Creative SB Audigy 2 ZS good for AudioEngine a5?

[Kople]

Hello,

Hoping my current soundcard will provide good clarity at high volume with the headphone jack out to a5 speakers. My mp3's are 320kb/s & some lossless.

Would any of these newer soundcards like the asus zoner & other high end ones be a little better or alot than mine?

If you could advise before I buy the speakers, thanks.

 

[jaudere]

A query: why do you plan to connect the the headphone jack to A5? It is likely to be better to connect 'line out' of the sound card. A5 are supposed to be very good active speakers. How big is your room? Do you listen to very loud music? What are tour exact expectations? while Creative will be better than onboard sound, Asus Xonar has multiple options with DG being entry level and Essence ST/STX being top end and allow modifications. If you do not intend to do recording, USB DAC can be another good option. Sound card allows playing as well as recording while DAC will just allow play back.

 

[Kople]

A query: why do you plan to connect the the headphone jack to A5? It is likely to be better to connect 'line out' of the sound card. A5 are supposed to be very good active speakers. How big is your room? Do you listen to very loud music? What are tour exact expectations? while Creative will be better than onboard sound, Asus Xonar has multiple options with DG being entry level and Essence ST/STX being top end and allow modifications. If you do not intend to do recording, USB DAC can be another good option. Sound card allows playing as well as recording while DAC will just allow play back.

I wanted to use the line out for my surround sound for movies. Just to avoid swapping the cables all the time.

Room size is around 5x4metres. Not really loud music. Just want clarity and small base. I might look into the usb dac.