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Best Soundcard for 2.0 reference monitors?

NightWing
By NightWing
in Audio
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What is the ideal Soundcard for 2.0 reference monitors?

Or does it even matter?

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I'm currently using the Asus Xonar Essence STX, that is a dedicated stereo (2.0) sound card. The Improvement is massive if you are moving up from on-board audio:) Hope this helps.

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Case: CM Storm Mid Tower | Motherboard: ASUS P8Z68-V I CPU: Intel i7 (1155) 2600k @ 3.4GHz | Ram: Ballistix Tracer DDR3 4x4GB | GPU:  XFX HD Radeon XXX DD 6870 | Sound Card: Asus Xonar Essence STX  | Power Suply: OCZ 1000W  |  Boot Drive: 2 x WD Raptors 300GB in Raid 0 | Storage: Samsung SpinPoint T3 1TB | OS: Windows 7 Pro 64 Bit 

 

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Case: Silverstone TJ07 I Motherboard: MSI z87-G45 Gaming | CPU: Intel i5-4570k | Ram: Ballistix Tracer DDR3 4x4GB | GPU: 2X MSI R9 290X 4GB (x-fire) | Sound Card: Asus Xonar Essence STX | Power Supply: Corsair RM 850W | Boot Drive: Samsung 840 Evo 250GB | Cooling: Custom loop (cpu+gpu's)

 


 


 


 

#killedmywife

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how crazy are we getting here? the Xonar Essence One that linus reviewed was said to be mid to entry grade by pros and the essence was priced at $550

with audio you can easily get Cray Cray with pricing.

however +1 for the STX I think the new creative Z line released a card specifically for the 2.0/2.1 omitting any bloat hardware for extra speakers.

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I'm currently using the Asus Xonar Essence STX, that is a dedicated stereo (2.0) sound card. The Improvement is massive if you are moving up from on-board audio:) Hope this helps.
I was looking at thoughs but havent seen much actual information on them. thanks
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how crazy are we getting here? the Xonar Essence One that linus reviewed was said to be mid to entry grade by pros and the essence was priced at $550

with audio you can easily get Cray Cray with pricing.

however +1 for the STX I think the new creative Z line released a card specifically for the 2.0/2.1 omitting any bloat hardware for extra speakers.

The STX is an internal card, cost me around £140, so not that stupidly priced really.
review by Linus himself :)
Current Rig:

 

Case: CM Storm Mid Tower | Motherboard: ASUS P8Z68-V I CPU: Intel i7 (1155) 2600k @ 3.4GHz | Ram: Ballistix Tracer DDR3 4x4GB | GPU:  XFX HD Radeon XXX DD 6870 | Sound Card: Asus Xonar Essence STX  | Power Suply: OCZ 1000W  |  Boot Drive: 2 x WD Raptors 300GB in Raid 0 | Storage: Samsung SpinPoint T3 1TB | OS: Windows 7 Pro 64 Bit 

 

Project Zero (In Progress)

 

Case: Silverstone TJ07 I Motherboard: MSI z87-G45 Gaming | CPU: Intel i5-4570k | Ram: Ballistix Tracer DDR3 4x4GB | GPU: 2X MSI R9 290X 4GB (x-fire) | Sound Card: Asus Xonar Essence STX | Power Supply: Corsair RM 850W | Boot Drive: Samsung 840 Evo 250GB | Cooling: Custom loop (cpu+gpu's)

 


 


 


 

#killedmywife

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You've got sort fo three "tiers" depending on your budget and needs.

If you are using serious reference speakers and you want the absolute best sound possible, you will want to run SPDIF to a quality reciever.

Next best thing is to use a USB DAC like the ASUS Xonar Essence One.

If you are just looking on a standard soundcard you should look at either the Asus essence STX or Phoebus. The Phoebus has a newer model DAC and has 7.1, but somehow doesn't have as good of a rated SNR as the STX. They have the same headphone amp.

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For a soundcard, I think the Asus Essence STX is arguably the best as of right now.

However, Creative's Soundblaster ZxR may look to be beating that when it actually becomes available.

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What are you producing? and what are the monitors in question?

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