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Hardware Asus Xonar DG Review

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by CardJoe, 26 Oct 2010.

  1. CardJoe

    CardJoe Freelance Journalist

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  2. azrael-

    azrael- I'm special...

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    I'm not sure PCI audio cards make much sense these days. It seems PCI is going the way of the dodo.

    Also, EAX isn't deprecated (sic!). It merely doesn't work any more as Microsoft has removed DirectSound hardware acceleration as of Windows Vista.
     
  3. HourBeforeDawn

    HourBeforeDawn a.k.a KazeModz

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    I see no point in this card over on board audio, I barely see a point for the DS models, I think only becomes really worth wild when you get into the DX range.
     
  4. rollo

    rollo Modder

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    for compatibility alone its a worth while purchase, and its next to nothing in the general scheme of things.

    case fans cost £12 onwards, £26 for a dedicated audio card really is not bad going.
     
  5. wyx087

    wyx087 Homeworld 3 is happening!!

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    if this was a PCIe card, it'd have a much more appeal.

    having said that, a sound card makes world of difference, so if you haven't got one, a £26 sound card makes sure you've got no excuse.
     
  6. Telltale Boy

    Telltale Boy Designated CPC Jetwhore

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    I just got the Asus Xonar DG and it made a massive difference to the sound of both music & gaming.
    As soon as I used it the difference was immediately noticeable. And then when I turned on Dolby Headphone... the difference using surround sound was phenomenal. Whenever I turn off Dolby Headphone now the sound just seems so flat & cheap. It just generally makes music & games so much more immersive.

    I've always been sceptical of sound cards but this has completely changed my opinion, made more of a difference to my gaming experience than pretty much every other upgrade. You might want to see the difference it makes first though, maybe if your friend has one? Only problem is, I don't feel I could ever go back, i've become too addicted to Dolby Headphone.

    In the review you say that the DS is better but i'd argue otherwise; the inclusion of Dolby Headphone in the DG (which you didn't mention in the review makes it much better for headphones IMO. The way I see it is, if you're getting a budget sound card, then if you're using speakers the DS is the way to go. But if you're using headphones, get the DG.
     
  7. javaman

    javaman May irritate Eyes

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    I'm finding that games set to high audio drop frames. Wow is the best example of this where I lost 40-60fps going from medium to high sound quality on my athlon x2 6000. A bit of a noobish question but does sound cards remove processing from the processor or does it not make a difference?
     
  8. BradShort

    BradShort Familyman - Fraggin when allowed :P

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    I just bought this card to replace my on board and the Audigy 4 that i was having Compatabililty issues with. Without doubt the sound is better than my on-board RealTek stuff, deeper bass, better clarity.

    I guess some on-board will be as good, but on low to middle end motherboards you should definitely notice an improvement.
     
  9. Telltale Boy

    Telltale Boy Designated CPC Jetwhore

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    Yes they do, I've definitely head people before saying that gettign a sound card has increased their frame rates. It didn't make a noticeable difference to me though.
     
  10. SoulLance

    SoulLance What's a Dremel?

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    Considering I own a DS for about a year now and I game a lot I can proudly say that I'm the owner of one of the most useless features.... GX. Until recently you couldn't even use silverlight properly with the feature turned on imagine how it works with games.

    They should spare us but the reality is a lot different. Long "exposure" to many games with the GX feature turned on cause instability + many of the console ported games don't even support a higher than 48 KHz sampling rate (Dead Rising 2 is the most recent example of such stupidity) and crash on entry.
    So is it worth it upgrading from a integrated solution these days. If you only want to game probably not. For audiophiles I think there are better solutions out there.
    I'm a bit disappointed with hardware reviews these days...if you read one...you practically read all of them.
     
  11. azrael-

    azrael- I'm special...

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    Well, in the olden days (pre-Vista) I'd have concurred because of hardware-accelerated DirectSound, but now all audio-processing is done in software anyway and people have at least dual-core processors, so I cannot see much to gain.
     
  12. leexgx

    leexgx CPC hang out zone (i Fix pcs i do )

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    going back to an X-FI my self (X-Fi Titanium with I/O drive), find the 5.1 to headphones better when trying to work out where they are (not just for the EAX but it still does work)

    D2x is nice just miss been able to completely work out where every one is when in games
     
  13. frontline

    frontline Punish Your Machine

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    Purchased a Xonar DX card recently after checking out bit-tech's review a while back, great card but i seem to be having problems enabling 'push-to-talk' on teamspeak 3 - voice activation mode works fine and i can assign a key to push-to-talk, however when i try and test it - nothing happens when i press the assigned key. No activation light and no sound. Frustrating and bizarre...
     
  14. Fizzban

    Fizzban Man of Many Typos

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    Pity it's not 7.1. If it was I'd buy it.
     
  15. SchizoFrog

    SchizoFrog What's a Dremel?

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    Just skipped through and noticed that both links in the conclusion open the DX page. :)
     
  16. RostokMcSpoons

    RostokMcSpoons What's a Dremel?

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    Yes, I concur with the more negative comments sadly - the Asus Xonar DX (PCIe) in my system did make most sound a bit better than my Realtek AC889, but it didn't help the framerate, and some sounds were worse than the Realtek equivalents - in BfBC2 the tanks' machine guns sounded like typewriters rather than guns. Very irritating.

    I wasn't impressed with the user interface for the drivers either. I don't think there's been a driver update for ages, so Asus's driver support is probably worse than Creative.

    I ended up taking the board out of my PC in an effort to cure CTD's I experienced in the game. That didn't make any difference, but I've not felt moved to put it back in. I guess as Realtek on-board sound is now so prevalent that it's what the modern games are tested with.
     
  17. SchizoFrog

    SchizoFrog What's a Dremel?

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    My Audigy 2 ZS is the oldest item in my PC having lasted through two rebuilds and I do not see any reason for an upgrade yet. However, there is no way in hell I would go back to onboard. So if my trusted soundcard failed then I would definitely be in the market for a new one.
     
  18. HourBeforeDawn

    HourBeforeDawn a.k.a KazeModz

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    Im using custom drivers, Im at work so I will have to find out who makes them but this guy has been updating the drivers himself to keep up with performance and advancements and fix some issues that ASUS has yet to bother to fix, real difference with his drivers over ASUS. I will get you a link when I get home tonight.
     
  19. wyx087

    wyx087 Homeworld 3 is happening!!

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  20. HourBeforeDawn

    HourBeforeDawn a.k.a KazeModz

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