ASUS Xonar D2X Sound Card Review
After examining ASUS' Xonar D2 discrete sound card a couple of months ago, today Elite Bastards have taken an exclusive look at the latest effort from the company's audio department, the Xonar D2X. While the most striking difference with this board is the introduction of a PCI Express interface, ASUS have also worked hard to improve some of the other areas where the D2 was somewhat lacking. Have they succeeded this time around in creating a must-have discrete audio solution?
Read the full review at Elite Bastards.
A couple of months ago, we took a look at ASUS' first true entrant into the burgeoning discrete sound card market, the Xonar D2. While we were impressed with the cabling and software bundle, the actual hardware proved itself to be a jack of all trades but master of none, with audio quality not quite on a par with Auzentech's latest offering, the Prelude, and gaming performance below Creative Labs' own X-Fi based solutions.
However, the last couple of months have seen a few changes and (hopefully) improvements upon the D2, which brings us to today's review. Out goes PCI support in favour of a PCI Express 1x interface, and the drivers for this board have also had an overhaul, particularly under Windows Vista, supposedly offering improved playback and recording quality. This new part comes under the name of 'D2X', and it's the subject of this article - Will it take ASUS from also-rans to a new leader in the discrete sound card market?
Read the full review at Elite Bastards.