2 Sound Cards, Which one is the best?

[slim142]

Hi

Im about to finish building my new rig and I would like some opinions/comments about this 2 sound cards since I really dont know which one I should get.

First one, Creative X-Fi Platinum FPS Edition
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829102014

Nice stuff, nice sound card, comes with that bay and the controller.

Then we got the second contestant, the challenger Auzuntech
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829156005

Very nice card from what I heard, doesnt have much goodies but seems to be as good as the creative plus the card is made of bettter components.

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So here it is, I currently have the Logitech Z-5500 and I listen mostly to hip-hop/reggaeton/techno and Im a gamer. I will be changing to optical connection soon since there is a difference in sound between green/yellow/black connectors and optical.

Which card IS better? Which card will be better in XP (talking about drivers)? (Im not using Vista, never will) Also, where are the Optical connectors in the Auzuntech? The ones in the back look like RCA to me? please correct me, and if I get the Creative, will I have to connect my speakers to the front bay if I want optical connection? I only see the Optical connectors in the bay, none in the back, am I correct?

Thanks for the help
Slim142

[ROBSCIX]

The Auzen card is better for sound quality. If you need the drive bay etc, then go with the other card but you lose some sound quality compared to the Prelude. You also have the option to swap out the front channel opamp which will improve the sound quality further on the Prelude. The Prelude is the #1 gaming card available.

Note: With the Z-5500's you would be better off using analog to the Prelude as it has higher quality DAC's then the speakers. Running digital to those particular speakers would actually be a downgrade. The Prelude has high end DAC's when compared to other soundcards.
If you go digital from the other card you won't have 5.1 in games. Your digital on the CL X-fi is stuck in 2.0 mode unless your watching a movie.

Considering the price of both cards, I am unsure of your needs so the CL X-fi may be a better match for you. Your choice, hope this helps.

[slim142]

Wait, so what card wont give me 5.1 on games? Prelude or Creative?
I really want 5.1 on games/music/movies and everything else.

Thanks for your answer, it was really clear. However, I want to know some stuff first. What are DAC's? (sorry, kinda noob in sound section) and how does it affect the sound quality? How come analog connection would be better (with my z-5500) when supposedly optical is for even better quality?

[ROBSCIX]

The Creative Card won't give you 5.1 in games, music or movies -unless the movie has been encoded in 5.1 -The card can pass the 5.1 through only. This of course is in digital mode with stock CL X-fi and drivers.

The DAC is the Digital to Analog converter. It takes the 1 and 0's and converts them to a analog wave for output through the speakers. -very simple explanation. The better quality they are the better quality your sound will be.

With a lower grade soundcard or onboard, the DAC unti in your Z-5500's would be better. The Prelude has top quality DAC's in comparison that can rival the DAC's in HT receivers in many cases. Usually entry-mid level receivers will use lower quality DAC's in comparison to the Preludes.
If you use analog, then your getting the full benefit from the Preludes DAC's.
If you go digital your using the DAC unit in the speaker system which is lower quality which produces lower quality sound. Feel free to test for yourself if you get the card.

Hope this helps.

[slim142]

Thanks for the clear response once again :)

I just want to mention, I have the new revision of the Z-5500 which are NOT connected to the Sub via RCA connectors, mines uses the thin cooper cables (sorry cant remember the right word) with negative/positive connections, with that said, using analog will still be better than optical?

And if you tell me that analog would still be better, then I would just probably save some money and keep analog since you gave me a good and very well explained information about this :) and also because I heard the Prelude is really nice so no reason to go against the facts.

[Donnie27]

Thanks for the clear response once again :)

I just want to mention, I have the new revision of the Z-5500 which are NOT connected to the Sub via RCA connectors, mines uses the thin cooper cables (sorry cant remember the right word) with negative/positive connections, with that said, using analog will still be better than optical?

And if you tell me that analog would still be better, then I would just probably save some money and keep analog since you gave me a good and very well explained information about this :) and also because I heard the Prelude is really nice so no reason to go against the facts.

The Opamps in the Logitech's Amp aren't as good as the ones on the Prelude sound card. I saw you other thread on this. Check out the other threads already posted wayyyyy too much on this issue. I also think Rob did a very good job of giving you options.

[slim142]

sorry for my ignorance but what are Opamps? Like the capacitors on the amplifier? or something?

[ROBSCIX]

Opamps are small chips on the card that provide a amplifier/buffer stage and signal conditioning. They bring the low level signal up to a usable level for the external amplifiers. In many soundcards these are cheap low grade chips that limit the possible sound quality out of the card. The Prelude uses higher quality chips when compared to others and the front can be replaced with a higher quality unit or one that give a different type of sound. The unit that is lacking in the Z-5500's is the digital to analog converter, compared to a onboard or cheaper card it is good grade but compared to the Prelude it is low quality. If you get the Prelude TRY BOTH, if you are still uncertain. You will hear the difference....Analog is better with this card and those speakers.

[slim142]

Seriously thanks a lot Rob for spending some of your time explaining this to me :)

Really appreciate it

[ROBSCIX]

No problem.