Creative Sound Blaster Zx or Asus Xonar Essence STX

[Mecharon1]

Which of these sound cards is better? Ignoring price, to be used for gaming (mainly) and audio recording, and with headphones and speakers (not monitors).

EDIT: Sorry, I meant the Essence STX II

EDIT 2: Also, is the ZxR worth it for the sound quality if leaving the daughter card out?

 

[faalin]

Just from a recording stand point get the Sound Blaster Zx, that's why I bought mine over the Asus Xonar.

 

[prettyflvcko]

Creative Sound Blaster Zx all the way, the sound is more crystalized. When it comes to the sound performance Sound Blaster beast every other brands you can imagine.

 

[Ironsounds]

Hello... for multi-track Audio recording/tracking... these cards will have huge latency " what you play and what you hear"

 

[random stalker]

games - Z,
music, movies, etc - Xonar...

If you want to have both at the same time, consider Titanium HD which is a better card than both of them 😀

 

[Mecharon1]

"If you want to have both at the same time, consider Titanium HD which is a better card than both of them"

Can anyone else attest to this?

 

[prettyflvcko]

"If you want to have both at the same time, consider Titanium HD which is a better card than both of them"

Can anyone else attest to this?

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD is more for flp studio rendering or stuff like that, the Sound Blaster Zx is better for gaming.

 

[Ironsounds]

Hello... http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MTrack

 

[Mecharon1]

Hello as well. And ahh, no. Focusrite Scarlett Solo instead.

 

[Ironsounds]

Hello... +1 ^ But there is no MIDI interface on it... is why I suggested the M-audio... may or not be a deal breaker here, But more inputs/output options is Good if you wanna do home recording.... and trying to keep under $100.
Under $200 opens up whole lot more 24bit 192khz/96khz options.

 

[Mecharon1]

Yeah, but I don't need MIDI, just a mic preamp. But still, I want the best sound card for gaming.

 

[Ironsounds]

Hello... You can use this unit as a Windows Sound card... You can have Multi-Sound card devices installed into your MB/USB/Firewire and Windows... just go into Control panel Sound and set your outputs and inputs... and all APPS will use this device.
These offer better driver support from the companies... and a much better Microphone preamp input for broadcasting... also you have the lowest latency.
I have Owned a many Creatives in my life... SB16 was the first and up to the Audigy models... it was awesome at the time... MIDI and 16 bit/44 Sounds.
But they cannot perform in a Profession manner as these others with the faster CPU's and ASIO driver DAWs... ASIO, latency, driver support will be your biggest headache in the future.

And yes you need to start playing with MIDI... it awesome... You can pickup a garage sale midi keyboard, cable; and turn your speakers into a Cathedrel.... B )

Standard MB Software chips perform wonderful with Current CPU's with current Specs. I feel ( hear ) Realtek MB audio is Great and Good enuff these days for Windows APPS and Gaming. And you will Not hear any difference in sound... thus if you are wanting to record then spend your $$$ on hardware designed for that purpose ( ASIO), And you will get better Windows App sound and Hardware performance/CPU resources at the same time. B )