Auzen Forte vs ASUS Xonar Essence STX

[ToTTenTranz]

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But if anything if price isn't a concern you could simply get the STX just based on the physical appearance of the card... It's a very classy and sophisticated looking piece of hardware.
WTF?

Yep, the physical appearance of the soundcard I buy is also very important to me. Right next to the smell of the toilet paper I use, in my list of the most important things.

I'm not sure about that. There's a large number of us completely sick of creatives bull.

There's an equal ammount of people who are sick of creative bashers, who look like old ladies trying to convince their grandsons that having sex is bad for your health (because their priest said something like that 30 years ago).
And mainly because they all come up with the same arguments that show they have as much knowledge about soundcards as I have about cooking chinese food.

FWIW, I don't know a thing about cooking chinese food.




X-Fi cards: big processing brains with good or less-good analog components (depending on the model/price).
Any Asus soundcard: zero brains with good or less-good analog components.
The cards with good analog components only make a difference from the less-good components if we're using speakers that cost as much as a high-end gaming pc. This does not include logitech Z5500 and klipsch multimedia stuff or anything at that level/price point.
I wonder if this was simple enough to follow..

[Blankeee]

pssshhh.... glad you found the joke funny

anyway i'm not much of an audiophile; you could probably school me in the technicalities of the matter... but all I know is that from my layman's perspective compared to my last 2 creative x-fi's my overall experience thus far with the STX has been like a breath of fresh, wholesome, juicy, melt-in-your mouth air. Could an Auzentech X-fi have served me better? Hell if I know I didn't buy one so I guess I never will.

This thread is kinda old and the OP probably already came to a decision but if not judging from the arguments of both sides.... I don't think you could go wrong either way.

[Bradan]

I like how that guy gave no credit to the 117 SNR of the ciruit and AMP. That's a ton better than the 109 of the forte, dB is a log scale.

Theyre different cards, but I'd rather have nice music vs. the EAX. I've never been wowed by it, EAX4 that is, over top of standard OpenAL.

If you saw what I have for drivers for my audigy 4, you would change your mind.

[ToTTenTranz]

I like how that guy gave no credit to the 117 SNR of the ciruit and AMP. That's a ton better than the 109 of the forte, dB is a log scale.

1 - SNR values listed by the manufacturer usually don't mean real values.

2 - You would need a high-end sound system (by high-end I mean at least a $4000 sound system) or headphones (>$400) to ever begin to notice such an objective difference through an analog connection. That pretty much excludes 99.9% of the people in this forum.

[Bradan]

1 - SNR values listed by the manufacturer usually don't mean real values.

True, but hardwarecancucks actually tested it, and its 117db.

2 - You would need a high-end sound system (by high-end I mean at least a $4000 sound system) or headphones (>$400) to ever begin to notice such an objective difference through an analog connection. That pretty much excludes 99.9% of the people in this forum.

Very true. I always forget about everybody else.

[Donnie27]

1 - SNR values listed by the manufacturer usually don't mean real values.

2 - You would need a high-end sound system (by high-end I mean at least a $4000 sound system) or headphones (>$400) to ever begin to notice such an objective difference through an analog connection. That pretty much excludes 99.9% of the people in this forum.

QFT! But some are too busy bashing to understand.

[Donnie27]

I like how that guy gave no credit to the 117 SNR of the ciruit and AMP. That's a ton better than the 109 of the forte, dB is a log scale.

Theyre different cards, but I'd rather have nice music vs. the EAX. I've never been wowed by it, EAX4 that is, over top of standard OpenAL.

If you saw what I have for drivers for my audigy 4, you would change your mind.

The Forte doesn't ship with a 109db, that's the Xtreme Music they're talking about.

Sound: With a D/A converter of 120dB level, high end audio components, and an analog design tuned for peak performance, the X-Fi™ Forte is designed to provide the best audio possible for Music, Games and Movies. End-users can further tune the audio via the replaceable OPAMP for the front audio (L/R).

[ROBSCIX]

To note, The Forte will produce about 117db SNR. -Measured.

These are both great cards but they are meant for very different users types.

[Bradan]

To note, The Forte will produce about 117db SNR. -Measured.

These are both great cards but they are meant for very different users types.

* 115.0 dB A-weighted (1kHz @ -60dBFS, 24-bit/48kHz) for Stereo analog outputs
* 109.0 dB A-weighted (1kHz @ -60dBFS, 24-bit/48kHz) for Multi channel analog outputs

I didn't notice that the stereo outputs had 115db.

[ROBSCIX]

Actually, I just had a look at my results again and it is about ~115dB (act. 115.1 dB measr.) so those specs are fairly accurate. I mixed up the spec with another card.

Also your other post is a bit off about the STX, the STX has a SNR of about 124dB. If you measure the card you will get about a 117dB SNR which is why you quoted that # I suspect.

There are many reasons why that number would come up for the STX but mainly because if you do a loopback test with the STX you will hit the limits of the recording section which is 117 dB.

[Bradan]

Actually, I just had a look at my results again and it is about ~115dB (act. 115.1 dB measr.) so those specs are fairly accurate. I mixed up the spec with another card.

Also your other post is a bit off about the STX, the STX has a SNR of about 124dB. If you measure the card you will get about a 117dB SNR which is why you quoted that # I suspect.

There are many reasons why that number would come up for the STX but mainly because if you do a loopback test with the STX you will hit the limits of the recording section which is 117 dB.

The RCA speaker outputs are 124dB, and the 1/4" RTS headphone outs are 117, as per ASUS's statement. I didn't measure anything myself.

[Smiddi]

I ended up buying both of these cards and weighed them up against each other.

IMO: for music you simply cant beat the STX, it sounds AMAZING. But its crux is games. I tested about 7 games and id say the STX was average to good.

As for the Forte, it does music very good, but no where near as good as the STX.
For games; the Forte owns, every game game played perfect.

The Forte makes you want to play all your GAMES again to hear what you have been missing.
The STX makes you want to listen to all your MUSIC again to hear what you have been missing.
One downside to the STX is that you’ll want to rip all your music again at a higher bit rate (it’s that good, you CAN notice the difference).

Depends what you want the card for really?
- im a gamer, so i have kept the Forte and I sold the STX.

I posted my review here:
http://forums.overclockers.com.au/sh...d.php?t=766494
.

[Gilhooley]

The RCA speaker outputs are 124dB, and the 1/4" RTS headphone outs are 117, as per ASUS's statement. I didn't measure anything myself.

I'm surprised that ASUS haven't been sued over this yet.. But then again its only the fools that fall for it or not.. They cheat by boosting the voltage output, which damages your equipment - and gives high readings in crappy programs like RightmarkAA Feel free to compare SNR with +1000$ cards.

[Gilhooley]

I ended up buying both of these cards and weighed them up against each other.

As for the Forte, it does music very good, but no where near as good as the STX.
For games; the Forte owns, every game game played perfect.

.

Change to Audio Creation Mode with samplerate 96khz and used an ASIO player for best performance..

[Bradan]

I'm surprised that ASUS haven't been sued over this yet.. But then again its only the fools that fall for it or not.. They cheat by boosting the voltage output, which damages your equipment - and gives high readings in crappy programs like RightmarkAA Feel free to compare SNR with +1000$ cards.

1) The Forte has 115 dB SNR
2) The Xonar Essence has 117dB SNR
3) The 124dB SNR is on the coax outs, that have no amp attatched to them, so how the voltage is boosted is beyond me.
4) You're conspiracies make no sense

Change to Audio Creation Mode with samplerate 96khz and used an ASIO player for best performance..

Oh, had I known upmixing the sample rate from 44.1khz to 96khz sounded better, I would have done it sooner.

I can't tell when music is bitmatched and neither can you. It's for audio mixing.

[Gilhooley]

1)
Oh, had I known upmixing the sample rate from 44.1khz to 96khz sounded better, I would have done it sooner.

I can't tell when music is bitmatched and neither can you. It's for audio mixing.

You clearly know a lot about analog bitrates

[Bradan]

You clearly know a lot about analog bitrates

did you just say "analog bitrate"?

[Godofwar424]

Can somebody give me some info on the Auzentech X-Fi Forte drivers. I installed them on build 7100 and they work but I cannot enable dolby digital live or DTS interactive!!!! Its really annoying because it stops me being able to use it as my main os for gaming and everything else.

[Godofwar424]

Hi

I had problems with my Auzentech X-Fi Forte and Windows 7. My problem was that I couldn't enable Dolby Digital Live or dts Neo:PC because the Creative Audio Service Wasn't running.

Here is how to solve this error.

You need to dl the latest driver from Auzentech's website then run the setup.exe in compatibility mode with Windows Vista Service Pack 1/2.

To do this.

Right click on setup.exe and select Properties--Compatibility

The image below is what your Compataibility area whould look like.



After youve done this run the setup.exe and install as per usual

Enjoy!

[Donnie27]

1) The Forte has 115 dB SNR
2) The Xonar Essence has 117dB SNR

There are other reasons to say the XE sounds better, trying to say your Ears can tell the difference between 115 and 117 dB isn't on of them=P

3) The 124dB SNR is on the coax outs, that have no amp attatched to them, so how the voltage is boosted is beyond me.
4) You're conspiracies make no sense

Sending out data via digital has NOTHING to do with Signal To Noise Ratios. Prior to sending data, a bad sound will be sent the same way as a good one=P Then the final output source will determine the final sound. You ought to be glad the other guy was being nice to you. You sound like one of those folks who went out and paid $75 for a 12ft RCA "Monster" Coaxial cable

Oh, had I known upmixing the sample rate from 44.1khz to 96khz sounded better, I would have done it sooner.

I can't tell when music is bitmatched and neither can you. It's for audio mixing.

First of all, bit- matched is for recording! On playback, it will not have an affect unless like me, you use DVD-Audio and etc..... To do real tests for audio playback, they mean use the best SETTING meant for truer music playback. Not setting colored or tuned for Games or Movies! Surely you get that, right? I don't have a lot of respect for so called Audiophiles

You make a Recording Analog at 2ch 24bit/96KHz of something like an Analog source. Then you use a Lossless compression app like Flac or etc.. to compress it into something manageable. Try it and see? Also, can your sound card process data fast enough to "Time Shift"? X-Fi can do it flawlessly! By time shift I mean speed up or slow down the music without affecting the tone quality!

[TheCool]

I own the x-fi forte and while I actually prefer the xonar dx I had for movies and music, for games, I much prefer the forte.

[Bradan]

There are other reasons to say the XE sounds better, trying to say your Ears can tell the difference between 115 and 117 dB isn't on of them=P

It's funny how when I try to be objective about the comparison, you go on the subjective-defence to justify your purchase.

Sending out data via digital has NOTHING to do with Signal To Noise Ratios. Peior to sending data, a bad sound will be sent the same ways a good one+P Then the final output source will determine the final sound. You ought to be glad the other guy was being nice to you. You sound like one of those folks went out and paid $75 for a 12ft RCA "Monster" Coaxial cable

When I said coax, I meant composite, and yes they are infact analogue, and they do in fact have a 124dB SNR. I didn't mention digital out at all, you just read what you wanted, and made a stupid reply. No, I don't buy overpriced digital carrying cables, but would try to stick to medium-high quality, shielded analogue cables.

First of all, bit- matched is for recording!

It can be used for recording! It's also for playback.

On playback, it will not have an affect unless like me, you use DVD-Audio and etc.....

Bit-Matching guarantees the information from the source to output are exactly the same. I can use bit matching on MP3, FLAC, WAV anything I feel like. It's pretty impressive you bought audio DVD's though .

To do real tests for audio playback, they mean use the best SETTING meant for truer music playback. Not setting colored or tuned for Games or Movies! Surely you get that, right? I don't have a lot of respect for so called Audiophiles

I'm not sure what you're reffering to by they and tests, but your grammar confuses me. Bit-matching does not reduce colouring comapred to non-bit matched, it allows for 0 mistakes in the bitstream output. You can't argue that any errors would perceivably colours the sound.

EDIT: Wow, Mr. Beyer 770 is talking about colour. LOL.

I don't have a ton of respect for people who act like they know what they're talking about on these matters :/

You make a Recording Analog at 2ch 24bit/96KHz of something like an Analog source. Then you use a Lossless compression app like Flac or etc.. to compress it into something manageable. Try it and see?

I think you would be very hard-pressed to discern 320k-MP3 and CD/FLAC., let alone CD and DVD-A. It's pretty impossible I think. Download an ABX tester and try it using a FLAC file, and the same file converted to 320k MP3.

Also, can your sound card process data fast enough to "Time Shift"? X-Fi can do it flawlessly! By time shift I mean speed up or slow down the music without affecting the tone quality!

I don't have that feature on my sound card, and I'm not sure why you're boasting the processing power of a sound card, or do I recognize what such a feature would be used for. An application could easily do that on a CPU.

[RealTelstar]

I think you would be very hard-pressed to discern 320k-MP3 and CD/FLAC., let alone CD and DVD-A. It's pretty impossible I think. Download an ABX tester and try it using a FLAC file, and the same file converted to 320k MP3.

24/96 vs 16/44.1 is quite easy to recognize if the former is a master recording and not just an upsampling.

I agree between 320k mp3s and lossless/wav.

[MNX1024]

I was wondering, how is the drivers for the xonar essence stx in windows 7 RC?

[Donnie27]

It's funny how when I try to be objective about the comparison, you go on the subjective-defence to justify your purchase.

I never saw you post anything objective at all.

When I said coax, I meant composite, and yes they are infact analogue, and they do in fact have a 124dB SNR. I didn't mention digital out at all, you just read what you wanted, and made a stupid reply. No, I don't buy overpriced digital carrying cables, but would try to stick to medium-high quality, shielded analogue cables.

You mentioned COAX, to use it, you have to go digital. If you made a Mistake, that's fine just admit it and move on. I called an Opamp a DAC, Rob corrected me and corrected the mistake, I thanked him and moved on. You made the mistake so plase don't dig a deeper hole? NOTE, COAX or RCA used for digital out doesn't need to be thick, made by Monster and or shielded. It is pretty hard to mess up a digital signal BTW! I use think shielded RCA cables for my Analog out. I use them again to connect my New School Harmon Kardon Pre-Amp to the Old School Harman Kardon very Powerful Twin Power AMP on my 730!

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/sho...d.php?t=112218

The H-K receivers, including the 730, all sound excellent. It has separate power supplies for each channel.....very low IM distortion...a minimum of wiring....all means it will sound better than a comparable power and priced receiver.....tighter bass, more defined mids and highs...the ability to image and have depth. Definitely worth fixing!

It can be used for recording! It's also for playback.

Right! Please note, X-Fi's SRC is NOT the same as the Audigy's. You don't need bit-match unless you're using something with a HIGH BIT-RATE, like SACD, DVD Audio, or original master recording that were made and not compressed yet.

Bit-Matching guarantees the information from the source to output are exactly the same. I can use bit matching on MP3, FLAC, WAV anything I feel like. It's pretty impressive you bought audio DVD's though .

Bit matching anything except high Bit-Rate material is a worth it! Yes 24bit 96KHz Smoke on the Water, Hotel California, Listen to the Music, Tubular Bells has to be heard to be believed. If you're using CD and MP3's, you're the missing out.

I'm not sure what you're reffering to by they and tests, but your grammar confuses me. Bit-matching does not reduce colouring comapred to non-bit matched, it allows for 0 mistakes in the bitstream output. You can't argue that any errors would perceivably colours the sound.

You grammar and spelling confuses me but I can decipher it OK I know what you're referring to, it's just wrong most of the time! You don't use bit matching for something error correction designed for.

EDIT: Wow, Mr. Beyer 770 is talking about colour. LOL.

One of 4 sets I use! But most folks here know I love speakers and have a room dedicated for it and my computer.

[B]I don't have a ton of respect for people who act like they know what they're talking about on these matters :/

Please have just a little respect for yourself then!

[B]I think you would be very hard-pressed to discern 320k-MP3 and CD/FLAC., let alone CD and DVD-A. It's pretty impossible I think. Download an ABX tester and try it using a FLAC file, and the same file converted to 320k MP3.

Pretty much shows just how much you don't know. I don't think I know everything and love learning what and when I can. Show me a know it all and I'll show you a fool!

[B]I don't have that feature on my sound card, and I'm not sure why you're boasting the processing power of a sound card, or do I recognize what such a feature would be used for. An application could easily do that on a CPU.

Time shift is how you to speed up or slow down a Track/s without changing the tone! Not boasting at all, just pointing out something useful instead of something out of the human hearing range, like 124db LOL!

Then one thing you have right in your posted with any amount of truth. I in fact installed the Mobo's audio on my P45. Almost all of the features worked to my surprise. Anyone with an X-Fi of any kind can test this for themselves.
Just install both in either order.

Oh and Bradan, we do have PM if you misunderstood something?