Speaking of competition for Creative...

[Jammrock]

Asus has announced a new line of sound card, including an PCIe part. Called the Xonar D2 (PCI) and D2X (PCIe):

http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/16/asuss-xonar-d2x-and-d2-sound-cards-support-the-analog-hole/

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=38230

Sporting all the Dolby and DTS loving you could imagine, it also has an EMI shield, a plethora of outputs, and Analog Loopback Transformation ability:

What makes this sound card a bit special is the presence of a secondary music processor, which alows legal "ripping" of music you've bought onto regular MP3, WMAs and so on. The trick is called Analogue Loopback Transformation, or in technical terms, the redirection of outputs from a physical output to secondary audio processor which will then record the file in the format you want.

Depending on which site you trust, some are reporting it uses proprietary, or exclusive, Analog Devices processor (including true 192kHz/24bit audio), while others say ADI denies Asus is using any of their parts. Though that just may be due to one hand not talking to the other. Detailed specs should be out soon (TM) as well as the card.

I other audio news, Creative is releasing a new notebook card audio card ... surprisingly an X-fi on ExpressCard.

Sound Blaster X-Fi Extreme Audio Notebook





No details have been released, but considering ExpressCard is just PCIe for laptops, one could assume that Creative is prepping a PCIe X-fi of their own.

[Taz]

Depending on which site you trust, some are reporting it uses proprietary, or exclusive, Analog Devices processor...ADI denies Asus is using any of their parts.

Well if they'd taken a picture of the other side we'd know

[Dr Mordrid]

Adjust the images gamma. It's the right side, there's just a huge RF shield over everything.

[az]

That's no RF shield, it's actually an active cooler. On a sound card.

[VJ]

According to TheRegister (linked in the Endgadget article), the cooler doubles as EMI shield...


Jörg

[Jammrock]

Razer's soundcard has an EMI shield as well. Smart considering the amount of noise in a system and how easily sound can bleed in through caps.

http://www.razerzone.com/Products/Gaming-Audio/Razer-Barracuda-AC1-Gaming-Sound-Card/

Jammrock

[az]

Yeah, but Razer's sound card is also crap. And my Terratec 6fire did not need an EMI shield, nor do the studio sound cards I've seen; even the Onkyo audiophile cards have only a much smaller piece of copper on them:



I bet the Asus fan noise is high def, though.

A piece of metal on your sound card makes it exactly as much better as a piece of metal on your RAM or a black case.

[rylan]

Most of those "EMI Shields" make me laugh... they don't do anything unless they're grounded at multiple points along the PCB, and ideally it would need to be a continuous contact along the entire shield to really be effective. Sticking a piece of metal over some parts while leaving a big gap along the edge doesn't do much except block some low frequency electric fields.
The Onkyo one actually looks like it may do something to prevent field coupling between the analog and digital power components, but most others don't do a thing.

[gt40]

now, if Monster cable made a sound card

[Technoid]

now, if Monster cable made a sound card

It be ridiculously expensive and claim to make MP3's sound better than the source, wait creative claims that also