The first soundcard i ever bought (2001?) was the SoundBlaster Live! 5.1.
Vast
improvement over the onboard audio i had on the MSI board of my Pentium 3 PC. The range, powerful dynamic, the detail and clarity... noticeable even on the simple plastic 2.0 Philips speakerset.
In the years that followed i started assembling PC's, i used as soundcard Audigy 2 and later Audigy 2 ZS with frontbay, and i had the Klipsch Promedia 2.1 speakerset on one and the Logitech Z-2300 on the other PC. The Audigy's went together with the PC's that i later sold.
For the next Windows XP -PC's i built i used X-Fi soundcards, in chronological order:
- XtremeMusic PCI (EMU20K1)
- Platinum Fatal1ty Champion PCI - (EMU20K1) - 64 MB X-Ram - with the old Audigy2ZS frontbay,
- XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Pro PCI - (EMU20K1) - 64 MB X-Ram -
- Titanium Fatal1ty Professional PCIe - (EMU20K2) - 64MB X-Ram
SoundBlaster X-fI Model SB0460 extensive datasheet with complete specifications, layout and usage.
Sound Blaster X-FI Titanium HD is not meant for gamers, it is for audiophiles. No 5.1 surround, just 2.0 / 2.1 and/or headphones, but top of the line quality in components and performance for hifi stereo music pleasure.
A fine user's review for the X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro Series PCIe (scroll down past the promo text).
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion Series Sound Card w/ I/O] is the same as above and also with the front bay.
[Note] When aiming for a cheap card with a great name: Audigy SE and Audigy Value:
so you won't get real Audigy cards, and should not expect much of them.The Audigy SE and Audigy Value are stripped down models, with a less expensive CA-0106 audio-controller in place of the EMU10k2. With the CA-0106, the SE/Value are limited to software-based EAX 3.0 (upgraded to software-based EAX 4.0 with a driver update),
wikipedia
Asio >2 ms
ASIO
Sound Blaster Z PCIe
Sound Blaster Zx PCIe
Sound Blaster ZxR PCIe
Interesting too: PowerColor Devil HDX Sound Card Review. (guru3d.com)
On my Windows 7 PC's i have SoundBlaster Z family cards. A Z on my everyday office and a ZxR on my gameing pc. Also on my music / enterntainment pc i still have a ZxR running but i'm thinking of replaceing it by a Xonar Essence STX II someday.
Now over to top quality:
ASUS Xonar Essence STX II Sound Card Reviews:
Asus Essence STX II 7.1 Sound Card / Headphone Amplifier Review (kitguru.net)techpowerup wrote:The STX unfortunately had an inferior clock generator which made it slightly more susceptible to jitter than its PCI counterpart, the ST. ASUS remedied the issue with the STX II. There is a new and improved clock on board, and the outputs have multiplied since the STX II is a full 7.1-capable design due to an add-on board.
ASUS Essence STX II 7.1 soundcard review - PC's high-end audio (reviewstudio.net)
Asus Essence STX II – review (english version)
Review: ASUS Essence STX II 7.1 Sound Card (ocdrift.com)
ASUS Xonar Essence STX II 7.1 Sound Card (techpowerup.com)
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