Asus Xonar D2
Auzentech X-Fi Prelude 7.1
Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro
What are some other good cards? I want a general purpose sound card
that is great at playing music, including high resolution music, such
as from DVD-A disks. I want the music to sound really smooth,
analog-ish, and wonderful, with a big sound stage, great dynamic
range, and all that great stuff. I'm leaning towards the Xonar D2
because it has the highest specs out of the above 3, but I'm not yet
familiar with the really expensive sound cards, like $400 and up. I
don't care about creating my own music, although I might copy songs
from vinyl records sometime. The xonar D2 can record at 192 khz, 24
bit, and I'm pretty sure the X-Fi cards can't.
Nice troll :-)
> Asus Xonar D2
> Auzentech X-Fi Prelude 7.1
> Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro
Well, you posted to rec.audio.pro(duction) and so you get the audio
production view. They are all consumer cards that people who are interested
in audio production would simply not look at. No balanced I/O and their
input and output voltages won't match up well with a lot of our other
production equipment.
However, let's look at how they shape up as audio gear for listening to
music:
http://www.vr-zone.com/print/5135
Auzen X-Meridian 7.1
Frequency response (from 40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB:+0.02, -0.12
Noise level, dB (A):-95.8
Dynamic range, dB (A):96.1
THD, %:0.0065
IMD + Noise, %:0.0089
Stereo crosstalk, dB:-96.7
Audiotrak ProDigy 7.1 XT
Frequency response (from 40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB:+0.03, -0.03
Noise level, dB (A):-95.8
Dynamic range, dB (A):95.8
THD, %:0.0017
IMD + Noise, %:0.0052
Stereo crosstalk, dB:-95.1
Creative X-Fi Elite Pro
Frequency response (from 40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB:+0.02, -0.15
Noise level, dB (A):-96.2
Dynamic range, dB (A):96.2
THD, %:0.0007
IMD + Noise, %:0.0047
Stereo crosstalk, dB:-97.6
ASUS Xonar D2
Frequency response (from 40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB:+0.01, -0.07
Noise level, dB (A):-91.9
Dynamic range, dB (A):91.9
THD, %:0.0009
IMD + Noise, %:0.0075
Stereo crosstalk, dB:-92.1
> What are some other good cards?
There are a ton of them. Search google!
> I want a general purpose sound card
> that is great at playing music, including high resolution music, such
> as from DVD-A disks.
DVD-A format runs up to 192/24. Which of these cards can handle that? I'll
leave thrashing of the spec sheets up to you!
> I want the music to sound really smooth,
> analog-ish, and wonderful, with a big sound stage, great dynamic
> range, and all that great stuff.
Unless there are hidden sonic bugabears, none of these cards will sound bad
while playing back digital music files whose format they can handle.
> I'm leaning towards the Xonar D2
> because it has the highest specs out of the above 3,
You're splitting hairs.
However check the frequency response curves at 24/96 and 24/192 from the
page I cited.
The Asus card has frequency response that drops like a rock at 20 KHz. It's
a pretender, not a player at higher sample rates.
> but I'm not yet
> familiar with the really expensive sound cards, like $400 and up.
Well there's Lynx Studio, eMu...
Google on, dude!
<snip>
>I don't care about creating my own music, although I might copy songs
>from vinyl records sometime. The xonar D2 can record at 192 khz, 24
>bit, and I'm pretty sure the X-Fi cards can't.
To add to Arny's excellent and comprehensive post, I'd just like to
point out that you don't need to consider exotic technology for
recording from vinyl. Despite what the extremophiles may claim, most
sound cards are already considerably better than the limits of vinyl.
(And most human ears, for that matter.)
Best regards,
Bob Masta
DAQARTA v3.50
Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis
www.daqarta.com
Scope, Spectrum, Spectrogram, FREE Signal Generator
Science with your sound card!
Familiarize yourself with http://groups.google.com
If you had done any research into rec.audio.pro,
you would have discovered that products of those
types are not considered "high-end". Perhaps they
are in some of the other groups you cross-posted
to??
You would have also discovered that computer sound
cards are regularly discussed here (r.a.p) and some
particular products are mentioned frequently as
better than average.
PS: Sily "screen names" make you seem like a
poseur and not worth the time to engage in serious
discussion.
These are cheap gamer cards. You are not going to find people here in
rec.audio.pro who really know anything about this sort of cheap consumer
gear. If you are looking for information on these sorts of things, you
are better off asking in one of the gaming newsgroups.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
>Nice troll :-)
Fuck you asshole. I wasn't trolling.
You piece of shit.
Obviously I know I can spend hours googling and reading articles about
sound cards that I never heard myself. I thought I could get a quicker
and better answer from people who supposedly have experience and
knowledge about high performance sound cards, but I was overly
optimistic since the majority of people on usenet are assholes who
like to flame people just for posing an innocent, normal question. All
you people just go eat shit and die please.
In rec.audio.pro Rich Billionaire <f...@billionairesclub.com> wrote:
: Obviously I know I can spend hours googling and reading articles about
Rich Billionaire wrote:
I hope you die a horrible death yourself.
> What do you guys think of the following sound cards and do you have
> any personal experience with them:
> Asus Xonar D2
> Auzentech X-Fi Prelude 7.1
> Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro
Toys for trolls.
> What are some other good cards?
Read this newsgroup and you will find a fairly small handful of cards that
are frequently mentioned.
Kind regards
Peter Larsen
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Apogee-Ensemble-FireWire-Digital-Interface-103641676-i1125439.gc
I suggest you pick it up right away as I am personal friend of the local rep
for Apogee and he says they are going up $200 in price next month (for the
same unit!).
This should be good for listening up to DVD-A.
Cheers;
Steve
"Rich Billionaire" <f...@billionairesclub.com> wrote in message
news:apigi3hkooci5ta8j...@4ax.com...
>
> I have one of these and highly recommend picking one up:
> Apogee-Ensemble
Rich didn't say what kind of computer he had, so I'm guessing it's not
a Mac since practically nobody buys a Mac for playing games and
watching DVDs. The Ensemble is another one of Apogee's Mac-only
products.
Have you read this guy's posts? I wonder what kind of computer works best
for learning better manners?
The surely you know that none of those have *anything* to do with "high end".
> The xonar D2 can record at 192 khz, 24 bit
What a massive waste of time and drive space.
--
David Morgan (MAMS)
http://www.m-a-m-s DOT com
Morgan Audio Media Service
Dallas, Texas (214) 662-9901
_______________________________________
http://www.januarysound.com
> Have you read this guy's posts? I wonder what kind of computer works best
> for learning better manners?
Which guy, and whose manners? I haven't seen a post from Rich
Billionaire in which he said "I have a Mac." I don't care who else has
a Mac.
Who are YOU trying to help here?
I wasn't attacking you, sorry I could have been more clear.
malachi
"Mike Rivers" <mri...@d-and-d.com> wrote in message
news:1193917411....@d55g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
> PS: Sily "screen names" make you seem like a
> poseur and not worth the time to engage in serious
> discussion.
More like a "loseur" than a poseur.
If you're so rich, pay someone to do the work for you instead of
trolling for free consulting on usenet.