what I was hoping to hear. Those Mini's look very interesting too, I'll be looking in to them.

[hawpinghaxbag]

Whats the latency like on the STX with asio4all?

i play around with tracker and fl studio music with a midi controller keyboard, ive heard that Creative has the edge with this though things might have changed..

[Linkin]

Originally Posted by hawpinghaxbag

Whats the latency like on the STX with asio4all?

i play around with tracker and fl studio music with a midi controller keyboard, ive heard that Creative has the edge with this though things might have changed..

If you care about latency get the ST. Less clock jitter, etc

[thunda]

Linkin are you suggesting that the ST is the better version to get? I can get that as I haven't decided on the motherboard yet so I will simply get a board with enough PCI slots.

[hawpinghaxbag]

Thanks Linkin

thunda, i think if only if you care about latency with music production, I dont think there is any difference in sound quality, just different mobo interfaces

[thunda]

Oh cool, I'll get the STX then as there are only a few m/b's now that have 2 or more PCI slots and more than likely even less in the future.

That's my soundcard decided, now to work out the rest of the upgrade.

Thanks guys for your help

[spAm^bOy]

Well done thunda - it can be a tough exercise trying to decide on which components to buy (first world problems hey?!)

If you can give the Aktimate Minis an audition do it - they are incredible speakers for the money and at a later stage a sub can be added to them to really fill in the low end for movies.

The STX and Aktimates will be boner inducing.

[lithos]

Originally Posted by hawpinghaxbag

Whats the latency like on the STX with asio4all?

i play around with tracker and fl studio music with a midi controller keyboard, ive heard that Creative has the edge with this though things might have changed..

Creative doesn't need asio4all, it's got it's own ASIO support.

I've heard of issues with ASUS's ASIO; I've never had a problem with my Creative.

I actually bought an Asus card to test the differences...but it was bricked straight out of the box.

[Linkin]

Originally Posted by lithos

Creative doesn't need asio4all, it's got it's own ASIO support.

I've heard of issues with ASUS's ASIO; I've never had a problem with my Creative.

I actually bought an Asus card to test the differences...but it was bricked straight out of the box.

ST/X card? Did you remember the jam the molex cable in so tight that it will never come out or rip the connector off if you try? It won't work otherwise

[lithos]

Ah, so the same Molex installation procedure as with the Audigy 2 ZS Platinum "Jesus, could we make the name any longer?" Pro. I've never been able to get that damn thing out of my ZS; luckily, I used a 3" extention cable, so that's jammed on there, instead of having it permanently wired to the CPU.

No, the Asus I got was the ~$30 Xonar DG. I got it to compare the software/processing side of things (I'm well aware a Ti HD will trounce its raw sound quality any way you measure it), specifically Dolby Headphone vs CMSS-3D in gaming.

Apparently you can re-do the firmware on 'em, might try that one day. The problem is documented here: http://www.alsa-project.org/main/ind...EEPROM_Failure

[thunda]

Just picked up and installed the STX and have a one word review, amazing! I have Gary Moore - Still Got The Blues in my AD700's and this is awesome

Thank you guys