What soundcard shoud I buy for this setup?

[admin_exported]

Hello, this is my first post here, I'm just a beginner in this area, and am just about to purchase my first HiFi system...

I found a pair of Mordaunt-Short Avant MS 906i speakers for £320 (display samples) and an Onkyo A9355 stereo amplifier for the same amount, and I really enjoy the sound from this combo, but I am not certain what soundcard to power the setup with...

I'm thinking about the ASUS Xonars, either the lowprofile DX or the more extreme Essence STX, even if the latter is tad pricey, but they have both gotten great reviews and I'm wondering if the increase in quality is worth the a twice as high price? or if there is some other card i should concider in the same pricerange?

 

[knacker]

Asus Xonar is a beauty but if you are looking to play mp3/WAV/FLAC/Apple Lossless you might want to think about an external DAC ie DACMAGIC

 

[Anonymous]

That DAC is even more expensive than the xonar essence, and it requires me to rely on the digital out on my motherboard, and I'm not sure its good..

 

[fatboyslimfast]

Nope - it has a USB input for up to 16/48 sampling rate. Acts as a USB soundcard...

 

[Anonymous]

but the sample rate of the xonars is 24/192, shouldnït that make them a better choice?

 

[Anonymous]

Mr_Owlow:but the sample rate of the xonars is 24/192, shouldnït that make them a better choice?

NOOOOOOO!


its not all in the numbers!
An ASUS soundcard, no matter how good or how "digital" you think it is - will not be true HiFi (by my definition).

An external DAC by one of the major players will sound great - its the only way to really add mp3 to your hifi.

One question though, what format/bitrate are you storing your music?
If you only store in 128/192kbps then i'd just get the cheap one. Any MP3/WMA under 256-320kbps is pretty poor to my ears (not heard the exotic files like flac though)

 

[Superaintit]

Mr_Owlow:but the sample rate of the xonars is 24/192, shouldnït that make them a better choice?

Errr, no. Definately not. The Dacmagic at 200 or the beresford at 100 pounds are most probably WAY better and thus your obvious choices.

Expensive? Please bear in mind the dacmagic costs at least twice here in Holland than what you have to cough up.

 

[Anonymous]

I went for the ASUS Xonar Essence STX, it got great reviews and the few dacs i could find (I'm from Sweden, by the way) were more expensive and with the xonar I get a built-in headphone amp consisting of good parts. I will write again to give you my impressions of the Xonar...

Thanks for the feedback//Mr_Owlow

ÿ

 

[Anonymous]

I got the soundcard a few days ago and have compared it both to the onboard audio and the Onkyo DV-SP405, and I must say the sound from the soundcard is defenitly the greater of the three, it is clear and precise with good separation of instruments. It is also the only source from witch I can distinguish flac from lower bit-rate MP3s (below 256)

The specs on the soundcard is also great, 124 dB SNR 192/24, and a very respectable headphone amp. The card also uses very good components and has exceptional shielding from the noice in the case, and i must say it makes every thing sound better