Review: ASUS Xonar D2X soundcard tested

Guru3D News

ASUS Xonar D2X soundcard reviewFashionably late .. Two things nice about coming late to the party is that you know what everybodys wearing and everybody notices your arrival.The Asus Xonar D2X is...

More...

soul8103

Great review or a what seems to be fantastic product. Damn all this great hardware coming out really makes me wanna build a new desktop. Me want now!

easy2007 · 07-01-2008, 02:58 | posts: 1,095 | User is Online

I want one now. and was also wondering what the difference is between the D2X and the D2.

Nictron · 07-01-2008, 04:24 | posts: 221 | Location: South Africa | User is Offline

If you have to compare it with lets say a X-Fi Fatality edition how would you rate it?

I really can't be without my Front Audio panel, it just makes life so much easier.

kwak

about the additional floppy power connector: iirc, asus says that pcie power is a lot noisier and the power you get from the psu, which is why they went with an external connection.

Kaleid · **Memory**: 4GB Corsair@1040/5-5-5-15

Read the same as kwak..

"The sensible thing to do is for Creative to license EAX 5.0 now that Vista pretty much killed off their business model."
Hear hear. And I must say that my Xonar XD has very poor EAX support at this moment. Many engines even crash if I try to enable EAX.

But supposedly there will new drivers soon. I hope they add dark engine support. I might have to re-purchase a X-fi to support all those older games, I certainly hope that I don't have to since it's a hassle to reconnect cables to the amplifier...

proFits · 07-01-2008, 07:36 | posts: 4,076 | Location: Quebec | User is Offline

Sound card market seems waaaaaaaaaaay too complicated IMHO

Still can't figure out if it's worth it to shell out 200$ for a card for my z-5500 speaker system

Postalisback

To be honest, proFits, you wouldn't really know whether it was worth it unless you heard one of the high-end sound cards. (X-Fi Prelude or Xonar(s))

I believe my purchase of the X-Fi Prelude was worth the money I paid for it.

Every time I hear onboard sound I can't help thinking "that sounds bad.. turn it off" lol

proFits · 07-01-2008, 09:33 | posts: 4,076 | Location: Quebec | User is Offline

That's the problem, I know nobody that has an high-end soundcard XD

zinc99 · 07-01-2008, 12:12 | posts: 586 | Location: The Beach, CA | User is Offline

What I dont get is why you compared the card to the X-Fi audio... its not a real X-Fi chip.

MadGizmo · *Last edited by MadGizmo; 07-01-2008 at 12:42.*

Quote:

Originally Posted by easy2007

I want one now. and was also wondering what the difference is between the D2X and the D2.

It seems that the DX is using the Asus AV100 and the D2X the AV200 auto processor. They are compared here:

http://techreport.com/articles.x/14500

I've ordered the D2X last friday and hope it will arrive soon.

Edit: Sorry... That one was a about DX (and you asked about the D2).

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/mul...sus-xonar.html

Alexstarfire · 07-01-2008, 14:57 | posts: 7,866 | Location: Georgia | User is Offline

Quote:

Originally Posted by Postalisback

To be honest, proFits, you wouldn't really know whether it was worth it unless you heard one of the high-end sound cards. (X-Fi Prelude or Xonar(s))

I believe my purchase of the X-Fi Prelude was worth the money I paid for it.

Every time I hear onboard sound I can't help thinking "that sounds bad.. turn it off" lol

True, onboard sound is usually quite bad, but tell me if you can hear a difference from any audigy card and the X-Fi. I doubt you'd notice anything, especially if EAX wasn't on.

TheMiracle · 07-02-2008, 19:28 | posts: 10 | Location: My Living room | User is Offline

Hi!
this is really the best sound card i have, and i have it hooked up to my sony STR599 7.2, but the DS3D function is not woring properly, and the asus support is $#!?, because i wrote about 5 mails, and i even started this thread HERE, , but no one is intrested in fixing the only thing bad about this product, please if you have connections with people at asus, tell them to take a look, and see if they can do something about it.-
Thanks!
Max.-

MadGizmo · 07-03-2008, 16:39 | posts: 844 | User is Offline

Are your running the 32 or 64 bits version of Vista? I am curious, because I've ordered one and my favorite game is on that list. I may cancel the order.

Kaleid · **Memory**: 4GB Corsair@1040/5-5-5-15

Supposedly new drivers very soon:
http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?...Language=en-us

MadGizmo · 07-03-2008, 17:40 | posts: 844 | User is Offline

As far as I can see the DX is using another sound chip. So, this may not fix the D2X.

TheMiracle · 07-03-2008, 21:51 | posts: 10 | Location: My Living room | User is Offline

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadGizmo

Are your running the 32 or 64 bits version of Vista? I am curious, because I've ordered one and my favorite game is on that list. I may cancel the order.

64 bit vista, but it is not a Vista/Xp prob, it is driver problem, and dont worry, if you disable the DS3DGX setting, all games work ok, with no EAX support, but they run ok.-

And for the one that pointed out, that new drivers are on its way....

, nothing more far from the truth, im waiting new drivers since i got mine, so as i said, if anyone know somone from asus, it would be really cool if they can fix this driver problem.-

MadGizmo · *Last edited by MadGizmo; 07-04-2008 at 00:38.*

Yes. I understand it's a driver problem. I was hoping that one of the two Vista variations had an advantage. Because you're (like me) on Vista-64 that hope is fading.

MadGizmo · 07-04-2008, 04:09 | posts: 844 | User is Offline

Here is another post from an Asus forum mod who says new D2/D2X drivers will arrive soon.

[Sharing]D2/D2X driver also coming

stormy · 07-04-2008, 06:19 | posts: 2,230 | Location: Toronto, Ontario | User is Offline

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadGizmo

It seems that the DX is using the Asus AV100 and the D2X the AV200 auto processor.

Despite what Asus may claim, it is still nothing more than the C-Media 8788HD Oxygen chip.

Quote:

Originally Posted by zinc99

What I dont get is why you compared the card to the X-Fi audio... its not a real X-Fi chip.

No kidding. By using the Xtreme Audio in the comparison, why didn't they just use the old SB Live 24 bit (or an Audigy LS/SE/LE/DE/Value for that matter), same bloody card as the X-Audio just with a new name.

The only thing the Xtreme Audio has over the Xonar is that it does support up to EAX4 (and does not support EAX5), too bad it is all done in software just like the Xonar.

Not defending the X-Fi in any way but if you really want it to be a comparison between a X-Fi and the Xonar, redo the tests using a real X-Fi and not the renamed POS the Xtreme Audio.

MadGizmo · 07-04-2008, 09:00 | posts: 844 | User is Offline

Quote:

Originally Posted by stormy

Despite what Asus may claim, it is still nothing more than the C-Media 8788HD Oxygen chip.

According to Asus it was a CMI8790.

HellasVagabond · *Last edited by HellasVagabond; 07-13-2008 at 11:46.*

A 172$ card against a 40$ Soundblaster.......Nice.....Sorry but i couldnt help it considering the price range.....You did test it with the Prelude by Auzentech but it still isnt the same like if you had tested it with the X-Fi Fatal1ty Titanium Pro which is almost the same money.
So what do people that are between the Fatal1ty Titanium Pro and the Xonar D2X should choose ? Im one of them and im kinda confused..