Rotel RDV-1060 vs SoundBlaster X-Fi ExtremeMusic

[slaikan]

I decided to upgrade my 5 Year old SB Live sound card in my PC to a X-Fi ExtremeMusic. Made a huge difference to how my PC speakers sounded. I then was interested to see how it compared to a RSP-1068/RDV-1060. I've been lurking around on these forums and have noticed a few people have gone the PC audio route, JoeyV with the ML Summits, and Aud19, like to know what your experiences are with this.

The 2Ch Setup
RDV-1060 connected to RSP-1068 via Kimber KCAG to CD in Bypass Mode
RDV-1060 connected to RSP-1068 via DH-Labs D75 Digital Coax (PCM2Ch / HDCD)
X-Fi connected to RSP-1068 via Multi Input with $5 3.5mm to 2RCA

The rest of the setup
Rotel RB-980BX Amp (I know this is old, hopefully it will be replaced soon)
Martin Logan Aerius i

Source Music (Listened to so far)
The Best of Dire Straits and Mark Knopfler Special Edition (HDCD)
Amanda McBroom - Dreaming (XRCD)

For the RSP setup, RDV-1060 over coax, setup the RSP to large speakers, and subwoofer off.

I think that this 'should' makes the playing fields for Bypass vs. Digital vs. Multi Input equal, except that with Digital Coax, using the RSP's DAC instead of the RDV's DAC.

For the X-FI setup, in an effort to get the music playing as 'unmodified' as possible:
EAX - Off
24Bit Crystalizer - Off
Equalizer - Off
CMSS3D - Off
SVM - Off

Music ripped for the X-Fi was done with EAC, played the uncompressed WAV's through Foobar2000 in Kernel Streaming mode. One thing I don't understand, Kernel Streaming mode is supposed to pass the data directly to the sound card, why then, can I still use things like CMSS3D and still hear a difference, hmm..

Did my best to match the volume level between the RDV and the X-FI, I think I got this pretty close.

The Verdict so far
I'm pleasently impressed. Consumer grade PC audio is not bad at all, in fact on a few tracks the X-Fi seems more detailed and sounds more 'airy', the music seems to fill the room slightly better. I knew this was a relatively good card (Others may disagree because it a Creative product), killer card for PC gaming, but I didn't quite expect it to come as close or slightly better (in some cases) than the RDV. Now what happens when you replace the $5 cable with a decent CAT cable (maybe one day Lex can custom make one, or rather 3 with 7.1 out which I didn't even come close to testing) and replace the card with someting like a good M-Audio, RME or Lynx? I'd say you may have a system that could rival some really good multi thousand dollar systems at a fraction of the cost!

Of course, audio from PC has cons, complexity amongst the biggest of them. Having your entire music collection available increadibly quickly at high quality and highly customizable through playlists is a big pro.

I still love and will keep my RSP/RDV, so easy to use, sounds great. The PC is an addition to the system, it will not replace anything yet. Give PC Audio as a transport a go, I think you'll be surprised with the results, but you must build it with the right components, onboard sound, lossy compression like MP3, WMA and a bad player just won't cut it.

[jim777]

Music ripped for the X-Fi was done with EAC, played the uncompressed WAV's through Foobar2000 in Kernel Streaming mode. One thing I don't understand, Kernel Streaming mode is supposed to pass the data directly to the sound card, why then, can I still use things like CMSS3D and still hear a difference, hmm..

Most settings like CMSS are done in hardware, not in software. If data is really sent directly to the sound card instead of Window's mixer, I guess you can't here other sounds while your f00bar is playing..?

[jim777]

Now what happens when you replace the $5 cable with a decent CAT cable (maybe one day Lex can custom make one, or rather 3 with 7.1 out which I didn't even come close to testing) and replace the card with someting like a good M-Audio, RME or Lynx? I'd say you may have a system that could rival some really good multi thousand dollar systems at a fraction of the cost!

We test audio codecs that way and it sounds great. Surround up to 7.1 is tested with a computer going to a M-Audio Delta 1010 to Rotel electronics and B&W speakers. We can also "borrow" some 20-sec DVD-A samples we need using a RDV-1050 into the Delta 1010. Dolby is already compressed - not great for codec testing. Stereo testing is done with a M-Audio 192 stereo card going into a Rega EAR amplifier into Beyer DT770 pro headphones.

At home, my Creative Extigy is a very ok sound card, and a nice DAC for my cheap dvd player. It doesn't sound as good as a RCD-1072 though.

So yes, computer sound cards can do the trick. Get a stereo sound card though. Some have a SPDIF output for 5.1 DVD's. We only use a Delta 1010 (8 ins / 8 outs) because we need to record and playback raw WAVE files.

[slaikan]

At home, my Creative Extigy is a very ok sound card, and a nice DAC for my cheap dvd player. It doesn't sound as good as a RCD-1072 though.

So yes, computer sound cards can do the trick. Get a stereo sound card though. Some have a SPDIF output for 5.1 DVD's. We only use a Delta 1010 (8 ins / 8 outs) because we need to record and playback raw WAVE files.

I was contemplating on getting a RCD-1072, I'm still a big 2Ch fan. Unfortunately in South Africa, the list price for the 1072 is the same as a RDV-1060? By the time it gets here, its ZAR8500 retail, thats like US$1395 8O if you convert it back vs $699 :evil: , sure there import duty, plus middleman costs, but double the price! Sometimes I wish I lived in the US. Heard some good things about PC audio, so was hoping that I could use a PC (have a few lying around since I'm in the profession) as a transport instead of the 1072. So looks like an M-Audio will be on the shopping list at some time. Dilemma, Revolution 7.1 or Audiophile 24/96. I assume with these cards you can control individual speaker levels, what about delays and bass management? Anyone had experience comparing the Revo7.1 vs. X-Fi XM?