Choice of 2 soundcards, help please

[LordOfLA]

The prelude has superior analogue audio output. Though not quite as good as the Xonar. THe Xonar is not gaming focused however and lacks a few gaming features.

If gaming is not your main focus you should get the xonar, if gaming is your main focus get the prelude.

In both cases do not use digital output 🙂

 

[belveder]

Thanks but why not digital? I have Logitech digital speakers

 

[ElementalDragon]

for the reasons mentioned in one of my previous posts. Don't think there's a single speaker set designed for computers that has better sound processing hardware than what's used by the Prelude or Xonar for analog output. The sound card itself doesn't process the sound when using an optical connection.

 

[rotjong]

I would have suggested the X-Fi Prelude however the initial question specifically addressed the Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty PCI-e and ASUS Xonar PCI-e cards. I purchased the X-Fi Titanium because I required a PCI-e card and the Prelude is not a PCI-e card. I would have gladly purchased a PCI-e Auzentech card had they made any such cards. They still do not. So, if belveder wants a PCI-e card they are out of luck with the Auzentech X-Fi Prelude.

I have a friend who has the Prelude and loves it.

 

[belveder]

I'm not after a pic-e in particular, that's just what the card was, when I started this topic I didn't know of the X-Fi Prelude but have since learned of it and it sounds good except for the fact of having to change parts on the board to improve sound quality, why can't they just bring out a fully working card to start with? But having said that this card looks good

 

[ElementalDragon]

don't get me (or them) wrong.... the sound quality is excellent with the standard out-of-the-box OPAMPS. They just give you the option of improving it, since some other OPAMPS have their benefits. At least Auzentech gives you the OPTION to improve the sound quality on the hardware level.

 

[LordOfLA]

THing is the xonar comes with the industries best amps by default, price tag matches though.

 

[belveder]

I reckon overall the Prelude seems like the way to go, although from what I can gather (correct me if I am wrong) all the negative reports to Creative are referring to the previous versions, supposedly the new one that I was asking about has fixed nearly all these problems?

 

[LordOfLA]

I've not had a creative card since I bought the xonar. I personally don't miss the extra gaming abilities of the creative cards. Your best place to check is the creative forums:

http://forums.creative.com

 

[rotjong]

I reckon overall the Prelude seems like the way to go, although from what I can gather (correct me if I am wrong) all the negative reports to Creative are referring to the previous versions, supposedly the new one that I was asking about has fixed nearly all these problems?

The Prelude is based on slightly older Creative technologies but made by Auzentech with better quality parts. It's been around for awhile now. It's a good card and better than a comparable Creative X-Fi card released at the same time. The newer X-Fi Titanium PCI-e may have some newer technologies as well as the older. I honestly don't know offhand. The drivers have been very stable since I installed the card.

What I can say about the Titanium is that the difference between it and an ASUS SupremeFX II that came with my motherboard is night and day. There's absolutely no comparison. The difference between the Titanium and an older X-Fi XtremeMusic is also clearly discernable to my ears without doing any special comparisons. Just listening to music is enough.

I'd say you wouldn't be going wrong with the Prelude, the Titanium, or the Xonar. For gaming I'd stick with an X-Fi based card for the true EAX support. The price point for all three cards is pretty similar with them all running around ~150 USD the last I saw.

 

[LordOfLA]

I must admit to being tempted to move my xonar to my work PC and plugging a prelude into my PC since its focus has shifted more towards gaming lately.

I'd build a htpc but I only have one set of surround analogue inputs on my AV amp 🙂

 

[ElementalDragon]

rotjong: the Prelude is $154 after $20 mail-in rebate on Newegg..... but the thing we gotta worry about is he's not in the US....

Either way i think they'd still be relatively close in price.

 

[dreamliner77]

1) There is no such thing as "digital speakers." Speakers are mechanical and thus analog. Do you mean your speakers/amp have a digital in? If so, just use the digital out from the onboard sound solution or a cheap card like a Chaintech AV-710 that does bit perfect digita.

2) I can't really speak for gaming because I don't game but if sound quality is your #1 concern, look at an M-Audio 2496.

 

[LordOfLA]

I'd put good money on the xonar out-performing the m-audio for sound quality 🙂

 

[Terrahertz]

I miss Turtle Beach. They need to compete in the high end.

 

[strjms72]

Creative does suck, no doubt about it.

 

[ElementalDragon]

strjms72: uuh... kinda random. Yeah... creative isn't the greatest.... but they do make excellent hardware.... which is probably why Auzentech used Creative's X-Fi chipset in it's Prelude sound card.

 

[dreamliner77]

I'd put good money on the xonar out-performing the m-audio for sound quality 🙂

You're on! Send me an Xonar and I'll run the tests...


The 2496 is about as accurate as soundcards get.

 

[dreamliner77]

I miss Turtle Beach. They need to compete in the high end.

I still have a Santa Cruz running in one of my machines. A great card, it would be nice if they released Vista drivers.

 

[LordOfLA]

You're on! Send me an Xonar and I'll run the tests...


The 2496 is about as accurate as soundcards get.

http://hothardware.com/Articles/ASUS-Xonar-D2-Ultra-Fidelity-71-PCI-Sound-Card/?page=4

Link above has rightmark test scores of the xonar d2 that I have.