My opinion on ASUS Xonar DX and X-Fi Xtreme Music

[overclock]

Hello,

I bought an ASUS Xonar DX a few days ago to replace my Creative X-Fi Xtreme Music and I give you a feedback.

The audio card is connected to hi-fi amplifier Technics SA-E10. I have 2 loudspeakers Bose Interaudio.

For music, in particular CDs, the sound is better on the ASUS card, crisper.

For games not using EAX 5.0, the quality sound is about the same on the 2 cards.

I tested 2 games using EAX 5.0 in Windows XP, Prey and Condemned : Prey sounds better on the X-Fi. In Condemned, EAX 5.0 does not work with the ASUS Xonar.

To conclude, I am nevertheless happy with the ASUS card because of its superior sound quality. Since EAX is not supported in Vista, EAX is no longer an advantage.

[EagleRock]

Creative X-Fi Xtreme Music is not even a real X-FI :)

[YukonTrooper]

Creative X-Fi Xtreme Music is not even a real X-FI :)
Yes it is. You're thinking of the XtremeAudio.

[EagleRock]

oh my bad i thought it is the music 1

[cadaveca]

ASUS really did step up to the plate with these cards, regardless of what everyone else may think. But yes, for gmaing, in XP, X-FI wins, but only because of EAX.


It's always good to see someone confirm what I have been saying all along...

[Stumbo]

Cool amp and speaker setup! Those bose were some of the last good speakers they made before they turned to their gimmicky BS equipment.

And I dig the vintage amp, that setup probably blows away 99 percent of the sound setups on this forum :P.

[Miwo]

I'm partial to the vintage Harman Kardon amps, especially the twin power x30 line (430/730/930, etc). They are built like monsters featuring twin toridials and have a great look to them imo :) I've restored a few of them by applying DeOxit scrubdowns, DC offset calibration, and replacing the old leaking 30year caps with modern day quality caps like Panasonic FCs/FMs. They make fantastic HiFi stereo setups

[Donnie27]

I'm partial to the vintage Harman Kardon amps, especially the twin power x30 line (430/730/930, etc). They are built like monsters featuring twin toridials and have a great look to them imo :) I've restored a few of them by applying DeOxit scrubdowns, DC offset calibration, and replacing the old leaking 30year caps with modern day quality caps like Panasonic FCs/FMs. They make fantastic HiFi stereo setups

I have a freshly serviced HK-730. I was trying to get some one here to understand its Headphone output compared to one of the DIYer can-amps:up:
Give me an old school receiver any day. IMHO, the HK-930 was the finest Home Receiver I've ever heard from that era. Maybe that's just me. It's little brother the 730 isn't far off:up: All of my younger friends are blown away by it.

[Miwo]

agreed
I have the little sibling, the HK430. I love working on HK stuff especially since they are one of the few companies that post full User/Tech manuals in pdf format on their website. They truly are gems, yet people still throw them out. You can find great hifi stuff at salvations occasionally. Hey...one mans junk, another ones treasure

[zlojack]

But doesn't EAX work in Vista with Alchemy?

[Donnie27]

ASUS really did step up to the plate with these cards, regardless of what everyone else may think. But yes, for gmaing, in XP, X-FI wins, but only because of EAX.

It's always good to see someone confirm what I have been saying all along...

Not many disagree with you about that. Gaming in OpenAL + EAX, like Prey, and Condemned works great in Vista. Xonar is a good Home Theater card.

Games list. (http://www.soundblaster.com/technology/)

To all;

If the sound engine is OpenAL and a creative card is used, EAX is added to beef it up. OpenAL sounds good by itself, it sounds GREAT with EAX if it is supported.


For games not using EAX 5.0, the quality sound is about the same on the 2 cards.

EAX 5.0 adds to OpenAL just as it added to DS3D. EAX x.0 isn't a Stand-Alone sound engine. It adds realism to sounds, it doesn't make the sounds. Creative cards will do better and sounds are better in sync with the action as well, very little to no delay (lower latency) when processing OpenAL.

[Donnie27]

agreed
I have the little sibling, the HK430. I love working on HK stuff especially since they are one of the few companies that post full User/Tech manuals in pdf format on their website. They truly are gems, yet people still throw them out. You can find great hifi stuff at salvations occasionally. Hey...one mans junk, another ones treasure

QFT, hell, very true!



zlojack; But doesn't EAX work in Vista with Alchemy?

Alchemy is needed for Direct Sound 3D based games, NOT OpenAL that the X-Fi based cards (not including or except the X-Fi Xtreme Audio) processes in Hardware. OpenAL games aren't affected by Vista and in fact, some MIGHT sound better in OpenAL

[zlojack]

Thanks :up:

[Donnie27]

Thanks :up:

You're welcomed!

[RealTelstar]

I really hope Windows7 fixes the sound layer...

[Dinho Fatal1ty®]

http://br.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZIQ4MhB44k

Confer !!