ASUS Xonar D2X SoundCard

[dsio]

The stereo out jack on my old sound card died (EMU card) so I went back to an X-Fi for a few weeks, only to put up with crackling during gaming.

Tried the onboard from the Rampage again and it didn't crackle, but did sound terrible.

So I figured I'd try something different. Purchased for AU$235 an ASUS Xonar D2X (PCI-Express).

Just had it installed about an hour ago but so far:

Linux support is perfect.
Windows drivers and utilities are excellent, far beyond the usual Creative bog-job.
Audio quality is sublime. Having had an EMU, I already had a very low opinion of the X-Fi's sound quality which was only made worse by the crackling noises while gaming and general poor driver quality. This card though, the Xonar D2X, is a step up again from the EMU, and wipes the floor with the X-Fi (genuine X-Fi, not a "extremegamer" one). Really is refreshing to see an alternative brand to Creative doing a good job competing and beating the dominant power.

The package is exceptional as well, with RMAA, Cakewalk, and every cable and adapter you could possibly want included.

Another nice feature: each of the jacks at the back shines a bright colored led out the back, so if you're looking for a jack behind your computer you run your finger over them, covering them up until you find the one you want. Its an excellent feature as well.

So far only gripes are small ones, such as the fact that its a big, full sized card (the size of a mid-range graphics card) but only uses a PCI-E 1X slot, so doesn't anchor much, and it does need an external power supply from a floppy connector.

But very much worth it to be honest. Very, very happy with the purchase. Top job ASUS did, as you would expect from any ASUS premium product.

[dsio]

To add to this, running Sennheiser HD595 phones off it, which the X-Fi and onboard had trouble powering, the Xonar is handling them perfectly, no clipping or distortion.

[dsio]

Another interesting quirk. It makes clicking noises when you change certain settings. When I say that, I don't mean clicking in audio, I mean the actual card itself goes click clack even with nothing plugged into it.

Was worried it was something arcing, and called ASUS. Person on the phone had no clue and passed me to a technical guy. He says "I wouldn't worry sir, that's just the relays switching".

I laughed and said "relays in a computer?"

He said, yeap. The Xonar D2X uses a series of high quality mechanical switching relays on the analog side.

That is something I've never heard of before on a soundcard. Its not quiet either, its as loud as an automotive relay. Only clicks when booting and then when changing major settings that you rarely do, but still interesting.

[Daniel ~]

Let there be music, wonderful music!
Let there be price reductions on the card! ":O}

[Áedán]

Relays don't tend to add any noise - whereas crosspoint switches (electronic switching) does add noise. Sounds like they spent some time and money on the card. How well does it fare in rightmark?

[dsio]

Rightmark results From Elitist Bastards: Elite Bastards - ASUS Xonar D2X sound card review

[robbie]

Very nice! And here I was looking at an Maudio.

[cloasters]

This card got my interest, but it's hella expensive to take home. Didn't think it would cost ~$165 US!

[robbie]

Sounds like you get what you pay for with this card though George.

[cloasters]

If only that was true for more stuff that we need to buy. Hmm, wonder if it costs $152US(today's exchange rate) here? Thinking about it, Gawd I hate Creative.

[bradmax57]

I bought one of these and I cant say how dissapointed i was, first of all the need for a power connector annoyed me as i like my case tidy and due to the modular psu i had the single floppy had a molex hanging off it so looks a pig, the performance like you say was stunning, unfortunately do to a couple of other hardware changes i had to remove the card a couple of times, the power connector on the board was so weak that after removing 3 times it refused to work, luckily i sent it back under 28 days and got refund, nice card shame the power connector was so tight

at least i got it for £55 which i thought was a good deal, but in reality was no better than my x-fi titanium pci-e card that didnt need a power connector

[funnyperson1]

If you want something cheaper, you can get the Xonar DX or D1, it uses the same audio chipset but cheaper analog components (116dB SnR front, 112SnR for the rest compared to 118dB for everything on the D2/D2X).

Also if you don't like the idea of the extra power connector, there are PCI versions, the D2 and D1 which do not require auxiliary power. The CMEDIA chipset is a native PCI chipset, I believe the extra power is needed to power the PCIE->PCI bridge on the D2X and DX cards.