Asus Xonar D2X - PCI-Express soundcard

Very nice indeed! But what exactly do you mean by "the company’s representatives were unavailable for comment at the time"? Were they on a coffee break or something?

CES I imagine

I'm going to get to the bottom of that next week and ill update the article. It seems very strange - I looked everywhere for it - and perhaps worth noting as it was part of the software provided that most people will actually use.

Ok, i liked the "product presentation". But where are the benchmarks, what is the cpu usage, etc etc...

The Asus P(i)MP software looks rubbish...

Originally Posted by [USRF
Obiwan]Ok, i liked the "product presentation". But where are the benchmarks, what is the cpu usage, etc etc...

It's exactly the same as the Xonar D2, it felt excessive to re-review the same hardware - we're literally just covering an update :)

I don't understand why there DRM circumvention has to be analog? can't they tap off the signal going to the DAC and record that and convert that back into a file instead?

they sell them over here for 179 euro's

(here being the netherlands)

nice, i can see these being sought after for those going 2x/3x sli

personally i think i'll be sticking to my x-fi elite pro, ive never had a problem with creative drivers or hardware so i see no real reason to switch

Deleted

PCI-E uses the wrong power? couldn't they convert it?

Seems like a rather rushed product - "Hey, lets shove this converter chip on, and sell it on"
It would be OK if they just put a power regulation chip on so it didn't need a power connector

Originally Posted by Tile
The problem that I find with this soundcard is the extra power connector. This is absolutely pathetic - a soundcard that requires additional power. The computer industry as a whole must focus on energiy efficiency.

My thought exactly. What kind of sound card sucks down more than the 75w provided by a PCIE slot?

The state of computer power usage is absolutely insane. I mean I shouldn't talk as I'm probably going to be buying an Xserve shortly which has a 750w unit (though it is a server, to be fair), but we've got foot-long graphics cards that take a pair of the newer 4x2pin PCIE connectors in addition to what it can get through the slot. I thought it was bad enough with the ATI 9-series first had molex sockets. What the hell?
/off soapbox

PCIE - good start (finally!). Backlit analog connectors - sounds stupid, but I see a lot of practical value in that. DDL!/DTS:C - I bought what was, AFAIK, the first card on the market with the feature, so that's important to me. But so much other stuff really comes of as ticking pointless checkboxes on a feature list.

i looked at gettin the PCI version of this but didnt see enough positive reviews so i went with the HT Omega Claro Plus. any of you have that? i have seen very positive reviews.

Originally Posted by Tile
The problem that I find with this soundcard is the extra power connector. This is absolutely pathetic - a soundcard that requires additional power. The computer industry as a whole must focus on energiy efficiency.

Unless I'm mistaken, it has nothing to do with energy efficiency; the extra power is required simply because PCI express uses 3.3V and the chips on the soundcard use 5V, as they were intended for use on PCI. The card should use only fractionally more power than its PCI counterpart, which doesn't require an extra power header.

Originally Posted by The Bodger
Unless I'm mistaken, it has nothing to do with energy efficiency; the extra power is required simply because PCI express uses 3.3V and the chips on the soundcard use 5V, as they were intended for use on PCI. The card should use only fractionally more power than its PCI counterpart, which doesn't require an extra power header.

Its pretty easy to get 3v to 5v converter chips, i just dont get why they didnt do it

Originally Posted by Firehed

PCIE - good start (finally!). Backlit analog connectors - sounds stupid, but I see a lot of practical value in that. DDL!/DTS:C - I bought what was, AFAIK, the first card on the market with the feature, so that's important to me. But so much other stuff really comes of as ticking pointless checkboxes on a feature list.

Backlit connectors - AWESOME! Ever tried to plug something in in the dark, or even without some direct light?? They work great.

DDL and DTS:C have been around for ages - I got DDL with my first HD-Audio chipset on the intel reference 925X board back in '05.

Power connector is because PCI-E doesn't supply the right voltages, not because it's more power hungry - as I said, it's got exactly the same components on it otherwise.

So basicly, its the same old sht...

;)

Originally Posted by Firehed
My thought exactly. What kind of sound card sucks down more than the 75w provided by a PCIE slot?

While I agree with most of what you said, this card is on a x1 connector, not a x16 which can supply the 75W. I'm not sure how much a x1 connector can supply (divide by 16?), but it's nowhere near 75W.

If I had this card, would I be able to play Crysis/Bioshock/COD4/etc in 5.1 surround sound over optical SPDIF to this: Samsung DVD player thingamabob

That's all I'm interested in. :D

Originally Posted by blackerthanblack
While I agree with most of what you said, this card is on a x1 connector, not a x16 which can supply the 75W. I'm not sure how much a x1 connector can supply (divide by 16?), but it's nowhere near 75W.

No, the Power goes through the initial PCI-E bit, then the data goes through the next bit
So all PCI-E slots get 75w

http://img407.imageshack.us/my.php?image=back8co5.jpg

This is my understanding anyway

Yea all slots get 75W afaik but from what I gather it's 12V only (?) so the amount of amps crossing the slot is kept as low as possible (6.25). Plus, the 12V is run from the additional 4/8-pin connector making it more stable.

This could be crap - I couldn't find a PCI-E white paper on it.

the back-lit audio jacks look sweet! That's one expensive soundcard though...

The reason to get this is sound quality. I upgraded from a X-Fi Elite Pro to the Xonar D2M and have now upgraded to the D2X. The D2M sounded much better than the X-Fi Elite Pro (more detailed better imaging and bass) and the D2X sounds better again. I guess it is probably due to the pci-e bus being less noisey that the pci bus ?

Its a great card ! I would highly recommend it. I use it to feed a digital signal to a Cambridge Azur 840C to Linn pre/power amps feeding Monitor Audio GS60 speakers. The sound card is cheaper than even any 1 of my power plugs but great quality.

Originally Posted by completemadness

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Bodger
Unless I'm mistaken, it has nothing to do with energy efficiency; the extra power is required simply because PCI express uses 3.3V and the chips on the soundcard use 5V, as they were intended for use on PCI. The card should use only fractionally more power than its PCI counterpart, which doesn't require an extra power header.

Its pretty easy to get 3v to 5v converter chips, i just dont get why they didnt do it

In the interests of sound quality, an extra step-up DC-DC conversion would be an inferior solution. There's +12V on that bus too, using that would be an arguably better solution. I guess this was a cheap, quick & dirty approach to converting an existing board; stick a floppy socket on it.

Is there any reason for me to get the PCI-E over the PCI card?