Sound card advice

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jareDrake13

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Dec 31, 2013
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Hi, I am thinking of getting the asus xonar phoebus sound card. Will this card provide better audio than my on board audio? Is it one of the best cards asus can provide, or do they have better choices? Any replies are appreciated. Also no I do not want a DAC.
 
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ssddx
i have a pair of ath-m50s as well. they are most certainly not neutral with a flat response but have a V shape response curve with more bass and treble focus with recessed mids. this is what is known as a "fun" sound profile. while this is not bad, i thought i would clarify.

due to this and the fact that the m50s are closed and designed to be "bassy" they will always have a bit more bass presence instead of being neutral. you can adjust the equalizer so that it is not as much but if you dont like the bass at this level then a different headphone may have been better for you.

likewise, although highs are a bit forward the m50 is not capable of "bright" highs and only good highs. clarity is certainly good but its not going to be the...
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manofchalk

manofchalk

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May 11, 2012
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It better well do so if your paying $250 for it.

Seriously though, dont bother, its not going to make a noticeable difference. Basically to justify a $250 sound card, you need an speaker setup that is well beyond $500. If you have that, your already an Audiophile and wouldn't be asking this question.
If your running ~$100 headphones, get yourself something like the Xonar DGX, a $30 card. It has a headphone amplifier and thats pretty much what your buying there. 2.1 speakers, stick with onboard.

My general advice for people asking simple questions about high end audio gear is "if your asking this question, you wont benefit from it".
 
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ssddx

ssddx

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May 27, 2009
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to answer simply... "yes"

however... depending on what you actually are connecting the soundcard up to... it might not be the best choice and might be overkill.

also to clarify... a soundcard is essentially a DAC+AMP on one card

to build upon what MOC stated,

if you want an improvement over onboard sound and only have headphones or speakers in the $200 or less range you dont need the phoebus. the xonar dx or creative z are more than good enough. there are of course upgades to that such as the stx, however the dx has the same internal DAC chip and only lacks the better amp of the stx and a few other features.

the xonar dg/dgx has about the same quality as onboard sound so really isnt going to be an improvment. however, it has a rather powerful amplifier so if all you wanted was something to power headphones a bit better then it would work. you could however also use a portable headphone amplifier to do the same thing but the dg would also give you virtual surround as an option if you wanted it.

if you want a better answer you will want to list the audio equipment you currently have, what you are expecting, your budget, what the purpose of your audio gear is and any other notes you may have.
 
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gizzard1987

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Aug 7, 2013
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The Pheobus is the best one ASUS offers, other options are not really on the same level. I will say you might want to look into the problems that people have with ALL of the Asus cards before you jump into purchasing a 200 dollar sound card. I know the quality might not quite be as good, but everyone who has creatives loves them. I've read a lot of people having tons of compatibility issues with bad drivers from the Asus cards.

Sadly the issues I've been reading, Asus haters love the Creative Titanium Fatality and Creative haters love the Asus Pheobus. Considering their prices are identical, I would try to look into what you're going to be using it specifically for, and see if other Asus users have had issues with that. Same goes for the creative card.
 
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jareDrake13

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Thanks man, while I do like the ROG color scheme, it felt kinda gimmicky on the sound card. I don't want a "gamer" centered sound, which will probably be leaning towards a certain sound style. I have the audio technicha ath m50 headphones, I got them because the people said it had a flat response, and I like that. I want my sound card to make them sound more crisp, not bassy or really high pitched!
 
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ssddx

ssddx

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May 27, 2009
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i have a pair of ath-m50s as well. they are most certainly not neutral with a flat response but have a V shape response curve with more bass and treble focus with recessed mids. this is what is known as a "fun" sound profile. while this is not bad, i thought i would clarify.

due to this and the fact that the m50s are closed and designed to be "bassy" they will always have a bit more bass presence instead of being neutral. you can adjust the equalizer so that it is not as much but if you dont like the bass at this level then a different headphone may have been better for you.

likewise, although highs are a bit forward the m50 is not capable of "bright" highs and only good highs. clarity is certainly good but its not going to be the same as open headphones such as the hd598/ad700x/dt990 offer. however, having really sharp highs can also mean some users can find them shrill and piercing and i think the m50 has enough highs without being at this level. clarity is good for them being a bass-heavy set of headphones however if you want more clarity and less bass then perhaps again, the m50s werent the best choice.

this is not to say that the m50s are bad. personally i like how they sound since i dont like shrill highs (the m50 highs are good enough for me), the sound is warm and they have decent bass output without having sound in the uppers distorted. genuinely a great headphone for the money.

the m50s do not really benefit from being amplified. you will get a bit more volume and impact from an amp but not by much.

a soundcard could certainly improve sound quality a bit but using a $250 soundcard on m50's is a complete waste of money. if you want an upgade go with a xonar dx or soundblaster z as they are cost effective for what you have now and will give you not just more options than onboard but also better sound as well.

while true that the phoebus is top of the line.. its really only for audiophiles and those would be using something a bit more signifiant then ath-m50s. at the price range the phoebus is at... it certainly is not a good option in this case.

do not forget to use higher quality music files such as 192kbps or higher and to change your settings in windows sound to 24bit studio quality sound.
 
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jareDrake13

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Dec 31, 2013
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That's pretty "sound" advice :D Puns aside, thanks man, I think you saved me a couple hundred dollars! You told me stuff I didn't know about my headphones, thanks! EDIT: Also, I have heard from people who are really into audio that say that a DAC is better, and that a sound card will distort or even make audio WORSE! Is this true?
 
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