Rob Williams
01-24-2008, 04:32 AM
From our front-page news: After reading Rory's review of the ASUS Xonar D2 (http://techgage.com/article/asus_xonar_d2_sound_card/) back in September, I knew this card was one I had to have in my possession. For the past two years, I have been using the Chaintech AV-710 and certainly got my use out of it, but I knew it was time for an upgrade, especially since I planned on purchasing a decent pair of headphones. The only problem was... I am a pure Linux user, using Windows only for gaming, Photoshop and the like. To my surprise though, I was not out of luck.
Thanks to dedicated developer Clemens Ladisch (http://alsa-project.org/main/index.php/User:ClemensLadisch), a CMI8788 driver has been in development for quite a few months. For those unaware, the C-Media 8788 chipset is also found in the Auzentech X-Meridian (http://techgage.com/article/auzentech_x-meridian_71/), HT Omega Claro, Razer Barracuda AC-1 (http://techgage.com/article/razer_barracuda_ac-1_sound_card/), Sondigo Inferno and of course, both the ASUS Xonar D2 (http://techgage.com/article/asus_xonar_d2_sound_card/) and D2X.
I installed the D2X a few weeks ago and installation went fine. I posted in the forums at that time (http://forums.techgage.com/showthread.php?t=2927), relaying my experiences. First and foremost, I do notice quite a sound difference... and I'm not close to being an audiophile. You'd have to be half-deaf to not hear the difference, even with the rather cheap headphones I'm currently using.
<table align="center"><tbody><tr><td> http://techgage.com/images/news/asus_xonar_d2x_large_news_logo.jpg
</td></tr></tbody></table>
The biggest gripe I've run into is the lack of volume sliders... I have a single Master and that's it. I am certainly not complaining, though. The driver has certainly come a long way in the past few months and is completely usable.
I am interested in hearing experiences if anyone else out there has a CMI8788-based audio card and has it working fine in Linux. From what I gather, I am in the minority when it comes to the volume sliders, so chances are you will have better luck. I'll follow-up in a few weeks if things improve. As it stands, I have to recommend this card... the sound... is so... good.
Source: Related Forum Thread (http://forums.techgage.com/showthread.php?t=2927)
Thanks to dedicated developer Clemens Ladisch (http://alsa-project.org/main/index.php/User:ClemensLadisch), a CMI8788 driver has been in development for quite a few months. For those unaware, the C-Media 8788 chipset is also found in the Auzentech X-Meridian (http://techgage.com/article/auzentech_x-meridian_71/), HT Omega Claro, Razer Barracuda AC-1 (http://techgage.com/article/razer_barracuda_ac-1_sound_card/), Sondigo Inferno and of course, both the ASUS Xonar D2 (http://techgage.com/article/asus_xonar_d2_sound_card/) and D2X.
I installed the D2X a few weeks ago and installation went fine. I posted in the forums at that time (http://forums.techgage.com/showthread.php?t=2927), relaying my experiences. First and foremost, I do notice quite a sound difference... and I'm not close to being an audiophile. You'd have to be half-deaf to not hear the difference, even with the rather cheap headphones I'm currently using.
<table align="center"><tbody><tr><td> http://techgage.com/images/news/asus_xonar_d2x_large_news_logo.jpg
</td></tr></tbody></table>
The biggest gripe I've run into is the lack of volume sliders... I have a single Master and that's it. I am certainly not complaining, though. The driver has certainly come a long way in the past few months and is completely usable.
I am interested in hearing experiences if anyone else out there has a CMI8788-based audio card and has it working fine in Linux. From what I gather, I am in the minority when it comes to the volume sliders, so chances are you will have better luck. I'll follow-up in a few weeks if things improve. As it stands, I have to recommend this card... the sound... is so... good.
Source: Related Forum Thread (http://forums.techgage.com/showthread.php?t=2927)