2.1 Speaker System with a 5.1 Sound Card

[BluMinusE]

Hi Tom's Hardware,

I'm looking to buy a new soundcard, specifically the Asus Xonar DGX 5.1 card. As for speakers, I'm looking for a set of cheaper ones to go with my card, but these speakers are a 2.1 setup. Would the sound quality benefit from the sound card at all? I'm looking to upgrade my computer, and am wondering if this would be a good choice to go with if I want better quality sound.

Also, if I were to get the Xonar DG, would the headphone amp go through the headphone jack on the speakers?

Thanks!

 

[nukemaster]

The extra features and overall quality of the card will still be fine with 2.1 speakers(2.0 as far as the card will see).

Even motherboard audio has 5.1/7.1 now days so you are looking at better quality parts when getting dedicated sound cards.

You will want to use the normal front out for the speakers as they have an amp built in and the headphone amp "may"(or may not) be able to overdrive the speakers inputs.

 

[BluMinusE]

Thanks, nukemaster.

Would it be better to spend the little bit of extra cash to get the Xonar DGX, or would I be just fine with the Xonar DG?

 

[nukemaster]

They are both based on the same chipset and similar design.

The DGX is PCI-E They add a pci-e pci bridge to make the PCI version(because the CMI8786 is PCI) of the card into a pci-e one
While the DG is PCI

So if you plan to move it from system to system the pci-e one may be a better option as PCI slots become harder to find. If you plan to leave it with that system for ever, get whatever fits the system. The sound should be the same.