ASUS Xonar Phoebus 24-bit 96KHz PCI Express x1 Interface Gaming Soundcard Set

Pros: Sound quality.
Looks amazing in a rog themed build.
Can pump out crazy volume.

Cons: It requires a 6 pin to power it
A little pricey but this is for enthusiasts.

Other Thoughts: I used to not care to much about audio. But I went all out on a build recently and decided to have a sound card to try out the 7.1 channel audio. When I listen to normal stuff now it seems so different. The audio is awesome but you need the headphones/set to go with it. Awesome card.

Pros: Sounds great with my Sennheiser Momentum's. This being my first DAC I'm not an expert but I will say I will never rely on a motherboard for audio again.

Cons: Newegg has it tagged as 96KHz... It is the same as the Essence 192KHz.

Pros: Read lots of negative reviews and problems all over the internet. I decided to try it because i was about to through my Tiamat 7.1 out the windows (onboard sound does no justice for these headphones).

Just so happens a new driver was released 2 days before i received my sound card. Plopped it in my system, installed the driver. A few little driver tweaks and I have never heard sound out of a game this good in my life. I literally duck when i hear bullets whiz by in BF3.

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: I think some people having issues need to be mindful of the slot they place the card in in their motherboard. I purposely sandwiched it between my video cards in a slot that DOESNT share a IRQ with anything else to avoid issues. Also make sure you have quality power going tot he 6-pin power connector.

Pros: This card is great, it has amazing sound my Sennheiser PC350's sound 100 times better on this sound card then with my Creative X-FI titanium. I would recommend this sound card to anyone looking for high quality sound for games, movies and music.

Cons: None.

Other Thoughts: Mic and sound work perfect in BF3 and all the other games I play (CS:GO, SC2, Far Cry 3, Crysis 3, etc.)

I hear absolutely NO feed back, even when my GPU is running at 100% and overclocked. I do have the Asus GTX 680 with the metal back plate and I know it helps but I also have an HD 7950 (which has no back plate) and I still hear nothing, no static, buzz, just the game. On extremely quiet scenes its literally no sound coming through the headphones/speakers.

Pros: love this card its well worth the money and you dont miss out any sound its better then on board audio if your getting one this is the best of best gaming card for you.

Cons: none the only thing is it supports 150ohm so i need to get the senn. 150ohm headset as for a system surround you need digitail 7.1 bose or any good brand.

Other Thoughts: ya get the 150ohm's headset back SENNHEISER PC 350 SE 2 x 3.5 mm Connector Circumaural Headset.

Pros: Great audio when NOT looking to use microphone WHILE playing games like Battlefield 3

Cons: If your mission is to do youtube type recordings/commentating, pass this by. There is currently a very obvious interference problem between this ASUS sound card and nVidia GTX series video cards. Some say its a shielding problem in this specific vid card. Some say its a driver problem. I don't care... I'm not an engineer and thats not my business. All I know is when trying to record voice with microphone while in game (bf3 specifically) there is a scratchy static white noise that accompanies the voice recording and it increases as the video GPU activity increases. This makes me have to switch to a USB headset while recording youtube vids. It also makes it unusable if I am trying to play BF3 while also communicating with friends in Teamspeak or Ventrilo. They always complain about the fluttering noise accompanying my voice communications.

Other Thoughts: I would like to know if JJ/ ASUS will acknowledge and deal with (contact Nvidia if you need to) this issue as it is severely damaging ASUS's sound card reputation among gamers around the globe. This is easily verified by google searching the issue I am describing. Please figure this out and get it fixed. We don't care who or what is to blame. We just want a pleasant experience as we invest a ton of money into these expensive high end additions to our gaming systems.

Pros: very nice sound with headphones and external speakers
looks nice in my pc
external volume knob for my headphones
mic works well
great software

Cons: the only con i can think of is that the software was a little hard to figure out

Other Thoughts: once i installed this card in my pc i noticed right away how much better the sound was. i can hear things in songs ive never heard before. games sound amazing. its kind of hard to explain sound with words but im telling you this card is great. if you can get passed the price of course.

Pros: Small, great sound, love the control box, easy software. No bloated software (only one program is open/hidden). Great for music and games.

Cons: Manual is wordy. The instructions to install the control box is reversed, and pricey considering the SB Zx is out.

Other Thoughts: This worked right out of the box. If you have Windows 7 64-bit, then download from Asus' Phoebus website, the Beta Version: 7.0.1.20. If you plan to SLI or Crossfire and have to move the Phoebus, uninstall the drivers first. The price is high but for those looking for a great sound card, the price might go down considering Creative has been releasing the "Z" line. Don't believe the Creative Fan boys slamming this product; it works perfectly on Windows 7, Battlefield 3 as well as APB Reloaded (the 2 games I own that use Punk buster).

Pros: Its great for sound, good software

Cons: I believe there is a design flaw on this card, if you have a powerful graphics card there will be interference coming through when in games (especially loading screens). My friends cant stand it. I believe the EMI shield that's on it simply doesn't do the trick, there's not enough to it. For such a high end card I really wasn't impressed.

Pros: it has great feature but no manual to explain what features are. alot more clear sound but i don t know if it was worth the price.

Cons: no manual for features.

Other Thoughts: i was expecting alot from card. sound is clearer but not sure if it is worth the price. i have crosshair 5 and corsair sp2500 speakers.