Comparison Asus Xonar D2X vs Asus ROG Xonar Phoebus

Brand of the audio chip installed in the sound card.

The audio chip is one of the most important parts of a sound card, a kind of "heart" of the whole circuit, and it is on its characteristics that the sound quality and other capabilities of a particular model largely depend. Knowing the brand of the chip, you can easily find various information on it — official specifications, test results, reviews, etc. — and based on this, draw a conclusion to what extent this sound card is able to meet your requirements. Of course, for ordinary video cards (see "View") there is no need to delve into such details, but when choosing a gaming or audiophile model, they can be very useful.

Various standards and special digital audio technologies that the sound card is officially compatible with. For example, the Dolby and DTS standards in various variations are used primarily for multi-channel audio tracks in films, while DirectSound and EAX provide high-quality “surround” sound in games. In fact, the ability to work with one or another standard is largely determined by the software part of the system, and not by the characteristics of the sound card; however, official compatibility means at least the full compliance of the card with the requirements of the standard and the minimum risk of conflicts at the hardware level.

The need to connect additional power to the sound card.

Most of both internal and external (see "Type") sound cards are powered directly through the connection connector (see "Connection interface"). At the same time, for normal operation of advanced models (for example, audiophile and gaming, as well as some DACs; see "View"), this power may not be enough, which requires an additional power source. In internal audio cards, it is carried out from the computer power supply, in external ones — directly from the 230 V network.

The dynamic range of a DAC is the ratio between the loudest sound that the converter can produce and the quietest. The wider the dynamic range — the richer the sound will be, the lower the likelihood that quiet sounds that complement the overall picture will be muffled during conversion. At the same time, it is worth noting that almost all modern sound cards provide a dynamic range that is quite sufficient for comfortable everyday use, and in many models this parameter may not be indicated at all. It is worth paying attention to it when choosing an advanced specialized audio card — for example, a gaming one (see "View"). The minimum for professional models is 90 dB, but in fact, among similar solutions, this figure is usually 120 dB or more.

The bit depth of the analogue-to-digital converter (ADC) of the sound card. An ADC is a module that encodes an analogue audio signal into a digital format; it is he who is responsible for transmitting sound "to the computer" — for example, through a microphone when communicating via Skype or from a guitar pickup when recording a track. The bit depth is one of the main parameters that describe the quality of the ADC: the higher it is, the less distortion will be introduced into the digitized sound and the higher the maximum possible quality of its recording. Of course, the properties of the actually recorded sound will depend on many other things (hardware, software, settings, file format, etc.), but for high-quality recording, you will definitely need a good ADC.

A bit depth of 16 bits is considered quite sufficient for everyday use, however, even fairly simple models of audio cards are increasingly acquiring 24-bit ADCs.

The signal-to-noise ratio provided by the analogue-to-digital converter (ADC) of the sound card in the processed signal. For more information about this ratio, see the paragraph of the same name above. Here we note that in domestic use it does not play a decisive role, but if you plan to record sound in good quality, you should choose a card with a high value of this indicator.

— Headphone Amplifier. The presence of a separate headphone amplifier in the design of the sound card. Such equipment allows at least to improve the overall sound of the “ears”, as well as to implement various additional settings for such sound (for example, a separate volume control). And some headphones — primarily high-impedance Hi-Fi models — in principle cannot be used without special amplifiers.

— External control module. The presence of an external control module in the design of the sound card. Such a module is actually a control panel with a wired connection; it doesn't give you the freedom of movement that a wireless remote control does (see below), but it's cheaper and often more convenient. So, the control module does not have to be in direct line of sight with respect to the audio card, and the length of the wire is often enough to place the device at the user's hand. However the set of adjustments placed on the external unit is usually limited to the most basic settings; however, even this, usually, is quite enough for comfortable use. In addition, the control unit often provides additional connectors for connecting headphones and a microphone. Among other things, this feature is especially convenient in games — it allows you to adjust the sound without distracting from the game itself. However, other types of sound cards can also be equipped with external modules (see "View").
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— Remote control. A remote control is included with the sound card. Do not confuse this function with the external control module described above: in this case, we mean a classic wireless IR remote control, like those used in TVs. Such a device does not necessarily cover all the capabilities of the audio adapter, however, the range of functions of the remote control can be quite extensive. On the other hand, the need to control a sound card from a distance is extremely rare, and in most cases, the mentioned external module is enough for this. So models with a remote control are not widely used.

— Exit to the front panel. Ability to connect an internal sound card (see "Type") to the connectors on the front panel of the PC. To do this, a special connector (or several connectors) is provided on the board, which is connected to the corresponding connector (s) using a wire. The convenience of this feature is obvious: in desktop computers, the front panel is located closest to the user, and it is to it that it is easiest to connect peripherals that involve frequent plugging and unplugging, such as headphones and microphones. Actually, connectors for such devices are most often displayed on the front panel.

The number of coaxial S/P-DIF inputs in the design of the sound card.

S / P-DIF is a digital audio transmission standard that allows you to transmit audio in a format up to 7.1 inclusive over a single cable. It is widely used in modern audio equipment, in particular, disc players and AV receivers. At the hardware level, S / P-DIF has two versions — with an optical connection (see above) and with a coaxial connection, which is what we are talking about here. For coaxial connection, a shielded electrical wire with RCA connectors is used. It costs less than fiber optic cable and is not as sensitive to pressure and sharp bends — however, despite the shielding, it does not provide a complete guarantee against electromagnetic interference. Accordingly, it is definitely not worth using a regular (non-shielded) RCA cable with a coaxial interface — there is a high probability of unstable operation due to external interference.

The number of MIDI inputs in the sound card design.

MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. It is used, in accordance with the name, to connect musical devices to a computer - both full-fledged keyboard synthesizers and various MIDI controllers, most often in the form of piano keyboards. This connection allows you to directly transfer the part played by the musician in digital form to the computer; however, in this case, it is not sound that is transmitted, but service information: which key was pressed, how hard, how quickly, for how long, etc. This information serves as a kind of musical notation, which can be played using special means on various virtual “musical instruments” . The signal from the MIDI input can not only be immediately played back using a computer, but also recorded for later editing. This can be very useful for musicians and composers: after all, such a recording allows you not only to edit notes, but also to compare the sound of the same part on different instruments.