Motherboard audio is usually realtek or a rebrand of realtek's chips and those are all incapable of driving high impedance headphones well (I've tried to make it work) however your headphones only require 16 ohms which is something that realtek chips and even cell phones can drive just fine. I personally run Sennheiser HD 700s and they match well enough out of the box with just a little bass EQ tweak. Well the Nu Audio card allows you to swap opamps to alternate options if you find the default doesn't pair well with your particular set of cans (tweaking the EQ is where you'd want to start though). I suppose if you tell us your audio setup and a budget, it would be easier to find a good card for your setup.Cmaranhao I have beyerdynamic custom one pro, do you think this audio card is a good match? I am using the one from my motherboard which is not that bad but sure both are very different. The old Nvidia SoundStorm was also excellent. The ADI1988b on my Asus P5K-E sounds like trash, but I can live with the Realtek ALC888 codec on my other computer.
HT OMEGA CLARO HALO SOUND OP AMP REPLACEMENT SERIES
The rest of the Xonar series seem to vary in features: some only support DTS, and some only support Dolby, some have a replaceable op amp, some are PCI, some are PCI-E, etc. Both cards support surround audio through S/PDIF and support Dolby Digital and DTS. The Asus Xonar Essence ST also has support for an expansion board for surround audio, but I am not aware if it is available yet. The HT Omega Claro Halo XT is $250 which allows with 7.1 audio with an extender board. However they are designed for Headphones/2.1 users ($200 for these cards). Both feature a headphone amp and replaceable op amps. The flagship cards for the Asus Xonar and HT Omega are the Asus Xonar Essence STX/ST and the HT Omega Claro Halo. I replaced it with the HT Omega Claro Halo and changed the op amps to the OPA2107. I sold my Auzentech X-Fi Forte because of some issues with my PCI-E slot sending a lot of static noise through the card into my front panel audio, but I also had some issues with sound crackling after a while. If you need EAX, then there really is no alternative to the X-Fi. A very good alternative to the X-Fi are the CMI8788 based cards, which include Asus Xonar series, HT Omega Claro series, and a card by bluegears. I think you mean the Asus Xonar sound cards. If its for music - you want good sound ? dont use MP3 - they sound like junk too.īefore I messed up my ears from shooting guns without ear protection I knew what it was like to listen and enjoy a $50,000 system - now - it all kinda crackles. Headphones - I paid $100 for my Plantronics and think they're junk. Would I hear it without an X-Fi ? probably.Īre your speakers good enough to tell the difference ? Unless you have M-Audio Audiophiles, z5500, or Klipsch. I can say I love it when I play a game and I can hear the wind blowing through the leaves - thats cool. Personally, I would get a USB3.0 card in my PCI-E x1 slot before a 3rd party card because I am not sure I can tell the difference. If you have SLI or Crossfire - you may not even have room to your PCI slots. If your ear and/or speakers can tell the difference - great - but I think money can be spent elsewhere and get more out of it.Īnother thing to think of is losing a PCI-E x1 slot. The Xonartech (or whatever they're called) are supposed to be damned good too.īut onboard sound on a good mobo is great too.