Asus Xonar vs Onkyo AVR vs MarantzCD6004

[chinu_hark]

I am sorry but after searching all over people just talk about DAC vs Soundcard or DAC vs CDP. I want to know whether a CDP which costs 3x the Asus is really as much better. Would the difference be noticeable to the average ears so as to justify it's price of 30k or is it subtle.
More importantly would the soundcard be noticeably better the Onkyo's(HTS3300) internal DAC. Both of them are Burr Brown but the whole 'AVRs are not good for music' argument exists.
Bottom line: I have an HTS3300.
1)Would using Asus to convert to analog and then send to AVR give noticeable improvement over HDMI being used now?
2)How much difference would a 30k Dedicated CDP make as compared to 1?
3)Soundcard vs CDP: How much difference when sending to a 2Ch amp?

 

[Ashenden]

It also depends on what source you have. FLACs and CDs have a substantial difference compared to compressed formats like mp3s. If you have a substantial collection of CDs, then CD6004 is a very good choice. I've been using it for sometime and the difference as compared to another DAC costing 1/5th its price was substantial. Again it depends on the amp you use and the speakers, cables interconnects etc. A single component by itself cannot produce a substantial difference.

Again IMO

I am sorry but after searching all over people just talk about DAC vs Soundcard or DAC vs CDP. I want to know whether a CDP which costs 3x the Asus is really as much better. Would the difference be noticeable to the average ears so as to justify it's price of 30k or is it subtle.
More importantly would the soundcard be noticeably better the Onkyo's(HTS3300) internal DAC. Both of them are Burr Brown but the whole 'AVRs are not good for music' argument exists.
Bottom line: I have an HTS3300.
1)Would using Asus to convert to analog and then send to AVR give noticeable improvement over HDMI being used now?
2)How much difference would a 30k Dedicated CDP make as compared to 1?
3)Soundcard vs CDP: How much difference when sending to a 2Ch amp?

 

[jaudere]

Follow the good old advice. Listen to your won ears and geart.

I did not find huge difference between a Sony BDP costing 10k and Marantz CD 6003, when paired with Marantz Pm 6003 and paradigm studio 20 speakers.

try to have audition. I doubt whteher you will get a very clearly audible improvement between marantz CD 6004 and Onkyo AVR getting HDMI signals and then processing it.
Use Pure direct mode of AVR.

Soundcard is cheaper because it does only 1 job (DAC and ADC), it does not have to have its own power supply, transport mechanism/chassis. It uses SMPS , transport and Chassis of your PC .

 

[ruenigma]

I have all three (A different AVR) and have been comparing them for a while.

Xonar STX
CA 540C CDP
Denon 1611 AVR

I'd rate them as
CA 540C CDP >= Xonar STX > Denon 1611 AVR

The AVR DAC is really no match for the Xonar's or the CDPs. The other components in the output chain are likely to blame here. However if I am playing through the AVR and not using it like a DAC the difference is negligible as it anyway sounds crap for music duties.

 

[chinu_hark]

I have all three (A different AVR) and have been comparing them for a while.

Xonar STX
CA 540C CDP
Denon 1611 AVR

I'd rate them as
CA 540C CDP >= Xonar STX > Denon 1611 AVR

The AVR DAC is really no match for the Xonar's or the CDPs. The other components in the output chain are likely to blame here. However if I am playing through the AVR and not using it like a DAC the difference is negligible as it anyway sounds crap for music duties.

You were the guy I was searching for.
1) Would you say the difference between CA540CDP and the Xonar is really worth the 3x price?
2) Xonar analog out to AVR be noticeably be better than HDMI(from GPU) which I use now?
BTW which software do you use for music playback?

 

[ruenigma]

1) Would you say the difference between CA540CDP and the Xonar is really worth the 3x price?
2) Xonar analog out to AVR be noticeably be better than HDMI(from GPU) which I use now?
BTW which software do you use for music playback?

1) No its not enough to justify the 3x price. But like jaudere correctly pointed out the Xonar isn't alone. The entire PC including an aftermarket cooler, silent fans etc costs as much as the CDP
I live with my parents and have a decent CD collection. They find it more convenient to use the CDP.

2) Xonar analog out is really nice for the price and it does sound better (Cleaner, detailed, bigger soundstage) than the Denon's HDMI in. However now I do not use the Denon for music at all and hence continue to use the HDMI for movies/games/TataSky etc.

And I use Foobar 2000for music with a iTunes remote plugin called Touch Remote DACP Server. And control it using an iPad/iPhone since the music PC is headless.

 

[chinu_hark]

Thank You very much. Asus Xonar STX it is then...