[techboy]

Hi
 
I want to know if the new offering by Creative is better, and if so, then by how much? And would it help with my use and setup.
 
Setup
Audioengine A5 with DS2 stands 
connected to Swan M50W through Belkin Rockstar
So basically 4.1 and I use 2 speaker output (the splitter ensures that 4 speakers and sub play just  fine) and for movies Dolby Virtual Speaker. Movies and Music have equal weightage.
 
Sennheiser RS 170 and again I use it to watch movies with Dolby Headphone
 
Current sound card Asus Essence STX
 
I will upgrade to Aktimate Mini+ sooner or later, so keep that in mind.
 
The headphone amp/dac is as important as the speakers.
 
Use:
Movies 40-60% with Virtual Surround
Music Rest, sometimes with Virtual, else 2ch output through all sources.
 
I would like to compare Creative to Asus in terms of:
 
Headphone amp
Virtual surround headphone
Virtual surround speakers
And overall quality/clarity/bass etc
 
Can you please help?
 
Aakshey

 

[bcschmerker4]

Thanks for opening this Thread - ye've a Subscriber. I am interested in Creative Laboratories® products packing the SoundCore3D® quad-DSP audio chip, e.g. the SB1510 Sound Blaster® ZxR™, as prospective audio equipment for a successor Windows box to my Asus® CM1630-06 as equipped with an EAH6850 DirectCU® PCIe x16 video card, XONAR® Essence™ STX™ PCIe x1 audio card, and Antec® TruePower® 750 Blue™ power-supply unit (which will be re-built with Ubuntu® 14.04.1-LTS, AMD64 Edition, upon purchase of a Win 8 SP1 64-bit system).
 
From experience with Windows® 6.0.6000-6.0.6002 and 7.0.8000-7.0.8001 (MultiProcessor Kernels 6.0.6000-6.0.6002 and 6.1.7600-6.1.7601, respectively), I found that Microsoft Corporation has offloaded many former dedicated-hardware audio procedures to the operating system, tweaking the Windows® Vista™ audio stack with each Release and Service Pack.  Presumably, Windows® 8.0.10001 (MultiProcessor Kernel 6.2.9201) will follow this trend.  Creative® has fit the same Texas Instruments® TP6120A2 dual power amp that Asus® has included in the XONAR® Essence™ models to the SB1270 X-Fi® Titanium™ HD™ (Creative® CA20K2 DSP) and select SoundCore3D® models.  I'd like to read how the SoundCore3D® performs, what gives, and thereafter commit to a satisfactory model for my needs.