Hello, i'm new here :D and i wanna buy a new sound card to my PC, and i have some options, X-FI Titanium (not the HD) Asus Xonar DSX, Sound Blaster Recon 3D, or the Sound Blaster Z (but this one is a little to expensive here in my country, but, i wanna know if there is a HUGE difference in sound quality, justifying the higher price), what do you guys think which one is the best overall !!!
PS: i'm using 2.1 Speakers
PPS: Sorry for my bad english !!
Depends on the quality of your speakers. Typically if it has a metal shroud, it will perform better simply because it has additional shielding to prevent electromagnetic interference. At that point just look at the amount of singnal per noise and the sampling rate, the higher the better for both.
the Xonar have 107DB signal to noise ratio and the SB Z has 116DB, with the 107 DB from the Xonar it will be a great improvement from my onboard audio, or i will have to take the expensive "Z" with 116DB to hear the difference ???
I have my Edifier HCS2330 connected to my Asus Xonar DX, it sounds awesome and I can really recommend it for gaming, music, and movies. I don't know much about the DSX, but judging by the specs on Asus website, I believe the DX is a bit better than the DSX. Both the DX and the SB Z have 116dB but I think the DX is a bit cheaper than the SB Z. One thing you should keep in mind is if you happen to get the SB, make sure the driver works fine with Windows 7, because I found a lot of people having issues with installing the driver on Windows 7 (you can google it).
That is bull-shiska. I could add a metal shroud to an VIA VT2021, and it will still be onboard audio. Out of the bunch, the Xonar DSX will sound the best.
True enough, it doesn't matter if the components that the shroud covers aren't good. I said it that way mainly because most companies don't bother putting shrouds on anything but their top of the line products. This is readily evident when looking through the selection of components from Asus and Creative Labs.
OK tks for the replys, i will buy the DSX and the Logitech Z506 :D