New soundcard/speakers combo - advice wanted

[edbar]

First of all, hello to everyone on the Techgage forums - I've been an avid reader for some time but have only just been prompted to register.

As per the title above, I'm in the market for a new PC soundcard and speakers. Unfortunately my knowledge of such things is extremely limited and I was hoping you more knowledgeable folks could impart some good advice.

Budget isn't really a concern (within reasonable limits); looking at the latest reviews I've been quite taken by Logitech's (2.1) Z Cinema system (I have enough cable lying around as it is!) and the Asus D2 sound card.

My primary use would be for music (I tend to listen to all sorts from 'indie' to house to reggae to d&b etc) although I do a reasonable amount of gaming too. I'd prefer to go with a 2.1 system purely because of the aforementioned cable issue (although not totally averse to more speakers if completely necessary). I'd also like the option to use the speakers with my TV (Samsung PS50Q97HDX) if possible.

Space-wise my PC lives in my home office which is a fairly small room (16x8 ft). It's a reasonably new build based around a Asus P5K board and a Q6600 quad-core processor.

I hope that's enough info to give you guys something to work with; thanks in advance for any help/advice you can offer!

 

[Rob Williams]

Bump!

For music, I couldn't recommend the ASUS Xonar enough. I admit that I do not have a basis for comparison, but it's so far better than onboard audio, it's a no-brainer to me. It might all depend in the speakers or headphones, of course. I use higher-end headphones most of the time, and that's where I noticed the difference the most (not with the Logitech X-240s I have).

I'll ping Rory and see if he can offer some advice. For 2.1, I believe he prefers the Razer Mako's over the Z Cinéma, but I can't say for sure.

 

[Kougar]

It looks like Newegg now has the ASUS Xonar DX listed for $89.

Supposed to be the budget PCIe 1x version of the original Xonar, but I don't know the actual differences between them.

 

[Rob Williams]

I have been told straight from ASUS that the DX has quality very close to on par with the D2 and D2X. There was one primary change (which escapes me right now), but they noted that most people would not know the difference.

The primary difference between the DX and D2/X is bling... and the included bundle.