Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2010 12:43 pm
Just got the new soundcard installed (Xonar DS)! Instead of using the CD, which only has XP and Vista drivers, I downloaded the proper Windows 7 driver from online.
It works great so far!! I've been testing it with music so far (Chicago, Peter Cetera, Phil Collins). Through the speakers (Creative T3100), everything is nice and clear, and a certain flat harshness (which is the best way I can describe it) that the Realtek audio had is completely gone, making listening much more pleasant. And with headphones (Sennheiser HD280Pro), everything sounds much more full, and has actual depth. Plus, the program has an adjustable equalizer, so the sound output can be adjusted to my preference. You can also save different sound profiles for the equalizer, so the setup can be different for speakers, headphones, or whatever else you might plug in. All that's left to test is games.
I love my new sound card!! And it's low profile, so it barely even blocks my video card's airflow!
EDIT: I just checked my video card's temperature with Speedfan, and it's only gone up a couple degrees with the sound card blocking it (idling at 52C). Nothing to worry about at all!
It works great so far!! I've been testing it with music so far (Chicago, Peter Cetera, Phil Collins). Through the speakers (Creative T3100), everything is nice and clear, and a certain flat harshness (which is the best way I can describe it) that the Realtek audio had is completely gone, making listening much more pleasant. And with headphones (Sennheiser HD280Pro), everything sounds much more full, and has actual depth. Plus, the program has an adjustable equalizer, so the sound output can be adjusted to my preference. You can also save different sound profiles for the equalizer, so the setup can be different for speakers, headphones, or whatever else you might plug in. All that's left to test is games.
I love my new sound card!! And it's low profile, so it barely even blocks my video card's airflow!
EDIT: I just checked my video card's temperature with Speedfan, and it's only gone up a couple degrees with the sound card blocking it (idling at 52C). Nothing to worry about at all!