Suggest me a sound card

first thing check if the maudio driver supports asio - AFAIK it did in xp - check for vista also. Also if there is no asio support simply use asio4all. And if you have flac - then download CPlay. (for more details download CPlay first).

second congrats on the new card. You will notice atleast a 10-20% improvement over the onboard sound chips and the sound staging and clarity will be great.

M-Audio driver-installer by default install a driver called "M-Audio Delta ASIO" which i could select as output device in foobar2000. I could experience almost 40% improvement in sound quality
 
M-Audio driver-installer by default install a driver called "M-Audio Delta ASIO" which i could select as output device in foobar2000. I could experience almost 40% improvement in sound quality

Try ASIO4ALL too. I've found it to be better than the default drivers provided by the manufacturer especially in the case of my Asus.
 
Try ASIO4ALL too. I've found it to be better than the default drivers provided by the manufacturer especially in the case of my Asus.

That is because of ASUS' less than noteworthy drivers, Moser. Companies such as EMU or MAudio have matured drivers which should work quite well for ASIO output.

Its a pity ASUS is lagging behind these professional audio cards in just this aspect.
 
Do you have PC speakers or an amp + speakers? Choose any card with a digital output, not much difference between cards in the price range you have mentioned.

If you really want great audio then Asus Xonar STX costing around 8.5-9K.


Will the Beresford DAc 7510 bypass the Asus Xonar STX DAC or will it add up to SQ?

In otherwords what I want to ask does it make sense to buy a cheap card if one has an external DAC( Beresford DAC 7510) to connect thru digital out
 
Will the Beresford DAc 7510 bypass the Asus Xonar STX DAC or will it add up to SQ?

In otherwords what I want to ask does it make sense to buy a cheap card if one has an external DAC( Beresford DAC 7510) to connect thru digital out

the dac of stx is better than the default ones on the 7510 IMHO (i habe not tried the beresford DAC though). In case one is using digital out - use the beresford dac or else use the stx and do away with the beresford.

Only problem is that optical is prone to jitter sometime so theres a catch here:lol:

PS: There is no right answer my friend.
 
the dac of stx is better than the default ones on the 7510 IMHO (i habe not tried the beresford DAC though). In case one is using digital out - use the beresford dac or else use the stx and do away with the beresford.

Only problem is that optical is prone to jitter sometime so theres a catch here:lol:

PS: There is no right answer my friend.


That's why I always address as 'Audiogurus' :D as I don't want to burn my fingers by buying first and then realizing that it is not possibel/ results not good:sad:
 
Will the Beresford DAc 7510 bypass the Asus Xonar STX DAC or will it add up to SQ?

In otherwords what I want to ask does it make sense to buy a cheap card if one has an external DAC( Beresford DAC 7510) to connect thru digital out

Like supra said the DAC of the Asus is indeed better than the DAC of the Beresford and I personally prefer analog connection from the Asus instead of a digital out. I also don't see the need for a DAC if you're using a high-end SC with a good DAC.

If you already have a good DAC like a Beresford or similarly in the stereo amp or AVR then get a decent SC with a digital out and it should suffice.
 
Moser - I wonder if the new Beresford Caiman could be competition for the ASUS Xonar. Do have a look here and let me know your thoughts.

Home HI-FI

It certainly looks interesting. Will need to listen though to judge. If I have to pen my thoughts though before I have a listen then I would say the Asus Xonar would be more to my liking.

I've used the Beresford 7510 quite a bit and it was used to primarily play MP3s from a PC and mind you the MP3s sounded pretty good to great in fact. This however was not much to my liking with FLAC content since they don't need processing like the MP3s do.

BTW the link redirects to the Beresford site. I had to Google Beresford Caiman for more info.
 
It certainly looks interesting. Will need to listen though to judge. If I have to pen my thoughts though before I have a listen then I would say the Asus Xonar would be more to my liking.

I've used the Beresford 7510 quite a bit and it was used to primarily play MP3s from a PC and mind you the MP3s sounded pretty good to great in fact. This however was not much to my liking with FLAC content since they don't need processing like the MP3s do.

BTW the link redirects to the Beresford site. I had to Google Beresford Caiman for more info.

It is new on the market - so I am not sure we are going to come across too many people who have heard it in action. Thanks for the thought. All this is in line with seeing if my system can be improved beyond where it is now.:) And the link works alright for me.
 
Hi All,

I do have doubt here.

Why nobody is suggesting Creative Soundcards?

Is there a problem with them.
I heard that the Creative XFi Cards are very good.. but i never heard the sound.
 
Why nobody is suggesting Creative Soundcards?
Historically, because they made a basic product, and then aimed at the home-cinema and gaming market. Nobody bought a Creative card for the best hifi stereo sound. I have no idea if that is true today, but these things stick!

I went from on-board sound to a 50 board (4,000Rs), and then after some time, to a 100-plus board. Both steps were really noticable in sound quality played through the hifi.

Although I no longer have a wire PC to HiFi link, I am intending on getting a pair of decent PC speakers, and I am very upset to find that my beloved RME card is not working any longer.
 
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