Asus Xonar Essence Vs Musical Fidelity V-DAC

Michael8it

I am looking at two different 'budget' soundcards to get audio out of my PC.

One is the Asus Xonar Essence which is a PCI or PCI-E sound card which has had good reviews.

The other is the Musical Fidelity V-DAC, a USB based external DAC which has also received very good reviews.

I have heard some people comment that the USB channel is quieter than PCI. The specs on the Asus card certainly outperform those of the V-DAC, but people who have allegedly heard both overwhelming vote for the V-DAC.

If you have experience with either of these or with USB vs PCI DAC, please feel free to chime in.

Thanks,

falconcry72

edit: i thought it was Xonar vs V-Link....

AsSiMiLaTeD

Hah, perfect timing. I've spent a good bit of time with that Asus card (am selling mine now actually) and I've not had a solid week of time with my new V-DAC.

There are 2 reason you would want to look at the Asus over the Xonar:

1 - You want a good mix of games and music. The Asus is 'good enough' for music, but is also excellent for games, the V-DAC is not designed for games and I doubt it would perform on the same level, though to be fair I've not tried it. If games are a decent percent of your usage, then you would want to consider the Asus.
2 - Price, the Asus is significantly better than the V-DAC, more on that in a second

Other than that, the V-DAC is a clear winner over the Asus. The Asus sounds very good, the V-DAC sounds superb. Comparing the two on 2 channel music playback is kinda silly really. This assumes the rest of your gear is good enough to let you hear that difference. I have some good Swan desktop speakers and on those it's difficult to hear a difference, certainly not enough to justify the price gap. But on my headphone rig it's another story altogether.

That being said, to get the best out of the V-DAC, assuming you're using the USB output you'd really want to get the V-Link as well. Although the V-DAC has a USB input, it's not asynchronous and it won't handle hi rez material (redbook CD only). To get the best out of it over a USB connection you would want to put the V-Link in line. SO you'd run a usb cable from computer to v-link and then an optical from that to the v-dac - this gets you asynchronous and hi rez playback on the DAC.

The DAC supports hi rez up to 24/96, but only over the optical or coaxial inputs.

In the long run the Musical Fidelity setup is going to be a more expensive solution but will sound better assuming the rest of your gear is up to the task.

Michael8it

Hmmm.... What do you want for your Xonar Card ?

Michael8it

I am putting this in my 2 channel media server system, so gaming etc is not a real concern.

falconcry72

Alright, so I've owned the Essence ST for a while (still do), and a V-Link, but not a V-DAC.

It's a little bit of a strange comparison because they do different things.

The actual DAC in the V-DAC is better than the DAC in the Xonar, but the SPDIF output of the Xonar is probably better than the USB input of the V-DAC. The SPDIF output of the Xonar card is surprisingly good. What this means is that...

Running the Xonar's SPDIF out to the V-DAC will sound better than running a USB cord straight to the V-DAC. It will also sound better than just running analog out of the Xonar.

Confused yet?

If you don't care about the Xonar's headphone output or input, I would say go V-DAC, but then add a V-Link when you can. That combo will be better than the Xonar to V-DAC. The V-Link is better at getting an SPDIF signal out of a computer than the Xonar is; barely, but I know that first hand. If you do care about the Xonar's headphone in's/outs, then get the Xonar, but add a better DAC than the V-DAC down the line.

As far as Xonar analog out vs V-DAC USB input, I don't know. Wait for Assimilated (sp?) to chime in.

AsSiMiLaTeD

I think I've already got my Asus sold.

If gaming isn't a concern then I say get the Musical Fidelity and don't look back. You don't have to get the v-link immediately either. The v-dac by itself is already an upgrade over the Asus, so you could grab that v-link later if you wanted.

If I had to put a number rating to it, I'd rate the Asus a 6, the V-DAC a 9, and the V-Dac and V-Link combo a 10, of course using that as the benchmark, there are obviously better DACs out there...

falconcry72

hey look he's already here!

falconcry72

hey Assimilated, did you ever use the SPDIF output of your Xonar card?

I'd be curious to see what you thought about the Xonar's SPDIF out to the VDAC vs a USB directly to the VDAC, leaving the VLINK out of it cuz obviously that would be the best.

Michael8it

Ok, thanks for the quick replies. The V-DAC looks like the way to go. I have Fiber Optic outs on my motherboard. Would I be best to use that optical out rather than USB, since nothing else would be on that bus (if I understand this right) ?

Also, I already have an M-Audio Delta 66 with SPDIF outs, which I was planning on selling to help fund the V-DAC. Would I be better off using that SPDIF connection than the fiber on the MB ?

falconcry72

Michael8it wrote: »

Ok, thanks for the quick replies. The V-DAC looks like the way to go. I have Fiber Optic outs on my motherboard. Would I be best to use that optical out rather than USB, since nothing else would be on that bus (if I understand this right) ?

Also, I already have an M-Audio Delta 66 with SPDIF outs, which I was planning on selling to help fund the V-DAC. Would I be better off using that SPDIF connection than the fiber on the MB ?

No, the SPDIF output on the Essence ST is unusually good because it's so well shielded. Generally, SPDIF outputs from a computer's MB or card will be plagued with jitter, and the V-DAC's USB input, while not asynchronous, will probably be superior to either of the SPDIF outputs you mentioned. Just add that V-Link in the chain and be confident you're getting the best signal possible.

edit:

When you get the VDAC, try it via USB and via the toslink out from your MB; it can't hurt to try...

AsSiMiLaTeD

OK the fiber on the motherboard is a no go, ditch that option.

I don't know much about that M-Audio Delta, so I can't really help you there.

As for falcon's point on using the optical on the Asus I think it's a moot point here because you don't have one of those and were deciding between the two, but I'll answer anyway. I found the two to be very close n sound quality, with the optical out on the Asus getting the slight edge, but we're getting pretty nit-picky at that oint.

AsSiMiLaTeD

If the V-Dac by itself is an 8 and v-link and dac combo a 10, the Asus optical would be a 9

Michael8it

Ok. thank you both for your help - now I need to save some shekels.... About $300 of them to be exact!

Michael8it

V_DAC MKII

Looks like this one does both....

falconcry72

Michael8it wrote: »

Ok. thank you both for your help - now I need to save some shekels.... About $300 of them to be exact!

actually 470 cuz u need a vlink too.

if no one has warned you yet:


























THIS FORUM WILL SPEND ALL YOUR MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!

falconcry72

Michael8it wrote: »

V_DAC MKII

Looks like this one does both....

Nice find, dude!

I hadn't heard anything about it...

...wonder when it's comin' to the U.S....

...wonder if Assimilated is gonna be pissed...

AsSiMiLaTeD

Michael8it wrote: »

V_DAC MKII

Looks like this one does both....

Yep, I considered waiting on that, but details aren't all in yet and I have no idea when it's coming out.

Michael8it

I'm not in a hurry - need to sell some other Home Audio gear, mics and pro audio stuff to keep the budget balances. I am keeping this project budget neutral. Gee, if I can do that, why can't the governm....

falconcry72

fastz28 wrote: »

this will blow both away and if on sale $300
http://www.itemaudio.co.uk/prodigy_hd2.html

Have you ever heard it directly compared to the other 2 pieces mentioned here, or are you speculating?

I would not be surprised if its analog out was better than the Xonar's; I would be fairly surprised if its analog out was as good as the V-DAC's USB input; I would be VERY surprised if its analog out was better than the V-Link D-DAC combo.

falconcry72

fastz28 wrote: »

i had the V-Dac and V-Link combo sold it to buddy. hd2 with foobar with aiso drivers and flac files is just unbelievable:biggrin:

word. i'll have to look more into that piece.

edit:

But the farther into hifi you get, you'll have to admit that there are MANY dacs out there that sound better than the VDAC or the included dac in that card, so the the question then becomes: what is the better way to get the digital signal out of the computer, the SPDIF out on that card, or the V-Link?

AsSiMiLaTeD

I had that card before the ASIs and had issues with it. It did sound good, but I still prefer the vdac which is why I'm keeping it. To each his own I guess

FTGV

fastz28 wrote: »

this will blow both away and if on sale $300
http://www.itemaudio.co.uk/prodigy_hd2.html

That looks like a serious soundcard.My concern with soundcards is that powering from the highly polluted PC bus/switch mode power supply is less than ideal.
Interestingly I'm in the process of building a DAC that utilises the same AKM AK4396 dac chip and discete opamps similar to the Bursons.

details are here http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=123137

falconcry72 wrote: »

so the the question then becomes: what is the better way to get the digital signal out of the computer, the SPDIF out on that card, or the V-Link?

IMO with the V-dac V-LINK combo it would be a close call.Since the V-link operates in the desired async mode resulting in hi res capability with low jitter.The V-DAC's jitter performance via it's SPDIF input is also respectably low.The one advantage with the V-Link in the chain is that it provides galvanic isolation from the computer.Since the V-DAC does not have a pulse transformer on it's SPDIF input no galvanic isolation is afforded.

Michael8it

FTVG - what is galvanic isolation?