budget sound card advise

Hi, Im in the market for budget soundcard. Budget is about ±$100 and I've narrowed it down to the following:

1. Asus Xonar DX S$129
2. Asus Xonar u7 S$149 (may be a bit out of budget range)
3. Sound Blaster Z S$139
4. Sound Blaster Recon 3d Pro S$99


I'll be honest. Im no audio expert. I only use an Audio Technica and Grado SR60 headphone and will only use it for gaming and movies.

Which of the 4 is the best option? Or should I just get a cheap Xonar DGX?

 

I have a Soundblaster Z and I'm very satisfied with it (I also own an Audio Technica AD900X (having already owned an AD700 & AD900 before it).

So I recommend that, but wait until you hear from others who might have used all these different cards I guess.

+1 to Soundblaster Z

 

I´d stick to your onboard audio, alc1150 already better than human ear.

 

It's already better than the human ear? What are you talking about?

Yet another vague post that ignores feature sets and does little to inform on the subject.

OP: The Z is the best bet out of the lot if you intend to upgrade, especially for mainly headphone use. Your on board isn't that bad however, so whether the cost is worth it to you is a question only you can answer. Read a couple of reviews and check the specifications out, it's really down to what you want from your sound and what features suit you.

 

Maybe your ears are clogged, on board sound sucks with the gear I got. But if your running cheap speakers and headphones it would be hard to tell the difference between onboard and a good soundcard.
Op I picked up a sb z for my kids rig, it's an ok card.

 

Reported.

OP, out of those, the SB Z will give you the best bang for buck. Definitely worth it.

 

:stewpid:

If it wasn't for certain rules on the forum that we thankfully respect here... I'd have said some things that you probably wouldn't have been able to hear with your $2 headphones and onboard sound (not that there's anything wrong with having those, but don't tell people things like "alc1150 is already better than the human ear", just because your ears can't notice the difference somehow (more likely that you have never tried anything different), doesn't mean there is no real-difference).

:bang::bang::bang:

Seeing the AD700 in your DP really brought back memories. Damn I miss just the way it looks haha I abused those headphones for 7 years, until the left-driver died on me a few years ago.

 

Still the most comfortable headphone I've ever tried on. I only use it with my TV and PS4 nowadays, because it's a lot easier to drive than the DT880 and HD650.

 

Op pay monochris no mind and ignore him, The sound blaster z like was already mention would be the best choice out of the cards that you mentioned.

It has a decent headphone amp that should work with alot of headphones,but depending on the ones you pair with it.It is a upgrade over onboard audio when it comes to analog audio of course.

 

What is analog and digital? Hehe anyway to be honest, I do lean on the "I cannot tell the difference between sound card and onboard" experience but that was between an Asus xonar dg pci and onboard of my then rampage iii formula..except of course for the headphone amplification that the Asus provided..

That said, I just feel I have to have one lol so I guess its its the sounsblaster z then.

By the way, I'm using mainly an audio technical pro5mk2 though I'm not sure if its considered a decent head phone.
http://www.head-fi.org/products/audio-technica-ath-pro5mk2-cm-camouflage-dj-headphones-japan-import

My grado sr60 gets used for when me and my wife watches movie on the PC and we both use headphones

 

To be honest mate, since you have an AMP built into your motherboard, you might benefit more from buying a new set of cans more than a soundcard. The SR60's are very much a music can foremost. Something like a set of DT990 pro's might be a good upgrade. It depends on the type of sound you prefer.

 

OP if you want more info on how good your onboad audio is you can check this:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/685163/a-researched-question-about-realtek-1150-vs-sound-card

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/high-end-pc-audio,3733.html

 

I vote for no.1,

SBZ is entry SB with cheaper parts, only flagship ZxR has great parts, but it also costs a lot.
Same thing by XFI titanium series, only HD has the best parts, DAC,..


Speaking of XFI HD, it has nice clean sound and rich groove.. But internal pcie model is rare now, found only this usb version for ~ S128$
http://www.lazada.sg/creative-digital-music-premium-hd-sound-blaster-export-105991.html

 

A comparison between a bottom level budget sound card (on release, let alone now) and a top tier modern on board solution. That and a Toms Hardware article. Good stuff.

 

Get the best add in card you can afford.

Onboard audio devices are selling points for Mobo's they are never serious contenders in the world of PC audio. They typically have too much distortion, limited features, overblown effects and sound very cold and sterile in comparison to a good add in or a external DAC.

When you have people that think they sound good, they are using poor quality playback gear, limited media and really no basis for comparison to what is considered truly good PC based audio.

Disable onboards and forget about them.

 

Sorry for the off-topic question but how would one acquire high quality sound files of music/soundtrack?

My full library is rather ****ty quality mp3's and limited to youtube, I feel like thats a limiting factor.

 

If I disabled them I'd have no sound

 

Noted. Sounblaster Z it is then

 

Misread it. My bad.

On the other hand, however, you can still snap up a $99 SB Z with gold caps.
It's still no ZxR though, you're right.

 

No problem. If ya want a serious PC audio setup that is designed to give you the best possible experience you need to start at square 1, which is your media. Any lossy codec, such as Mp3..etc, is best avoided even at high bit rates.
What you need is lossless compression. I personally like Flac as you get all the quality of the original media but in a smaller file size.

If you have a CD collection, you can encode them all to Flac. You can also buy higher bitrate encodings on the net but many think it is overkill.

If you use Mp3, the better you gear is, the more you will hear the issues with lossy encodings. The songs won't sound better when you upgrade they will sound worse.

I think most of us here have went through the Mp3 phase when first starting out. Now, I use nothing but Flac, full ablums, perfect 1:1 copies of my originals. I keep my CD's locked away.