- Sep 26, 2011
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note:- this comparision is strickly a user opinion and does not reflect the real performance of these two sound cards, this is based on my hearing, experience and personal thoughts, I was confused between the two and it was frustrating thats why I have made this comparision so users like me could get an Idea on how boths cards performed FROM MY POINT OF VIEW.
I own both cards so I have no reason to lean toward any of them
ok so today I have made a comparision between both the recon3d pcie version and the titanium HD soundcards, the comparision was made while effects was off and titanium HD in intertainment mode not game mode.
both cards were connected to schiit asgard + denon ah-d5000,
although the recon3d has a dedicated headphones amp I have connected it to an external amp anyway so I can have a clear and uniform comparision between the both and as accurate result as possible, since the asgard doesn`t alter the sound quality but only amplifiy it and and extend the frequency responds of headphones.
I have connected the recon3d from its headphones out to the rca of asgard so I used high quality audioquest evergreen 3.5 jack to RCA.
the titanium HD has been connecte through its RCA to the asgard RCA, the titanium has the same sound quality even if I connected it from the 3.5 jack to rca since I have compared both and its the same.
ok so lets get to the results.
-music:-
recon3d has a good sound quality if not great when it comes to music, but it seemed alittle bit harsh on the ears with the high mids to mids high, its only acceptable since the recon3d is aimed at gamers so the mids should be more profound, I have tried a number of tracks and it all sounded the same in terms of mids,
the downfall here if you connect the recon3d to an external amp you won`t be able to adjust any EQ nor can you use the crystallizer feature on it.
ok so after I have connected the titanium HD the sound seemed more balanced and and slightly crispier, no high mids here, slightly better base and representation of every element of the songs, there is also the wow factor you get in techno and house music where the beats start high, unlike the recon3d which seemed everything is laud so there is no real punch and feel of those kind of songs if you know what I mean.
-gaming:-
now here where it gets a little bit confusing, the recon3D performed really good in borderlands and the 3D effects where so good and the positioning was superb and natural, its a gaming card so all these is expected, red faction armageddon sounded clear and the 3d effects were superb, stalker, now here where the recon3d really wins over the titanium HD in terms of postional audio and 3d effect, the positioning here sounded really natural and clear, and the scout mode is superb in pin pointing enemies.
ok so now about the titanium HD, now here the harware acceleration and high end components really shined and gave the extra crispiness in games, borderlands sounded great and the background sound is great and clear, the 3d effect seemed slightly inferior to the recon3d since it sounded like its sort of compartmentalized and not so natural, but the clearer sound makes up for it.
in red faction armageddon, I went through the same level where you disable the energy field to free the civilians and where the monster rips the girls head off, now here the sound was really different than the recon3D, this movie effect the openess of the sound and clearness really sounded astonishing and great, the 3d and positioning was equal to the recon3d in every way adding clearer sound and crispy broader audio.
as I mentioned before recon3d sounded better in stalker when it comes to positioning audio, again the sound is crispier but the 3d effects is compartmentalized and not so natural.
-drivers:-
here the recon3d wins hands down, the drivers here work really great with no issue what so ever, installation was fast and instant operation after restart, the console is better polished that the x-fi console and has bigger icons and bottoms. overall the drives support is far superior than the titanium HD.
now the titanium HD drivers are not so bad, everything worked well for me after I installed the drivers and softwares from the bundled CD on a fresh windows 7 install, it works perfectly on a fresh install otherwise you might face lots of no audio issue and the card not being reconginzed by the console which is frustrating.
accessories and packaging.
why this is important? when you pay 99$ for a sound card you expect it to be fully bundled with some neat stuff, but instead the recon3d pcie version was so stripped, all I got is big box, sound card, manual and installation CD. so after I received it the first time I was a little bit disappointed with the packaging, first cuz the box is so big for it and they could have fitted it inside a smaller package, at least this way it would cost me less in shipping ( live outside usa and had it shipped to Libya) 2nd it didn`t feel like it was worth 100$ really, cuz the card is so stripped and tiny and had no accesories.
after receiving the titanium HD the packaging is great and flashy, the box is heavy and well put togather, the sound card is HUGE compared to the recon3d, the titanium HD seemed like a graphic card than a sound card in my eyes, came well bundled with connections and documentations.
-price market and my conclusion-
recon3D was intended for gamers and it does its jop well since the drivers are an improvment over the previous generation, and its a great choice when it come to upgrading from onboard audio. current price on amazon is 79$ so I guess this price is somewhat reasonable for its segment of the market, but still not very good value giving that most gamers builds their systems based on a limited budget and you can honestly pick a good motherboard with a good onboard audio for 100$ or even less.
titanium HD is intended for audiophiles and high end market of computer audio, so for its price which is 140$ its relatively a great value vs performance, giving all the great features and clearity you get with this sound card.
recon3d pros:-
1-great gaming sound and 3d positioning audio over headphones.
2-support for analogue 5.1 output
3-dedicated headphones amp, a cheap solution for high impedance headphones.
4-great drivers stability and support.
5- relativelly better software consule better polished than x-fi consule.
6- great switching feature between headphones and speakers in the sofware.
recon3d cons:-
1-high mids and harsh sound.
2- low quality audio support 48000hz 24bit over headphones
3- low specs 102snr, ( some motherboards in the same price range sports 108snr!! loseless HD audio)
4- less harware workout, most of everything is done on a single chip or on software.
5- price 80$ for the base version and about 200$ for the fatility champion.
titanium HD pros.
1- high quality components and changable oamps.
2- really good sound quality over everything.
3- great support and connectivity for external amps and surround sound systems with rca and digital
5- great gaming and 3D effects, crispy sound even in games.
6-high end specs and full harware support of everything, 192000hz 24bit and 128-118snr.
7-great price for what you get.
titanium HD cons.
1-poor drivers, and frustrating gltches
2- no sofware switching between headphones and speakers, ( you have to disconnet cables behind you case)
3-no support for analogue 5.1
4- no so natural and great 3d sound effects in some games.
so this sum it up for me and I hope this will be of help to those who are in confusion between the two, even though those two card are in two different classes but the average consumer don`t seem to worry about marketing goals.
please forgive me and excuse me for any mistaken in technical information because I am only an average user who doesn`t have much experiance in audio, I simply wanted the best out of those two card, so this comparision was made so people like me could benifit from it since I already have both cards and others wouldn`t have to waste their money on an extra one.
cheers hope this sum it up
I own both cards so I have no reason to lean toward any of them
ok so today I have made a comparision between both the recon3d pcie version and the titanium HD soundcards, the comparision was made while effects was off and titanium HD in intertainment mode not game mode.
both cards were connected to schiit asgard + denon ah-d5000,
although the recon3d has a dedicated headphones amp I have connected it to an external amp anyway so I can have a clear and uniform comparision between the both and as accurate result as possible, since the asgard doesn`t alter the sound quality but only amplifiy it and and extend the frequency responds of headphones.
I have connected the recon3d from its headphones out to the rca of asgard so I used high quality audioquest evergreen 3.5 jack to RCA.
the titanium HD has been connecte through its RCA to the asgard RCA, the titanium has the same sound quality even if I connected it from the 3.5 jack to rca since I have compared both and its the same.
ok so lets get to the results.
-music:-
recon3d has a good sound quality if not great when it comes to music, but it seemed alittle bit harsh on the ears with the high mids to mids high, its only acceptable since the recon3d is aimed at gamers so the mids should be more profound, I have tried a number of tracks and it all sounded the same in terms of mids,
the downfall here if you connect the recon3d to an external amp you won`t be able to adjust any EQ nor can you use the crystallizer feature on it.
ok so after I have connected the titanium HD the sound seemed more balanced and and slightly crispier, no high mids here, slightly better base and representation of every element of the songs, there is also the wow factor you get in techno and house music where the beats start high, unlike the recon3d which seemed everything is laud so there is no real punch and feel of those kind of songs if you know what I mean.
-gaming:-
now here where it gets a little bit confusing, the recon3D performed really good in borderlands and the 3D effects where so good and the positioning was superb and natural, its a gaming card so all these is expected, red faction armageddon sounded clear and the 3d effects were superb, stalker, now here where the recon3d really wins over the titanium HD in terms of postional audio and 3d effect, the positioning here sounded really natural and clear, and the scout mode is superb in pin pointing enemies.
ok so now about the titanium HD, now here the harware acceleration and high end components really shined and gave the extra crispiness in games, borderlands sounded great and the background sound is great and clear, the 3d effect seemed slightly inferior to the recon3d since it sounded like its sort of compartmentalized and not so natural, but the clearer sound makes up for it.
in red faction armageddon, I went through the same level where you disable the energy field to free the civilians and where the monster rips the girls head off, now here the sound was really different than the recon3D, this movie effect the openess of the sound and clearness really sounded astonishing and great, the 3d and positioning was equal to the recon3d in every way adding clearer sound and crispy broader audio.
as I mentioned before recon3d sounded better in stalker when it comes to positioning audio, again the sound is crispier but the 3d effects is compartmentalized and not so natural.
-drivers:-
here the recon3d wins hands down, the drivers here work really great with no issue what so ever, installation was fast and instant operation after restart, the console is better polished that the x-fi console and has bigger icons and bottoms. overall the drives support is far superior than the titanium HD.
now the titanium HD drivers are not so bad, everything worked well for me after I installed the drivers and softwares from the bundled CD on a fresh windows 7 install, it works perfectly on a fresh install otherwise you might face lots of no audio issue and the card not being reconginzed by the console which is frustrating.
accessories and packaging.
why this is important? when you pay 99$ for a sound card you expect it to be fully bundled with some neat stuff, but instead the recon3d pcie version was so stripped, all I got is big box, sound card, manual and installation CD. so after I received it the first time I was a little bit disappointed with the packaging, first cuz the box is so big for it and they could have fitted it inside a smaller package, at least this way it would cost me less in shipping ( live outside usa and had it shipped to Libya) 2nd it didn`t feel like it was worth 100$ really, cuz the card is so stripped and tiny and had no accesories.
after receiving the titanium HD the packaging is great and flashy, the box is heavy and well put togather, the sound card is HUGE compared to the recon3d, the titanium HD seemed like a graphic card than a sound card in my eyes, came well bundled with connections and documentations.
-price market and my conclusion-
recon3D was intended for gamers and it does its jop well since the drivers are an improvment over the previous generation, and its a great choice when it come to upgrading from onboard audio. current price on amazon is 79$ so I guess this price is somewhat reasonable for its segment of the market, but still not very good value giving that most gamers builds their systems based on a limited budget and you can honestly pick a good motherboard with a good onboard audio for 100$ or even less.
titanium HD is intended for audiophiles and high end market of computer audio, so for its price which is 140$ its relatively a great value vs performance, giving all the great features and clearity you get with this sound card.
recon3d pros:-
1-great gaming sound and 3d positioning audio over headphones.
2-support for analogue 5.1 output
3-dedicated headphones amp, a cheap solution for high impedance headphones.
4-great drivers stability and support.
5- relativelly better software consule better polished than x-fi consule.
6- great switching feature between headphones and speakers in the sofware.
recon3d cons:-
1-high mids and harsh sound.
2- low quality audio support 48000hz 24bit over headphones
3- low specs 102snr, ( some motherboards in the same price range sports 108snr!! loseless HD audio)
4- less harware workout, most of everything is done on a single chip or on software.
5- price 80$ for the base version and about 200$ for the fatility champion.
titanium HD pros.
1- high quality components and changable oamps.
2- really good sound quality over everything.
3- great support and connectivity for external amps and surround sound systems with rca and digital
5- great gaming and 3D effects, crispy sound even in games.
6-high end specs and full harware support of everything, 192000hz 24bit and 128-118snr.
7-great price for what you get.
titanium HD cons.
1-poor drivers, and frustrating gltches
2- no sofware switching between headphones and speakers, ( you have to disconnet cables behind you case)
3-no support for analogue 5.1
4- no so natural and great 3d sound effects in some games.
so this sum it up for me and I hope this will be of help to those who are in confusion between the two, even though those two card are in two different classes but the average consumer don`t seem to worry about marketing goals.
please forgive me and excuse me for any mistaken in technical information because I am only an average user who doesn`t have much experiance in audio, I simply wanted the best out of those two card, so this comparision was made so people like me could benifit from it since I already have both cards and others wouldn`t have to waste their money on an extra one.
cheers hope this sum it up
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