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Hi-Fi Asus Xonar D2X Review, Old but Gold

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TSshinnie
post May 21 2017, 02:57 AM, updated 7y ago

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REVIEW: ASUS XONAR D2X | OLD BUT GOLD
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Disclaimer: I am writing this review base on my very personal opinion and did not receive any benefits from any parties.

i. Note:
1. This Asus XONAR D2X was bought in a used condition, and I have let it powered on for more than a week before running for the benchmark.
2. Test Bed: Intel I5-4460, 8GB DDR3, Samsung SSD 750 120GB
3. Speaker Setup: 4" Passive Speaker bought from local forumer, LM3886 Amplifier bought from aliexpress, belden 1311A speaker cable.
4. Output and input will be set to 24bit/192kHz at all benchmarks.

ii. The Card:
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I was looking for a decent and affordable soundcard that comes with stereo D/A & A/D functionality, and the D2X seems like the best candidate.
After few weeks of hunting, I managed to find an used D2X and received it a week later after payment.
It came with a motherboard box, no manual and accessories will be included, but the condition is tip top.

iii. Components:
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Stereo DAC1: PCM1796 w/ LowPassFilter: NJM2114 w/ Buffer: LM4562
Stereo DAC2: PCM1796 w/ LowPassFilter: MC4580L w/ Buffer: MC4580L
Stereo DAC3: PCM1796 w/ LowPassFilter: MC4580L w/ Buffer: MC4580L
Stereo DAC4: PCM1796 w/ LowPassFilter: MC4580L w/ Buffer: MC4580L
Stereo ADC1: CS5381 w/ Buffer: JRC5532

iv. Benchmark:
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The D2X scores very good under RMAA. However, I am guessing that the DAC performance was masked by the ADC limitation under this test, further tests needed to perform for verification.
*I have attached a full RMAA results on this post.

v. Sounds:
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Below are the most familiar songs that I have listened for years on different setups.
1. Meav : One I Love
Bright vocal
2. Jesse Cook : Rain
Punchy & Emotional
3. Michael Bolton : When a Man Loves a Woman
Lively

Full range speaker always suffer from separation when compares to multi way speaker.
The most noticeable impression, the D2X has make this 4" full range speaker sounds so much better on guitar, vocal and background separation.
There is no surprise on other frequency bands, it sounds like it should be.

vi. Verdicts:
Affordable, not the top performing parts was used, but it scores good and beats out some of the badly implemented aliexpress ES9018 DAC that perform worst than a 16bit DAC (-96dB).
At the price of D2X, you might able to get a better performance and better sounding DAC out there. But if you are looking one equip with A/D and D/A functionality, D2X is the only choice.


Attached File(s)
Attached File  D2X_LoopBack_Test.zip ( 33.26k ) Number of downloads: 3
ktek
post May 21 2017, 08:45 AM

拼拼拼多啦
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good stuff below the essense level.
i wonder it play rip cd correctly ?
TSshinnie
post May 21 2017, 11:12 AM

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QUOTE(ktek @ May 21 2017, 08:45 AM)
good stuff below the essense level.
i wonder it play rip cd correctly ?
*
Yes it is good stuff, but i have no idea if it decodes CD correctly. That's more like software instead of hardware decoding.
coolkwc
post May 26 2017, 11:01 AM

Fall in love with audio again.
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I have one of this soundcard sitting in dust now after replaced by STX II.

 

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