Pros: Easy To Install, Easy To Use, Reliable Performance
The Asus Xonar DX has some great qualities, however they are not the ones that are so blatantly advertised and that enticed me to purchase this card. The Xonar DX has been touted as a quality sound card for gamers who want the best audio for their games. Asus has stated that their Xonar DX can enable and emulate EAX 5.0 in games via their DS3D GX 2.0 software. While this may sound good to gamers I'm afraid that it's simply not true. Although the sound quality of the Xonar for music and movies is impressive for an [$] card, it is billed as a card for gamers and so I must give it only 1 star.The EAX support for the Xonar is nonexistent. You can NOT enable EAX 3.0 or higher in games as advertized. Since you can't enable EAX it doesn't matter how well their GX 2.0 works. Not only is the support of EAX titles misleading, but in non EAX games the sound is atrocious. Too much reverb is applied to rooms were little or none is needed, weapon sounds are subdued and muted while others are too loud, i.e., bad sound equalization. The 3D sound is also choppy, clipping from one position to the next as you spin around, instead of the smooth transitioning of sounds that my onboard audio supplies.I have tested the Xonar DX in many games to come to these conclusions and compared it directly with my dying Soundblaster Audigy and Realtek motherboard audio. It failed. Games tested: Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Singularity, Metro 2033, Cryostasis, Far Cry 2, Crysis, Thief: Deadly Shadows, Doom 3, The Dark Mod, COD Modern Warfare 2, Wolfenstein, Zeno Clash, Dreamkiller, Aliens vs Predator, Stalker: Call of Prypiat, Mirror's Edge, Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, NecroVisioN: Lost Company, and more.At best the Xonar sounded no different from my other audio solutions. At worst it detracted from the enjoyment of the games due to it's lousy sound positioning, overdone and inappropriate use of reverb, all the while hushing loud sounds and exaggerating quiet ones. The only game that sounded good, actually better than my Audigy or Realtek, was Metro 2033. The overdone reverberation of the Xonar made the tunnels of Metro echo and sound more authentic. All of the other sounds were excellent as well. Still, improving the audio of just one game out of the bunch isn't enough for me to recommend this card to gamers looking for EAX support or simply better sound for non EAX titles.In conclusion, if you are an audiophile on a budget you may enjoy the Xonar DX, but if you want a card for gaming then stick with a true EAX sound card like a Creative Soundblaster or Auzentech Prelude.One final note. At the time of this writing the picture of the Xonar shown above is misleading. The Xonar DX is a PCIE x1 card, not a standard PCI like the picture shows. I hope this helps.
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