Is it worth to buy the Asus Xonar D2X ?

The D2/D2X was a great card, but its hard to cost-justify over the D1/DX or other cards in the same price range [Auzentech Meridian 2G, HT Omega Claro+].

 

Hes not in the usa so prices is different for him, that if he can even find a D1/DX or the other cards.

 

Just get the D2X.. Plus I believe there are diff colored lights that shine out of the plug in 's in the back to show you which speaker plug goes where.. Supposed to be a cool effect.

 

I have the D2, and yes it does, and it's only cool the first time you see it, afterwards it will either annoy you, or you won't notice it.

It's a fantastic card though, but for stereo audio i would say the X-Fi Titanium is a better card, though if it's just online audio, not so sure that as a source would do it justice.

If your into multi-channel gaming, then it's no good at all, and neither is EAX as it isn't used anymore anyway.

Personally for an all round good card for games/music and even movies, it's hard to beat the D2/D2X, driver support isn't perfect, but not much is seriously broken anyway.

 

actually your wrong, EAX is still used, Just with openAL, when EAX isnt used in a openal game then EFX is. But EAX isnt dead. It just alive and well. You just dont see its logo plaster on the screen of games and boxes.

 

Really, why bother if there is nothing to sell, and if it's emulated in software with OpenAL, then surely that makes an EAX hardware card even more redundant these days?

Personally i think PC games need to switch to using lossless and even HD audio, there is nothing a HW audio card can do that can't be done with minimal CPU usage in 2011.

 

The problem with lossless are that those files are going to make a big game even a lot bigger...

 

Games are getting bigger everyday, so are hard drives and Ram modules.

Higher quality GFX and audio is what makes games better, IMO.

 

No,the gameplay makes a game better.. The rest is icing on the cake..

 

Which is mainly great graphics and audio.

A game with crap graphics and audio, doesn't last very long.

 

eax is kinda dead. most games uses their own engines sound. you dont see games like bf3 using eax, its through their engine. I havent seen any new games come out with eax lately.

 

Now that I think about it, I have to retract my statement, I just remembered I been seeing more games that are openal using EFX. Which is open source and does all what EAX does. It just sound like EAX to me even tho it isn't. Because the Unreal engine 3 uses openal+EFX which why I keep thinking its Openal+EAX even tho it isnt. I do have alot of unreal engine 3 based games too.

I think EAX5 is on it death bed,Tho it still good to have the support if you have older games which uses eax3-5 which I have a dozen of.

 

I disagree.. A lot of games don't have the best graphics but are really fun to play. I'm not talking about 5 yr old graphics not just Crysis like. Crysis is one of the few with great everything.. Then they sold out and did Crysis 2.. What a waste.. Getting games that are console ports aren't great,they are good graphics..

 

The EAX support is a very welcomed effect,even if it is software emulated.
For me,given the choices for purchase and the open possibility to connect a 5.1 system later on the D2X is the best choice.
I wish sound cards manufacturers start to innovate more to revive this segment and give more reasons for the majority of people using integrated audio to go for a dedicated sound card.
Who knows,maybe they will start to implement some sort of a sound system that generates sounds in real time based on a physical phenomena of impacted objects in a simulated environment.Than,there would be a reason to develop a more capable "SPU" and to go dedicated.

 

Be warn Xonars only have EAX 1 and 2 and emulated EAX5, if you have any games that uses EAX3 or 4. You will not have that option in those games. Instead you would have eax2 option.

 

Console ports are limited because the hardware they were written for is limited.
Anyway....

 

Exactly,so that's why a lot of people get mad at console ports.. But look at max payne 2.. Not the greatest graphics in the world,but the gameplay is awesome.. I'm not sayin,I'm just sayin.. Diff strokes for diff folks..

 

..Sure but the game would be so much better with better graphics and sound quality.

 

Yeah, just like a movie.

A good movie on VHS will still be a good movie, but on BluRay it will be a very good movie.

 

Exactly.