For vista Xonar definitely.
For XP I am not sure
For XP I am not sure
main battle tank karthus medikopter 117 megamegapowershot gg
Xonar. Better drivers, can do everything the Creative an, PCI-E, waaaaay better Vista support, due to software emulation capabilities, not Creative, etc etc.
The idea of any hi-fi system is to reproduce the source material as faithfully as possible, and to deliberately add distortion to everything you hear (due to amplifier deficiencies) because it sounds 'nice' is simply not high fidelity. If that is what you want to hear then there is no problem with that, but by adding so much additional material (by way of harmonics and intermodulation) you have a tailored sound system, not a hi-fi. - Rod Elliot, ESP
Xonar
another vote for xonar. Creative have terrible drivers and support. Not worth the hassle
once upon a midnight dreary, while i pron surfed, weak and weary, over many a strange and spurious site of ' hot xxx galore'. While i clicked my fav'rite bookmark, suddenly there came a warning, and my heart was filled with mourning, mourning for my dear amour, " 'Tis not possible!", i muttered, " give me back my free hardcore!"..... quoth the server, 404.
I never had any problems with their drivers. Seems every user has its own experiences with their drivers. Using their pro drivers atm-flawless.max wrote:
another vote for xonar. Creative have terrible drivers and support. Not worth the hassle
Extreme gamer is a pretty basic card, don't know how good xonar is. If I were getting an X-FI, I'd get at least an X-FI Music.
Xonar is on level with the high-end Creatives, even beating them in many tests..Sup wrote:
I never had any problems with their drivers. Seems every user has its own experiences with their drivers. Using their pro drivers atm-flawless.max wrote:
another vote for xonar. Creative have terrible drivers and support. Not worth the hassle
Extreme gamer is a pretty basic card, don't know how good xonar is. If I were getting an X-FI, I'd get at least an X-FI Music.
The idea of any hi-fi system is to reproduce the source material as faithfully as possible, and to deliberately add distortion to everything you hear (due to amplifier deficiencies) because it sounds 'nice' is simply not high fidelity. If that is what you want to hear then there is no problem with that, but by adding so much additional material (by way of harmonics and intermodulation) you have a tailored sound system, not a hi-fi. - Rod Elliot, ESP
At the end it all comes to personal preference. Softer/harder tones, deep bass/hard bass,... Ofc the downside of internal sound cards are the distortions.Freezer7Pro wrote:
Xonar is on level with the high-end Creatives, even beating them in many tests..Sup wrote:
I never had any problems with their drivers. Seems every user has its own experiences with their drivers. Using their pro drivers atm-flawless.max wrote:
another vote for xonar. Creative have terrible drivers and support. Not worth the hassle
Extreme gamer is a pretty basic card, don't know how good xonar is. If I were getting an X-FI, I'd get at least an X-FI Music.
Now when you say that, you're talking about the one in my OP yes? Because they have like 3 different Xonar's.Freezer7Pro wrote:
Xonar is on level with the high-end Creatives, even beating them in many tests..Sup wrote:
I never had any problems with their drivers. Seems every user has its own experiences with their drivers. Using their pro drivers atm-flawless.max wrote:
another vote for xonar. Creative have terrible drivers and support. Not worth the hassle
Extreme gamer is a pretty basic card, don't know how good xonar is. If I were getting an X-FI, I'd get at least an X-FI Music.
Whats more important to you Crazed; music listening or surround sound for movies or both are equally important
motherboard optical/coax out is better than both and u should already have it..
no its not (typically).twoblacklines wrote:
motherboard optical/coax out is better than both and u should already have it..
Xonar. I like my falality, but it will be the last Creative anything I buy. I never went to x64 until later so I missed most of the driver drama. Creative's been able to get away with bad support and bad attitude because of a lack of real competition, this is now to an end.
The reality is he can do both with either, with little or no compromise..Sup wrote:
Whats more important to you Crazed; music listening or surround sound for movies or both are equally important
Last edited by jsnipy (2008-10-27 18:44:02)
I have the XtremeGamer right now. My friend left his PC at my house because hes busy with school for a long while, and can't use it at all anyway. So, while he's gone I ganked his sound card .
Now, I upgraded from onboard and this is the only good soundcard I've ever used, and right off the bat I was awed at how much better it really is over onboard. I can't keep this card obviously, so I will need to get my own at somepoint.
I'm not a huge audiophile, and I don't have an expensive surround system. I do have 5.1 headphones, though, but it's not a major factor as any sound card can do decent 5.1 really. I mostly just play games, listen to music, and watch movies on my PC. I would say gaming takes priority, I want the best possible sound from games.
So with that said, is the Xonar still a better choice? Will I actually notice a big difference haxing a XtremeGamer now, and going to a Xonar?
Now, I upgraded from onboard and this is the only good soundcard I've ever used, and right off the bat I was awed at how much better it really is over onboard. I can't keep this card obviously, so I will need to get my own at somepoint.
I'm not a huge audiophile, and I don't have an expensive surround system. I do have 5.1 headphones, though, but it's not a major factor as any sound card can do decent 5.1 really. I mostly just play games, listen to music, and watch movies on my PC. I would say gaming takes priority, I want the best possible sound from games.
So with that said, is the Xonar still a better choice? Will I actually notice a big difference haxing a XtremeGamer now, and going to a Xonar?