pc soundcard upgrade

[jon c]

Ok my pc is my main source for all my music listening im currently using creative audigy2 platinum ex soundcard which also has the external dac this is connecting to my Arcam AVR300 via a Supra trico co-axial cable, ive very recently upgraded my pc and the old componants will now be sold on ebay to provide funds for possibly a new soundcard, so i was wondering does anyone have any ideas of a replacement for my creative as its a little outdated and as my PC is my main source i want the best i can afford the Asus xonar cards seem to be very well respected but only by pc gamers not music people so thats why i thought i would ask in here, would be very grateful of some extra input thxs rgds jon

 

[jon c]

just thought of another option maybe a dac magic? could i use this with existing sound card too...appreciate some advice ty

 

[idc]

Hi jon c. External DACS such as the DACmagic bypass the soundcard and take a digital signal to process themselves. The DACmagic has digital, optical and USB inputs which allows multiple connections of the three different types, in particular CDPs and PCs. The soundcard plays no part, instead think of it as the computers own DAC.

 

[jon c]

hi, yeh i understand the way they work, just i cant decide whether a newer soundcard say asus zonar essence stx soundcard or a dac,im currently useing a creative audigy2 platinum ex which has external dac but i dont know how good it really is and its a little old now and i would like to refresh my music

 

[idc]

Sorry, jon, I was not sure with your original post. As I have just posted in another thread, this is one for you to take the plunge and then report back to the forum!

 

[Anonymous]

jon c:hi, yeh i understand the way they work, just i cant decide whether a newer soundcard say asus zonar essence stx soundcard or a dac,im currently useing a creative audigy2 platinum ex which has external dac but i dont know how good it really is and its a little old now and i would like to refresh my music

Are you after something that plays stereo music (two channel), or does it have to play computer games and movies too? (multichannel, HDMI connections).

If the first: the DAC MAGIC suggestion is good, but I'd also like to throw in the EMU 0202 external soundcard. Very cheap, convenient and supposedly very good. I have an EMU0404, which is internal and slightly more expensive, but have seen tons of reviews and posts of people saying that the 0202 is very similar SQ wise.

In case of the latter, if you have a mainboard with a soundchip, you should be able to use that for movies and games, and use the external DAC for two channel music.

Edit: DOH! Alternatively you can use your current soundcard for movies and games, apologies...

 

[Anonymous]

I own an internal X-fi creative Xtrememusic soundcard and used this as a primary device outputting to my amplifier for over a year. The sound was good, but not as good as my old cd player. I also found out that there was a slight channel imbalance when running a 3.5mm to RCA to my annoyance. Due to the soundcard being so close to other wifi emitting devices within the pc case, there was at times interference. Sometimes there was a slight humming or ticking noise, and overall I believed the sound quality could be improved.

Therefore after much research I believed the best way to solve this problem was to remove the soundcard from equation, to process the sound outside/away from the fans, electrical systems, boards and cards that degrade the sound. I bought the CA Dacmagic, running a high quality Chord Optichord from the soundcard to this little box of tricks. The difference is night and day. The sound is processed by the Dacmagic, jitter and distortion free via optical signal. The sound quality improved vastly, bass now more impressive yet more controlled and rythmic. The mids and higher frequencies sound less muddled by the bass, they sound completely seperate. You can identify everything that is going on in the music, movie. sounds are alot more vivid/directional.

For 2 channel music and 2 channel movie playback/game playback you cant beat an external Dac.

I sold my cd player as my pc now sounds as good as the cds did. I only use the soundcard for optical out as my motherboard has no optical out. I absolutely recommend you buy a dacmagic, if not any external Dac. I also hooked my Ps3 to the Dac, playing blurays and games is so invloving. Then connect the Dac to the Amplifier via phono rca and you are sorted. You will be as close to audiophile quality sound from your PC as you are going to get.

If you are looking for multi channel playback, use for games etc then the decision would be somewhat harder to take, as my recommendation is based upon 2 channel setups.

 

[jon c]

basically i want something better than what im already useing, and its purely for music thats why i thought the asus sound card would be an option, i find some reviews on them saying there great but they are generally from gamers not music people

 

[jon c]

thxs scott for that reply, that was more of an answer i was looking for, and luckily enough my new motherboard in my new setup has an optical output, so perhaps the dac magic is the best option.

i would still like other to voice there opinions too, to give me an all round view

 

[pete321]

I've just ordered an Asus Xonar Essence ST soundcard for lossless stereo music playback from my PC. For an extra £25 I'll be improving it's opamps by popping in a LME49720HA (using a Browndog adapter) to replace the LM4562 + an extra LM4562 to replace the 2 inferior JRC opamps.

It'll be interesting to see how it compares to my modded DacMagic.

 

[Alec]

jon c:

thxs scott for that reply, that was more of an answer i was looking for, and luckily enough my new motherboard in my new setup has an optical output, so perhaps the dac magic is the best option.

i would still like other to voice there opinions too, to give me an all round view

The dacmagic can connect via usb. FWIW id recommend a dac too.

 

[Sc00bied00]

This sounds a bit radical pete321, but interested to know the results, also does the browndog require soldiering to the board?

Cheers

 

[pete321]

Sc00bied00:does the browndog require soldiering to the board?

No, the Asus Essence ST has sockets for the 3 opamps used with the user in mind who wants to upgrade. So it's just a matter of selecting a dual opamp to replace it with. You can see the 3 empty sockets in the top left of the picture below.

The Asus ST uses 1 x LM4562 (above left) and 2 x JRC opamps (the latter being not good). I'm initially going to buy and extra LM4562 and use the 2 to replace the JRC's. The picture above right is a more expensive (£15) LME49720 which Audioupgrades solder onto a Browndog adapter for me which then just slots in the Asus soundcard to replace the LM4562 as the buffer opamp. In the future I may end up using 3 of these for optimum performance. Audioupgrades say they've found this screened opamp has more detail, bass and dynamics than the highly thought of LM4562.

 

[PJPro]

I think you'll find that the LM4562 and LME49720 are the same chip. This has been confirmed on another forum where National Semiconductors were contacted directly. There is, however, a suggestion that the package the chip comes in may influence SQ i.e. the T0-99 providing additional shielding.

Try googling LME49720 vs LM4562.

 

[pete321]

Yes, it is the same chip, but as you suggest, the screened LME49720 is supposed to produce far better results.

 

[pete321]

Sc00bied00: This sounds a bit radical pete321, but interested to know the results.

Turned out to be no contest, as good as the Asus soundcard is, it was no match for my Burson opamp modded DacMagic which gave a much fuller and overall superior sound.

Although the money spent on the upgraded opamps was wasted, I'll keep the Asus soundcard as the SPDIF coax output connected to the DacMagic is producing better results than the optical onboard SPDIF from the motherboard. Just got to hope that Asus come up with a driver that allows bit perfect digital pass through in the near future.

Burson Opamp

 

[Anonymous]

To pete321.ÿ

here is good resource how to make better stx:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/xonar-essence-stx-q-tweaking-impressions-thread-421890/ÿ

they said "The card has 3 swappable 8-pin dual opamps. The two matched I/V opamps impact the headphone out alone, while the 3rd "buffer" opamp impacts the RCA out. If you are only using the headphone out you only have to worry about the 2 I/V opamps." so if you dont use the headphone out, no need to change jrc's.

I don't know how sound DacMagic, i didn't have it, but looks like Wolfson WM8740 dacs (which use dacmagic) is lower level then BurrBrown 1792A, which use the asus in stx. so technically .... i'm not shore about which one is better, mby in some way another sound..... But for me the good one thing for DacMagic is balanced out (xlr), which Asus didn't have at all

(for example) http://amplioaudio.blogspot.com/2006/11/choosing-dac-part-2-narrowing-it-down.html

in another forums some people recommend (if possible) to use ASIO to pass through windows built in mixer. All what can i say after some time experiments, if possible, use ASIO4ALL it's awesome thing! http://www.asio4all.com/ÿ

how to tune up Foobar for ASIO4ALL: http://www.ayre.com/usb-foobar_setup_vista.htmÿ

(im using lossless audio formats through foobar2000 through ASIO v2 and listening on Genelecs or DT880).

sorry for many time editing. wroting this post i was experimenting on my stuff, reading lots of reviews and try to make out the best.

EDIT: NEW ASUS DRIVER RELEASE: Beta Version 7.12.8.1771

1. Sample rate supported: 44.1 / 48 / 88.2 / 96 / 176.4 / 192 kHz
2. Supports one ASIO playback stream (maximum 8 channels) to analog output.
3. Supports one ASIO recording stream (2 channels) from analog input.
4. Recording source (microphone in or line in) is selected by system mixer.
5. To keep the ASIO stream bit-perfect