Audio Sound card comparision:

J

jugaad1

Disciple
Here is a comparision of Creative sound cards:
I compared these four: Creative x-fi Titanium, Fatal1ty, fatal1ty champion, x-fi xtreme audio.
Creative Sound Blaster - Product Comparison Results

Now, i'm a total noobie as far as Sound cards are concerned.
My question is - for movies, and audio, which sound card should I be looking at ?
I need some decent Surround sound capabilities; my HT supports Dolby Digital EX and Dolby ProLogic ; and DTS thru optical, Coax.

I was thinking , would any mobo that has an optical out sufficient for me, or should i be looking at a specific sound card that supports Dolby Live encoding : Like the x-fi Titanium ?

:huh:
About my RIG : : I drive a 5.1 HT: Jamo S406+Sub package (165 w per channel + 230w for sub, I think)
I bought a "Wansa" amp,because of limited budget , is powerful enough to drive these speakers. Wansa was a in-store brand for xcite stores, which is now called - the electronic store .
the Amp supports Dolby Digital, and PL2 ; and DTS.
I bought both together almost a year ago.
 
Out of all the above, X-fi titanium is more than sufficient for your need.
If you are planning to use optical cable then I don't think the internal circuitry of your sound card is of any use. Onboard is equally capable.
Other pls correct if I am wrong.
 
^^ If that's the case, what abt realtime dolby Live encoding ? does that make your Games and Audio sound better ? Does that give a 5.1 to your movies which have Stereo sound ?
 
For encoding you have to go to a card that has DD Live! or DTS connect (I forget the name of the spec).

The Xonar DX has DD Live! and an optical output, it should be sufficient for what you need. For DTS connect you need to go all the way up to the Xonar D2/D2X. Neither these nor the STX are 'professional grade' but good enough to get the job done.

Remember that DD Live! only works fro sources that can only output analog multichannel (such as games). For upmixing 6 channel from 2-channel sources such as music and stereo audio in movies, you will need additional software. IIRC Asus mixer has a feature that does this, and combined with the DD Live! functionality .

Some motherboards, notably from Gigabyte, have the DD Live! functionality on board, as do some of the premium boards from other tier I manufacturers. I run the DD Live! output through coax from a 790X-UD4P on my gaming machine, and games run in multichannel.

If you are fine with just passthrough (AC3 decoder in the K-lite pack does DD Live! in software for movies) a onboard sound card is usually enough as long as it has either a digital output on the IO panel or a header on the motherboard from where you can construct your own bracket.
 
^^
three questions:
1. Does Asus Xonar DX have an optical or coax out ?? i can't find it on the images I googled up. .. EDIT : Found out that it uses a multipurpose adapter that comes in the box for Digital out.
2. This card misses DTS support. Should that in anyway be a concern?
3. Anyone selling either the xonar dx or Creative x-fi titanium ? or something similar ?
 
^^2. How much source material do you have with DTS encoding? If lots, it is a concern, if none, it's not a concern, if you're not sure, then it probably doesn't matter...
 
I guess less than 10% of my collection. so it should not be a concern. I rely on torrents to feed my media greed. both dvd rips and the occasional HD rip.
 
jugaad1 said:
^^

three questions:

1. Does Asus Xonar DX have an optical or coax out ?? i can't find it on the images I googled up. .. EDIT : Found out that it uses a multipurpose adapter that comes in the box for Digital out.

2. This card misses DTS support. Should that in anyway be a concern?

3. Anyone selling either the xonar dx or Creative x-fi titanium ? or something similar ?
Click to expand...
1. I believe that they have coaxial out with a converter for optical, so both are supported.

2. It is of no concern. DDL is equally good for upmixing & all digital receivers support dolby digital.

Just to clarify, you can bitstream all your DTS content for decoding by your receiver.

3. I believe there is an X-fi titanium on sale in market section.
 
titana said:
1. I believe that they have coaxial out with a converter for optical, so both are supported.
Click to expand...
Coaxial isn't supported AFAIK. Optical out is using a 3.5mm to toslink adapter bundled with the package.
 
I saw an offer for the Auzentech X-Raider in the other forum.

Is that a good-enough buy for me ?as far as i know it doesn't have Dolby Live. Also the x-fi Titanium was taken by the time I got on it.
 
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