Soundcard performance
- Thread starter spirovious
- Start date
there is notably no difference in SQ for the DX and D2X in blind listening tests and expect for a difference in chipsets (av100 vis-a-vis 200).
http://http://techreport.com/articles.x/14500/1
Anyway its the SW + HW combo that will process analog audio streams from DX anyway. Do not worry.
cmsajith
Well-Known Member
He He, dont scare me...:sad:
I think it will be less than HDAV 1.3 since it wont do the h/w decoding of the HD audio thru' analogue and HDMI ports. However it may be slightly expensive than D2X (not sure since production of D2X is stopped, there will be be a huge difference b/n DX and this card). Also there is ~2000/- difference b/n the HDAV 1.3 and HDAV Deluxe which comes with the daughter board (seems to be the the same daughter card is going to be supplied with ST). So the same difference we can expect for this card also.
cmsajith
Well-Known Member
Sound Cards : BuyGamingStuff.com
Techenclave : UserName (PredatorVJ, [email protected]), currently its out of stock around 1 week back.
As per this site :
D2X : 9150/-
HDAV : 9965/-
HDAV Deluxe : 13500/- (3535 diff :sad
DX : 5100/-
STX : 8465/-
There was another guy : RedBull. His prices were cheaper than others, but not responded yet for my PM.
Techenclave : UserName (PredatorVJ, [email protected]), currently its out of stock around 1 week back.
As per this site :
D2X : 9150/-
HDAV : 9965/-
HDAV Deluxe : 13500/- (3535 diff :sad
DX : 5100/-
STX : 8465/-
There was another guy : RedBull. His prices were cheaper than others, but not responded yet for my PM.
anm
Well-Known Member
can I ask a stupid question? Does any of these has digital in that can be used to connect to cdp/ dvdp and then send out analog out in 2.0 2.1 and/ or 5.1?
HDAV has it
Spdf In
Coaxial and High-bandwidth Optical Combo Connector
Supports 192KHz/24bit (Shared with Line/Mic In)
Fpor more details refer to Elite Bastards - ASUS Xonar HDAV 1.3 Deluxe sound card review
anm
Well-Known Member
how can a CDP/ DVDP be connected? Does it need some special software to route the digital input to output?
moserw
New Member
@anm - Are you asking about taking output from CDP/DVDP and connecting to the soundcard? Ripping would be better here. All the FLAC/WAV rips are having more soundstage and also sound more "warm" IMHO than when played via the Audio CD.
If you are asking about connecting from soundcard to CDP/DVDP then it would not be required since the PC would do the job of the source/transport/player. Unless once has a high-end CDP that one wants to use in which case any Rs. 1000 soundcard with a digital out would do or even the onboard soundcard if it has a digital out.
Pardon me if I understood your query wrong and have given an irrelevant answer. Still waiting for my first cup of morning tea...
If you are asking about connecting from soundcard to CDP/DVDP then it would not be required since the PC would do the job of the source/transport/player. Unless once has a high-end CDP that one wants to use in which case any Rs. 1000 soundcard with a digital out would do or even the onboard soundcard if it has a digital out.
Pardon me if I understood your query wrong and have given an irrelevant answer. Still waiting for my first cup of morning tea...
spirovious
Well-Known Member
Even D2/D2X has SPDF in too.
A 1 more thing-
Now lot of vidcards are coming with HDCP & can send even aud via HDMI,in that case after adding Xonar SC,can still VC transfer aud (bitstream)be send through HDMI?
or once SC is install SC drivers will affect the process?
confusion-
This site says DX for gaming,D2X & D2 for HT(Blray aud)
http://event.asus.com/audiocards/2009/xonarfamily/index.htm
This site has recommended all Xonar for lossless audio-
http://event.asus.com/audiocards/2009/xonarfamily/index.htm
Now what?
updated-
new asus cards-
http://www.asus.com/News.aspx?N_ID=deOz0WgNrEnv57p7
http://www.asus.com/News.aspx?N_ID=5KqyuL93cmEFZF0w
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anm
Well-Known Member
This is what I am asking.
Agreed that ripping would give better output, and that would be the case mostly with audio cds. But I am just thinking of connecting my DVDP with digital out (I do not download/ rip video, I rent dvds, watch it and return it to seventymm) or a newly purchased CD that is yet to be ripped.
regards
Agreed that ripping would give better output, and that would be the case mostly with audio cds. But I am just thinking of connecting my DVDP with digital out (I do not download/ rip video, I rent dvds, watch it and return it to seventymm) or a newly purchased CD that is yet to be ripped.
regards
Bro could not get you here -can you be more specific.
See in my case (till i get a proper stereo amp and then a proper SQ) - i am using my mobo (M3N78EM) to send DTS 5.1/2.0 via optical using the Realtek HD drivers (set as default device in the mixer sound panel). At the same time i have configured winamp and foobar to pass out sound using the nvidia HD audio driver to pass 2.0 channel sound to my panny pv8. (for my wifes ease who thinks sound is good enough for normal use).
The M3N78EM with 8300 onboard graphics and realtek HD audio and Nvidia HD audio ( can pass 8 channel sound by LPCM) is HDCP compliant too and set as pet 1.3a HDMI specifications.
Bitstreaming can be done by sending DTS/AC3 streams(as is) via optical or HDMI. The thing with 8 channel (true HD audio) is no computer card except Xonar HDAV 1.3 or Azuntech HD cinema (not released) can send 8 channel as bitstream.
PS: Anyway all formats are eventually changed to PCM so that the devices can understand that (blame it on the intellectuals then) - whether your computer passes LPCM to an external receiver or bitstream to be decoded by an external receiver - the sound quality should remain the same under ideal conditions:indifferent14:
i have a couple of queries
one is directed mostly to vortex
vortexyou have the D2x correct. i wanted to ask - how have you connected your SC to your receiver ?
(im a bit confused becasue the D2x shows only 3.5mm jacks for the front side and centre speakers. - now if you are using these you must be using an 3.5 to RCA splitter . if this is the case is the SQ decent for 2 channel music threough the splitter.
now if you are using the optical out - then im all the more confused becasue then you have basically bipassed the SC DAC.
why then did you pay so much for a SC when you were going to bypass half its capabilities anyway.
you might as well have gone with a cheaper card with an SPDIF out.)
my second query is reagurding the DX and D2X
both these have good DAC's (almost equal for 2 channel music) however unfortunaltely they only have 3.5mm jacks for analogue output.
Doesnt anyone find this dumb for such expensive electronics
a 3.5mm jack means you probably have to use a RCA splitter if you are gonna connect it to an amp na?
now does anyone know what the splitter does to the sound.?
sigh !! only if the DX was created with dual RCA - it would have been the most VFM product for 2 channel music.
somone needs to actaully compare ( blind test) with the essence(direct RCA outs) and the DX ( using the splitter) and see how much difference is really there.
if these is a big difference i would think asus is dumb not to provide the D2X with RCA out at least considering its the same price as the essence.
also why didnt it provide the DX too. god how much can it cost!
duhhh the frustration!
one is directed mostly to vortex
vortexyou have the D2x correct. i wanted to ask - how have you connected your SC to your receiver ?
(im a bit confused becasue the D2x shows only 3.5mm jacks for the front side and centre speakers. - now if you are using these you must be using an 3.5 to RCA splitter . if this is the case is the SQ decent for 2 channel music threough the splitter.
now if you are using the optical out - then im all the more confused becasue then you have basically bipassed the SC DAC.
why then did you pay so much for a SC when you were going to bypass half its capabilities anyway.
you might as well have gone with a cheaper card with an SPDIF out.)
my second query is reagurding the DX and D2X
both these have good DAC's (almost equal for 2 channel music) however unfortunaltely they only have 3.5mm jacks for analogue output.
Doesnt anyone find this dumb for such expensive electronics
a 3.5mm jack means you probably have to use a RCA splitter if you are gonna connect it to an amp na?
now does anyone know what the splitter does to the sound.?
sigh !! only if the DX was created with dual RCA - it would have been the most VFM product for 2 channel music.
somone needs to actaully compare ( blind test) with the essence(direct RCA outs) and the DX ( using the splitter) and see how much difference is really there.
if these is a big difference i would think asus is dumb not to provide the D2X with RCA out at least considering its the same price as the essence.
also why didnt it provide the DX too. god how much can it cost!
duhhh the frustration!
spirovious
Well-Known Member
Suprateep-
I will put in this way.If you have HDMI1.3 out MB,then hardware(MB) & drivers are developed in such away that they assist each other.ie you can either use onbrd SC to get 7.1 ana out OR divert bitstream via onbrd HDMI to AVR.
Theory can change when you use dedicated GC(vidcard) with SC as drivers are developed independently.The newer GC can output sound to over HDMI.
At the same time SC drivers also will be active to grab aud.I just want to confirm if we select HDMI opt on MP(powerdvd8) then can HDaud be send over to Gc & further passed via HDMI?
Asus HDAV1.3 has HDMI input,in that case regular GC with DVI-HDMI converter can be looped to Asus HDAV card & then passed to AVR as Vid+bistream aud.
In opposite case simple SC(DX) & GC with HDMI,what will be the settings to get Vid+bistream aud over DMI?will SC cause disturbance?
did you see flash demos from asus-global & India?Glb site says D2X & HDAV can handle lossless format whereas Indian site says Dx also can do that.
Magma-If you use 3.5 stereo to RCA splitter,SQ cannot changed as only negative connection will be common & Lt,RT will be seperate.
I will put in this way.If you have HDMI1.3 out MB,then hardware(MB) & drivers are developed in such away that they assist each other.ie you can either use onbrd SC to get 7.1 ana out OR divert bitstream via onbrd HDMI to AVR.
Theory can change when you use dedicated GC(vidcard) with SC as drivers are developed independently.The newer GC can output sound to over HDMI.
At the same time SC drivers also will be active to grab aud.I just want to confirm if we select HDMI opt on MP(powerdvd8) then can HDaud be send over to Gc & further passed via HDMI?
Asus HDAV1.3 has HDMI input,in that case regular GC with DVI-HDMI converter can be looped to Asus HDAV card & then passed to AVR as Vid+bistream aud.
In opposite case simple SC(DX) & GC with HDMI,what will be the settings to get Vid+bistream aud over DMI?will SC cause disturbance?
did you see flash demos from asus-global & India?Glb site says D2X & HDAV can handle lossless format whereas Indian site says Dx also can do that.
Magma-If you use 3.5 stereo to RCA splitter,SQ cannot changed as only negative connection will be common & Lt,RT will be seperate.
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moserw
New Member
And are the speakers connected to the PC and you are going to be watching on the PC? Either way to answer your question very unlikely. Most soundcards do not come with inputs for connecting external sources. Their inputs are inbuilt on the card itself since just putting it on the mobo gets them working. The Xonar HDAV1.3 Deluxe like already mentioned has digital input but that's more like an exception and also the card itself is expensive.
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Magma....
I don not think SQ should change with a good quality RCA splitter.
Spiro.....
Actually its strange for these integrated mobos (Asus M3N78EM) - actually the realtek plays with analog and optical digital connections. While with the HDMI - the graphics part is handled by the onboard 8300 graphics chipset whereas the audio is driven by NVIDIA HD audio driver (ver 1.00.06 or something like that) - which can pass 2 channel, 6 channel (bitstream), 8 channel DTS/AC3 streams out (via LPCM). Somehow the HDCP compliance comes from NVIDIA HW only - the realtek is separate and multiple applications using NVIDA (say winamp) and Realtek (say XBMC, MPHC) drivers.
I do not think SQ or graphics card should cause disturbance if audio/video is routed through them. A lot of ATI cards I have seen use the spdif out from integrated mobos to deliver 8 channel LPCM via HDMI/DVI.
And lastly I think DX and D2X are essentially same on paper with similar sort of HW. So if D2X can do it - DX can too. In fact DX is the cheaper VFM version and D2X is going to be replaced soon AFAIK
spirovious
Well-Known Member
Thanks but just look at these demos-
India-http://xonar-india.asus.com/
Global-http://event.asus.com/audiocards/2009/xonarfamily/index.htm
According to Indian site DX is capable of handling lossless aud(192khx/24bit),
but global says DX for music & games, D2,D2X for HT,lossless aud.
I understood your post,but something is wrong OR is hidden on these Demos.
The newer card DS(in place of D1)can handle lossless 192/24bit aud.
http://www.asus.com/News.aspx?N_ID=deOz0WgNrEnv57p7
I have been reading abt PCI vs PCI-1X cards, only thing I got is speed i/o is faster with 1X than reg PCI. Is there any other advantage?
I read Asus PCI-1X xonars are actual PCI 2.0 cards.There is one chip on card which connects(converts) it to PCI1X.
India-http://xonar-india.asus.com/
Global-http://event.asus.com/audiocards/2009/xonarfamily/index.htm
According to Indian site DX is capable of handling lossless aud(192khx/24bit),
but global says DX for music & games, D2,D2X for HT,lossless aud.
I understood your post,but something is wrong OR is hidden on these Demos.
The newer card DS(in place of D1)can handle lossless 192/24bit aud.
http://www.asus.com/News.aspx?N_ID=deOz0WgNrEnv57p7
I have been reading abt PCI vs PCI-1X cards, only thing I got is speed i/o is faster with 1X than reg PCI. Is there any other advantage?
I read Asus PCI-1X xonars are actual PCI 2.0 cards.There is one chip on card which connects(converts) it to PCI1X.
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you are absolutely right in this case.
BTW specs for output for both DX and D2X is same and rated at 24 bit/192kHz. Just a marketing gimmick i think to sell more on the higher priced D2X.
I beleive one is low height for SFF (small form factor) chassis the other is full size.
Regards
iaudio
Well-Known Member
Which one is small form factor?
And does anyone know how much the upcoming ST(its the pci version of stx with 7.1 right?) is going to cost?
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