Only have a small selection of sound cards/dacs help?

[PC-Noobist]

I can be considered an audiophile but that name carries alot of snobbery so no. Im a BIG gamer and love my audio, i also listen to metal and rock alot so i like mids and bass for my music, i would prefer to hear mids and bass in games and less highs (im not good with all this aha). I live in Australia so there isnt many options to choose from, i want to know which of these following has the absolute best sound quality regardless of distortion and so forth from being inside the PC so leave that out guys. My choices are:
-Asus Xonar Essence STX (will look amazing inside of my black themed build)
-Creative Sound Blaster Zx (havent heard much good but still an option!)
-Audioengine D1 Premium 24 bit DAC (says sound card in the desc)
-Asus Xonar U7 DAC (says sound card in the desc)
Whats the absolute best guys! if you can reasons why would be appreciated, THANKS!!

 

[kajjot]

I have an ancient Audigy 2 ES in my PC and it still beats Realtek HD.
No driver issues with win 8.1 (card is like 10 years old)
Sound is very crisp and has a nice separation of highs and lows which Realtek is missing.
I don't think there is such thing as best sound card as you have your own preference on how you like it to sound.

Creative cards are definitely good if you listen to Goldfinger and Offspring but i would never spend more than $50 on a sound card as you need some extreme quality speakers to hear any difference past that point.

 

[PC-Noobist]

I have an ancient Audigy 2 ES in my PC and it still beats Realtek HD.
No driver issues with win 8.1 (card is like 10 years old)
Sound is very crisp and has a nice separation of highs and lows which Realtek is missing.
I don't think there is such thing as best sound card as you have your own preference on how you like it to sound.

Creative cards are definitely good if you listen to Goldfinger and Offspring but i would never spend more than $50 on a sound card as you need some extreme quality speakers to hear any difference past that point.

I have sensitive ears (not sensitive to sound hurting) and can tell minor changes in sound from my high quality Pioneer Speakers that i originally bought for PS3 but now using for PC also im buying headphones with 53mm drivers rated at 60ohms sooo yeah need a good sound card

 

[Leonell12]

To be perfectly honest, i'm not a big fan of soundcards, external DAC/ AMps do a much better job in giving you the sound the developer or singer intended for you to hear without any modifications...have a look at this www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1rXcJuEsy0

this is good one http/www.expertreviews.co.uk/gadgets/1306603/cambridge-audio-dacmagic-xs

 

[PC-Noobist]

Out of my selection the one i hear most often as being the best is this Asus Xonar Essence STX as it sounds best, looks great and i hear that the software will allow me to customise it so ill be changing settings in that for a few days, thanks for the help anyways guys

 

[thee_prisoner]

I would go for the Creative Z, that is their forte, they have been doing sound for many years. I have read too many problems about ASUS sound cards, especially the drivers. Having said that on board sound is usually very good. For gaming and and rock n roll you don't need much fidelity.

It also depends if you want surround sound and etc...