ASUS Xonar DX 7.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Express x1 Interface Sound Card

Pros: I've had this card for I think 3 years now and love it. The sound is great, it has tons of volume, and the EQ allows you to dial in the sound just how you like it.

Cons: After being put in and taken out of numerous builds over the years (and a lack of patience on my part) the power connector has become a little bit wobbly but again, that's more from me just trying to quickly rip parts out of the computer and not properly removing the connector

Overall Review: Like I said, I love this card. I've purchased some cheaper Xonars which were big upgrades over onboard audio but the DS/DG models just don't keep up with this card

Pros: Great sound, especially compared to my onboard SoundMax chip. Lots of additional features that are actually useful, one of which allows you to change octaves of your music, which I find very useful. It used to be such a great card.

Cons: No longer processes sound correctly at a 192Khz sample rate. Whenever I change this setting, music suddenly becomes heavily distorted. It didn't do this until nearly 2 years after ownership. Drivers are awful, but that seems to be unfortunately common with ASUS products that I've used in the past.

Overall Review: ASUS Tech Support really let me down here. I contacted ASUS about this issue, and even RMA'ed the card. They say that it works fine, so they sent it back. Thanks a lot guys! Way to insult my intelligence. This issue is all over the web as well, with different people trying all sorts of tricks to fix it; unfortunately, none of these worked for me. Looks like I'll be buying a new sound card, and it certainly won't be an ASUS one!