[hansen6]

Hello

Seeing as some X79 boards support Realtek ALC898 and the upcoming Z77 boards will also support it, does anyone know how it fares against a decent Asus Xonar DX 7.1?

Wondering if there's any point getting an extra sound card on a pair of speakers like, say, the Swan M50Ws

]http://www.swanspeaker.com/product/htm/view.asp?id=443]

thanks!

 

[MrSpoon]

It looks like the main difference between the 898 and the 892 is the 898 supports Dolby Home Theater, while the 892 supports THX TruStudio. Aside from that, I haven't seen any real information released on the 898, even on Realtek's website. Due to a lack of information on it, I don't think I could really give a definitive recommendation either way.

The 898 might be a great on-board sound solution, but I imagine it's a slight incremental update. I would see an on-board sound card giving a vast improvement in sound quality or features being something that would be marketed at least a little bit. Going out of some cheapo Logitechs you probably wouldn't notice a difference, but I would personally spring for the Xonar DX. I imagine through the Swan's you would notice a difference. Whether it's enough of on to justify the cost, though, is all up to your ears.

 

[hansen6]

Thanks for the answer! And damn, thought I could save some money : /

 

[peck1234]

The ALC898 is Realteks lastest chipset, and achieves the highest SNR ratio out of ANY onboard solutions. (110DB SNR)

Really no need for a dedicated card...

 

[hansen6]

Quote:

Originally Posted by peck1234

The ALC898 is Realteks lastest chipset, and achieves the highest SNR ratio out of ANY onboard solutions. (110DB SNR)
Really no need for a dedicated card...

Just bought a Xonar DX. Tell me there will be at least the slightest difference.

 

[Tacoboy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hansen6

Just bought a Xonar DX. Tell me there will be at least the slightest difference.

The Xonar DX comes with a better DAC (Digital to Analog Converter) then the motherboard. so that's a plus
But the Xonar DX's (& D1, DS, DSX) ability to drive headphones is not that great.
The Asus Xonar DGX (or DG) comes with a headphone amplifier, the Xonar DX, D1, DS, DSX. do not.
But, if all your doing is using the sound card for speakers, then the DX is a good choice.
You could always add an external headphone amplifier to the Xonar DX, which makes a good combo.

 

[hansen6]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tacoboy

The Xonar DX comes with a better DAC (Digital to Analog Converter) then the motherboard. so that's a plus
But the Xonar DX's (& D1, DS, DSX) ability to drive headphones is not that great.
The Asus Xonar DGX (or DG) comes with a headphone amplifier, the Xonar DX, D1, DS, DSX. do not.
But, if all your doing is using the sound card for speakers, then the DX is a good choice.
You could always add an external headphone amplifier to the Xonar DX, which makes a good combo.

Thanks for the information =) got the dx and some swan m50ws. sounding pretty good.

 

[peck1234]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hansen6

Just bought a Xonar DX. Tell me there will be at least the slightest difference.

Curious to see if you can "hear" a difference between the realtek and DX?

Personally I find Asus cards to be a tad bright and inaccurate.

 

[sammkv]

I doubt onboard has a 110db SNR, more around the low 90's.

The asus comes with decent dac's and opamps which shape the sound more than onboard.

 

[hansen6]

I've not tried the onboard sound, but I will when I get home and add some comments. THink my swans are still burning in as well. they are definitely audibly clearer than the onboard sound + creative iTrigue combo i was using before.

 

[hansen6]

I'm sorry i just got home and realised the way i routed my wires, the audio cable is stretched to it's limit and cannot even reach higher by 15 cm to the mobo's audio output : |

 

[kz26]

I happened to have a chance to conduct a subjective listening test before I sold my old rig. Other than the fact that the Realtek requires a higher volume level to match the Xonar DX, I was not able to hear any difference.

 

[peck1234]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sammkv

I doubt onboard has a 110db SNR, more around the low 90's.
The asus comes with decent dac's and opamps which shape the sound more than onboard.

Straight from the datasheet....

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/datasheets/ALC898_DataSheet_0.60.pdf

 

[Paps.pt]

I used to have Creative Xtremegamer PCI and the DTS Connect (had to pay 5$ do unlock the function) sounded great sending 5.1 audio from my pc my home cinema with a optical cable. My last MB burned in a surge so I had to buy a PCI-e card, decided to go with a Asus DX but I am not happy with it at all. The drivers suck, I have to change the sound source from 5.1 to 2 speakers all the time and it only has Dolby Digital Live which has a worst bitrate than DTS Connect, therefore, sounding a lot worst, at least to me.
Do any of you guys have the same problems? If I decide to change my soundcard, which one do you recommend?

Cheers

 

[Yor_]

Quote:

Originally Posted by peck1234

Straight from the datasheet....
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/datasheets/ALC898_DataSheet_0.60.pdf

Those are the specs of the codec on paper, in a perfect world...real world performance is not as good when you put it in the context of a noisy PC motherboard and other noisy electronic components. The actual analog signal degrades. But that pretty much applies to every other DAC/ADC/Codec too.

 

[peck1234]

Well, now that I have an ALC898 chipset I will say its good, but Im still wanting more. Ive tried the Asus STX and was not happy with the bright output of the card.

So for now I just ordered a http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102041

So it's Creative Sound Blaster Recon3D vs ALC898 Curious to hear which offers more dynamics and clarity.

As, Yor stated SNR aint everything and I know. Hoping this will be a clear cut case.

 

[Simca]

Stx isn't the problem if you're complaining about it being bright. Check your headphones or speakers. As for the dx, turn off all the dolby features. They don't make the fidelity of music or movies any better. Worse at best. The dx should sound much better after turning all the witchcraft off. You may have to eq your speakers appropriately depending on your ears and the quality of the speakers.

I would not buy the recon 3d

Sent from my HTC Sensation XE using Tapatalk

 

[kanuck]

Wow... interesting coincidence.

I also have the ALC898 and was close to buying either the STX or Core3D to upgrade it.

What has your experience been like having used all three now?

Can you comment on the differences between music/games and also what speakers/headphones you use?

Cheers

 

[Cyrilmak]

Either Asus Xonar DGX 's or Creative's X-Fi Titanium HD will be far better than on board. Both are excellent sound cards. On board sound is horrid, no matter what the chip set compared to a dedicated card.

 

[Cyrilmak]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kanuck

Wow... interesting coincidence.
I also have the ALC898 and was close to buying either the STX or Core3D to upgrade it.
What has your experience been like having used all three now?
Can you comment on the differences between music/games and also what speakers/headphones you use?
Cheers

Get the Titanium HD over the Core3D stuff, or go with an Asus Xonar DGX, or STX.