Asus Xonar DG Sounds cards

Tyrant365

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What's the difference between these?: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Express-Normalizer-Virtual-Speaker-Shifter/dp/B007RMMYFI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408643541&sr=8-1&keywords=Asus+Xonar

and

http://www.amazon.co.uk/ASUS-Xonar-PCI-Audio-Card/dp/B003ZXDOL6/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1408643612&sr=8-4&keywords=Asus+Xonar

I know one is PCI and one is PCIex1 but what's the difference in Audio quality?

ALso how do these Sound cards compare in quality to something like Asus's generic Motherboard Realtek® ALC887 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC such as on a B85 Plus?

Also how do they compare to Asus's SupremeFX 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC on their B85 PRO GAMER?
 
Solution
The first one is basically a newer version of the second one. It has more features, and also uses a PCIe x1 bus. As for sound quality between the Xonar and onboard audio (Realtek), it's only as good as your headphones/speakers. If you have a cheap $20 pair of headphones or basic computer speakers, it would be a waste of money to buy a sound card. If you have a high-end $100-200 pair of headphones, or a good speaker system (including home theaters) then you will definitely be able to notice a difference. The Xonar has much better sound quality and encoding, but if your speakers suck, then you won't be getting that extra sound quality. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure onboard audio processing is done by your CPU, so a sound...

modernwar99

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The first one is basically a newer version of the second one. It has more features, and also uses a PCIe x1 bus. As for sound quality between the Xonar and onboard audio (Realtek), it's only as good as your headphones/speakers. If you have a cheap $20 pair of headphones or basic computer speakers, it would be a waste of money to buy a sound card. If you have a high-end $100-200 pair of headphones, or a good speaker system (including home theaters) then you will definitely be able to notice a difference. The Xonar has much better sound quality and encoding, but if your speakers suck, then you won't be getting that extra sound quality. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure onboard audio processing is done by your CPU, so a sound card would take that stress off your CPU. (The stress on your CPU is very small though). Hope this helps :)
 
Solution

wip99gt

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Feb 23, 2008
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It's not worth the money for you. I have a xonar DX and an STX and with really good high impedance headphones I hear a bit of a difference but not much at all. My motherboard has the SupremeFX audio as well. Now I do like the STX for recording audio and like the 1/4" jacks too but other than that I wouldn't upgrade if I was you.