# ASUS Xonar Sound cards



## MaximusE (May 22, 2015)

Hey guys,

Which card should i go with?

D2X or Xonar Phoebus?

My sound system is a Logitech Z-5500 5.1
Am not using headphones at the moment but am getting a set in the future

Am not a hardcore gamer but am playing games every now and then but am more into playing music.
What about Creative sound cards?

Any ideas?

Thanks


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## FreedomEclipse (May 22, 2015)

Neither, go for a Creative Soundblaster Z - better drivers and less problems when it comes to gaming.


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## RCoon (May 22, 2015)

For that sound system I'd go for the D2X. The Pheobus seems mildly overpriced, and the drivers for all Xonar devices are old and the UI is super crappy. Download the Unified Xonar drivers instead.

I had a D2X, then switched over to a Creative SB-Z because of some buzz problems, but that was a personal experience, and doesn't represent Xonar cards as a whole.


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## MaximusE (May 22, 2015)

Hmm

on amazon.de phoebus costs 119 on the other hand d2x costs 121 for some reason.

used to have a d2m at the past and i was fine with it.

sound blaster z is nice but is too short  aesthetics hahaha


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## droopyRO (May 22, 2015)

Do you really want 5.1 ? if not watch the above, i got a Fiio E10k to replace my XFI, no drivers no problems, clear powerfull sound for headphones and 2.0 speakers, no headphone out buzzing or interference. Happy with it for the money i payed.


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## MaximusE (May 22, 2015)

Yes i want 5.1 this is the best sound system for me for more than 6 years now so i want a decent sound card to go


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## droopyRO (May 22, 2015)

Another alternative then http://www.asus.com/Sound_Cards/Xonar_U7/


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## RejZoR (May 22, 2015)

I wish someone would make a return of a proper open audio standard for environmental audio effects with hardware acceleration. All these software audio engines sound like shit. The stagnation in audio segment is so dumb. Everyone focusing only on graphics and after Vista, audio just dived into the sewers. Hell, even System Shock 2 using old EAX 2 sounds far better than any game using FMOD today. At least materials actually made appropriate sounds. Now it all sounds like plastic with artificial effects of glass or metal...


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## MaximusE (May 22, 2015)

what about xonar zxr tho?


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## droopyRO (May 22, 2015)

RejZoR said:


> I wish someone would make a return of a proper open audio standard for environmental audio effects with hardware acceleration. All these software audio engines sound like shit. The stagnation in audio segment is so dumb. Everyone focusing only on graphics and after Vista, audio just dived into the sewers. Hell, even System Shock 2 using old EAX 2 sounds far better than any game using FMOD today. At least materials actually made appropriate sounds. Now it all sounds like plastic with artificial effects of glass or metal...


Problem is people are all about framerate on Ultra or just running the game on consoles, properly calibrated monitors and sound systems are something they overlook. How many times did you see high end rigs with multiple GPUs i7 overclocked and 23" monitor with onboard Realtek ?


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## FreedomEclipse (May 22, 2015)

MaximusE said:


> what about xonar zxr tho?



No such thing as xonar ZxR. Creative have a ZxR card though, stick to the sb-z though cuz its cheaper


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## RejZoR (May 22, 2015)

The problem is no one is even trying to make people more enthusiastic about sound. It's just pixel shaders this and billions of polygons that. But anyone who was from my era and have seen differences between plain 3D sound and hardware 3D sound with EAX or even A3D knows what a massive difference it was. And any old game that I played with EAX 2 sounded so much better than any modern game with software crap audio engines.

Sure ASUS went max quality with Xonar cards, but to be honest, raw audio quality is not what games need. It's the accurate 3D sound positioning through HRTF algorithms and real-time environmental effects processing. Part of the problem is Microsoft sacking the audio library with Vista, sending us back to stone age. Imagine in DirectSound3D days returning back to squeaky noises and MIDI music. That's how I feel today, looking back at EAX powered titles.

Why is no one embracing audio more, making people more aware on how to actually listen to things, not just look at them. It's so disappointing to see this happening... I just don't get it what happened to OpenAL. It used to be embraced, it even offered audio extensions (like EAX) and then it was just gone. Ugh...


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## RejZoR (May 22, 2015)

MaximusE said:


> what about xonar zxr tho?



Buy top end models only if you need accessories that come with it. For audio quality alone is not worth it imo. I even bought Sound Blaster Z Bulk that was without that EMI shield and without array microphone. Because I don't need it at all, but I've saved like 15 €. Still, vanilla SB Z is still a very good soundcard. If you're a gamer, forget about ASUS, get SB Z. For music only, I can see Xonar as viable option. But then again, SB Z does that good as well so it's a better all around card. Btw, it also has "Direct Output" mode that bypasses all audio processing and outputs the audio in it's "virgin" form.


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## FreedomEclipse (May 22, 2015)

What happened to openAL?  Microsoft just sat on it.and they still are


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## NC37 (May 22, 2015)

Xonar DG here and I never have problems with any games. It does have a little buzzing sound but I have ear ringing anyways so I rarely notice it. 

Hooked up to my Storm Sirus 5.1 headset is awesome. Love it. Tried for one day off my Realtek onboard audio. Even after tuning it, so crappy compared to the Xonar. However I will say one thing, it took time to setup the Xonar for 5.1. Tuning it for the sound quality I wanted was a bit of trial and error balancing. Keep in mind, they won't be perfect out of the box. You will have to likely set things up to your liking.


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## Frick (May 22, 2015)

RejZoR said:


> I wish someone would make a return of a proper open audio standard for environmental audio effects with hardware acceleration. All these software audio engines sound like shit. The stagnation in audio segment is so dumb. Everyone focusing only on graphics and after Vista, audio just dived into the sewers. Hell, even System Shock 2 using old EAX 2 sounds far better than any game using FMOD today. At least materials actually made appropriate sounds. Now it all sounds like plastic with artificial effects of glass or metal...



The old Thiefs... Absolutely brilliant sound.


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## WhiteNoise (May 22, 2015)

droopyRO said:


> Problem is people are all about framerate on Ultra or just running the game on consoles, properly calibrated monitors and sound systems are something they overlook. How many times did you see high end rigs with multiple GPUs i7 overclocked and 23" monitor with onboard Realtek ?



Onboard sound is fine on some boards. But I agree things could be better. I have a bunch of sound cards but choose not to use them because the onboard on this mobo works just as good. BUT I only use that in conjunction with my HK amp. The rest of the time I go USB to my Pagoda DAC to Bryston amp.


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## RejZoR (May 22, 2015)

That's the problem. People just compare and brag about DAC decibels and SNR. Who gives a shit about it when game fails to render sound positioning properly. Or fails to render ENOUGH sounds to make it realyl immersive. How many on-board soundcards can do 128 separate 3D sound channels? Very few, most are limited to 64 or even less, usually only 32. I had this back in 1999 with Sound Blaster Live! 5.1... It's 2015 and nothing has improved. In fact we went even further back functionality, features and 3D sound wise...


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## MaximusE (May 22, 2015)

what about essence stx ii or xonar phoebus solo? also the zxr is good choice.

since am using 3 way sli the sound blaster z is a bit short and it doesnt look good with the overall build


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## Frick (May 22, 2015)

BumbleBee said:


> Microsoft is a joke. Windows 10 supports USB 3.1 protocol but still no USB Audio 2.0
> 
> I should have bought a mac



What's that?


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## MaximusE (May 22, 2015)

xonar phoebus is mostly about gaming or music playback???


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## FreedomEclipse (May 22, 2015)

MaximusE said:


> xonar phoebus is mostly about gaming or music playback???




Is ROG so one would assume Gaming. Xonar cards are great for movies and music - they have a clarity that is so crisp its almost unmatched. Down side is some games can be problematic with them and it doesnt matter if you turn DS3D GX on or off it doesnt emulate (or replicate) EAX very well at all. Turning EAX on in older titles will either cause the game to crash or go into and endless soundloop before the game crashes due to a buffer overrun error. in CS:S, TF2, KF & L4D it will cause a butt tonne of audio clipping and in CS:S you will be able to hear the enemy through walls from right across the map in their spawn and the sounds of gunfire echo and reverberate like youre in some massive empty warehouse or cave.

ARMA II broke for me - the intro music was just so loud it was distorting and turning all the sound level volumes down didnt do anything at all - the sound controls in that game literally stopped responding.

Ive owned a Xonar D2X & STX, Ive also had the opportunity to play around with a DG and i honestly hand on heart recommend creative over Asus soundcards.

Go for the SB-Z or the  X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro - The Titanium is a much older card and doesnt have a headphones amp like the SB-Z does but technology for  soundcards have kind hardly progressed anywhere so the Titanium should sound pretty amazing if you manage to get one for a cheap price. I think they were EOL a long time ago but if you find one cheap, its not to be overlooked.

I had the X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro and it did its job very well till the opamps on it started going south


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## AlienIsGOD (May 22, 2015)

i have a DSX and its great, mind you im using 2.1 speakers till i can afford a decent 5.1 SS setup.


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## MaximusE (May 22, 2015)

i used to have a d2x and havent had any problems in the past i dont know now with 8.1 and drivers how is it going.
my friend owns a creative xfi platinum for more than 6 years with z5500 and couldnt be happier also another friend owns sb-z without any issues.

what about the zxr? whats the difference? and also if i get the zxr will i need to install both pieces in order to use with z5500?


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## FreedomEclipse (May 22, 2015)

Not worth it. 

5.1 is only supported by TOSLink (Optical) and TosLink bypasses all the 'good' circuitry /processing that makes your audio sound good and if thats what you want then why bother with a soundcard when the built in audio chipset on the motherboard can do exactly the same thing. You really want to hook up a pair of 5.1 speakers using the traditional analogue orange, black & green cables/inputs.

If youre just using headphones or just planning to run 2 studio monitor speakers and do some recording - such as making your own music then this card would be ideal. 

If you really want something 'extra' even though it can kind of be useless depending on your usage then the SB-Z ZX is another choice but it doesnt add much at all apart from a little break out box for inputs and volume control.


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## rtwjunkie (May 22, 2015)

@FreedomEclipse thanks so much for confirming what I suspected here at the house.  Have a pc with a Xonar D1, which after a bit of playing original Rome Total War, locks up and then goes into an endless sound loop.  EAX is enabled in the game with that card.  Much appreciated!!


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## FreedomEclipse (May 22, 2015)

Its a simple case of switching over to creative and not looking back - If youre on the market for higher fidelity audio solutions then home AV/Receiver kits hooked up via HDMI from your graphics card would be the way to go, they are pricey but will offer sound quality that goes beyond what any soundcard could give you minus the headphones amp


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## rtwjunkie (May 22, 2015)

FreedomEclipse said:


> Its a simple case of switching over to creative and not looking back - If youre on the market for higher fidelity audio solutions then home AV/Receiver kits hooked up via HDMI from your graphics card would be the way to go, they are pricey but will offer sound quality that goes beyond what any soundcard could give you minus the headphones amp



Already there!   My rig has a SB-Z, and I've gone the HDMI route for sound on the HTPC.  That sounds fantastic!


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## Solaris17 (May 23, 2015)

I currently own a D2X and pulled it out of my rig because it doesnt work with windows 10a. Asus drivers for any audio product take a long time and are always in perpetual beta. I love the card and its killing me not to use it but I simply cant.


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## AlienIsGOD (May 23, 2015)

im using Uni Xonar drivers in Win 10 and it works fine (albeit it lost the sound card in device manager with build 10122; a reinstall of drivers got it working again)

Drivers: http://maxedtech.com/asus-xonar-unified-drivers/

*UNi Xonar driver features:*


Unified driver for the following cards:
Asus Xonar: DG, DGX, DG SI, DS, DSX, D1 , D2, DX, D2X, HDAV, HDAV Slim, ST, STX, Xense, STX II
Other C-Media CMI8788 audio chip based cards (C-Media Panel only): Auzentech X-Meridian & X-Meridian 2G; HT Omega Claro Plus, 2, Halo,  eClaro; Razer Barracuda AC-1.
Note that the following Asus cards won’t work and will not be supported with UNi Xonar Drivers: Asus Xonar  U1, U3, U5, U7, EssenceOne, Essence STU, ROG Phoebus, ROG Thunderbolt, D-Kara.


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## Solaris17 (May 23, 2015)

Odd I attempted to use these on build 1003x and they simply didnt work.


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## AlienIsGOD (May 23, 2015)

Solaris17 said:


> Odd I attempted to use these on build 1003x and they simply didnt work.



i only got my sound card last month, the last build and the newest one it works


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## BumbleBee (May 23, 2015)

Frick said:


> What's that?



wrong thread


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## MaximusE (May 23, 2015)

I always thought that connecting your sound system with optical or coaxial gives u better sound than analog?


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## FreedomEclipse (May 23, 2015)

MaximusE said:


> I always thought that connecting your sound system with optical or coaxial gives u better sound than analog?




nope. digital signals always bypass processing.


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## MaximusE (May 23, 2015)

so orange black green cable connection and grab an sb-z is the way to go


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## FreedomEclipse (May 23, 2015)

MaximusE said:


> so orange black green cable connection and grab an sb-z is the way to go



for 5.1 and headphones use there is no better option for the money 

I have a SB-Z and use both headphones & 5.1 speaker and its always been steller


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## Jetster (May 23, 2015)

FreedomEclipse said:


> nope. digital signals always bypass processing.


Unless your DAC is down the line as in a AVR that does the processing. This is what a digital out is for.


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## MaximusE (May 23, 2015)

FreedomEclipse said:


> for 5.1 and headphones use there is no better option for the money
> 
> I have a SB-Z and use both headphones & 5.1 speaker and its always been steller


what if you don't care about the budget?


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## Tsukiyomi91 (May 23, 2015)

currently using the Xonar DX on my main rig. Didn't have a problem for nearly half year. Aside from the dated UI & driver it comes with it, it's a decent one over the stock integrated HD Audio chip. Will test out the unified driver & see if there's any improvements.


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## rtwjunkie (May 23, 2015)

So whats the difference with these unified drivers versus the beta drivers from Asus, which are fairly currebt?


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## AlienIsGOD (May 23, 2015)

rtwjunkie said:


> So whats the difference with these unified drivers versus the beta drivers from Asus, which are fairly currebt?



for starters, the ASUS ones dont work in windows 10


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## rtwjunkie (May 23, 2015)

AlienIsGOD said:


> for starters, the ASUS ones dont work in windows 10



I guess I should have rephrased, with, using a CURRENT operating system, like 8.1, what are the gains or advantages.


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## BumbleBee (May 23, 2015)

rtwjunkie said:


> I guess I should have rephrased, with, using a CURRENT operating system, like 8.1, what are the gains or adcantages.



http://maxedtech.com/uni-xonar-features/


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## rtwjunkie (May 23, 2015)

BumbleBee said:


> http://maxedtech.com/uni-xonar-features/


Thanks! That fills the bill nicely!


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## FreedomEclipse (May 23, 2015)

MaximusE said:


> what if you don't care about the budget?



Pioneer SCLX82 = $3098

IKON 5.1 MK2 Package = $3871

Monster 1250 HD Digital HDMI Cable = $124

AudioQuest - X-2 50' Speaker Cable = $100 (double or triple if you need more than 50')


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## BumbleBee (May 23, 2015)

FreedomEclipse said:


> Pioneer SCLX82 = $3098
> 
> IKON 5.1 MK2 Package = $3871
> 
> ...



send me a message next time you want to upgrade or decide to move and I will help you. I have been building home theaters for a really long time.


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## FreedomEclipse (May 23, 2015)

BumbleBee said:


> send me a message next time you want to upgrade or decide to move and I will help you. I have been building home theaters for a really long time.



wont happen until i get my own place - Most likely never give how absurd rent & price of houses are in the UK and even then I wouldnt spend over $1000. I love my music but im not an audio buff


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## BumbleBee (May 24, 2015)

FreedomEclipse said:


> wont happen until i get my own place - Most likely never give how absurd rent & price of houses are in the UK and even then I wouldnt spend over $1000. I love my music but im not an audio buff



the budget doesn't matter.  do you know what a game jam is? if one existed for home theaters i'm pretty confident I would finish at the top lol

I would macgyver a diffuser panel out of paper towel rolls or something


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## MaximusE (May 25, 2015)

well apparently analog for z-5500 5.1 system is not that good as i am testing now with a sound blaster z and an asus d2x. the sound is much better via toslink or coaxial


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## MaximusE (May 25, 2015)

what about essence stx II 7.1 with z-5500?


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## FreedomEclipse (May 25, 2015)

Essence stx ii only does 7.1 via toslink so its no better than optical via built-in chipsets


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## Dent1 (May 30, 2015)

MaximusE said:


> what about essence stx II 7.1 with z-5500?



Since you mostly listen to music then your first priority should be stereo.  Switching soundcard isn't going to do much for you. You need a better grade speaker system, floor standing, bookshelf speakers or studio monitors.


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