mlantinen

Interesting....so why would it sound so much "better?" I guess...either way...I'm pleased that the Nova DAC isn't being bypassed and that the X-Fi and/or the Xonar will have a primarily positive affect on the sound signature. Thanks for the responses. Very helpful. -Marty www.martincustomaudio.blogspot.com

Ahhh...thanks much for the response. That's a relief as I wouldn't want to bypass the Nova DAC being that it's highly regarded. So we're combining DAC power more or less? The Xonar is acting as a DAC and the Nova is acting as a DAC as well. I'd suppose there are different synergies between different sound cards used to interface with the Nova then? I'm hoping the Xonar outshines the X-FI Titanium by a fair margin. I'll try to report back my findings according to my ears. -Marty

Hello, new to the forum, but what a fantastic website. I'm typically over at the Head-Fi or Hardforum forums. So, there is a noticeable difference between connecting the Nova directly to my computer via USB versus going through my current X-FI sound card (soon to be the Xonar once it arrives). I get much more body and bass through the X-FI, but often the attack in some songs gets muddied compared to connecting via USB. In other words USB seems to be less powerful but more transparency and separation. And X-FI to Nova seems to have much more authority and power but can have trouble keeping up with some songs in terms of separation, transparency and clarity. I read a very nice review on this site of the Peachtree Nova, which persuaded me to buy it. The author said the best combo according to his ears was the Win 7 system > Xonar >Coax > Nova. So my very long winded question: Does this bypass the Nova's DAC and is the chain using the Xonar's DAC? Or how does it work? Thanks. -Marty