Will recapping an ASUS Xonar DG change sound quality?

[Newbie2]

Recently I purchased an inexpensive ASUS Xonar DG PCI sound card, and so far it works nicely, making my games and music sound much better than the VIA VT1708S onboard audio that I had been using for the past few years. However, the capacitors on it are cheap Taiwanese caps:
* Lelon RGA 100uF 16V 6.3x11mm (x3)
* Lelon RGA 47uF 25V 5x11mm (x3)
* Lelon RGA 22uF 16V 5x11mm (x4)
* Lelon RGA 3.3uF 50V 5x11mm (x6)



I have placed orders on eBay from different highly-rated sellers for these caps to replace the Lelon caps:
* Panasonic FC 100uF 25V 6.3x11.2mm
* Panasonic FC 47uF 35V 6.3x11.2mm
* Panasonic FC 22uF 50V 5x11mm
* Panasonic FC 4.7uF 50V 5x11mm

Now I know that the Panasonic caps are much better in quality compared to the Lelon caps that ASUS uses on the Xonar DG sound cards. However, in general with any sound card, will high-quality low ESR caps actually have any perceivable effect on audio quality compared to cheap general purpose caps?

I have seen Panasonic FC being mentioned on a few audiophile forum threads as a decent audio cap.

[tom66]

Re: Will recapping an ASUS Xonar DG change sound quality?

Probably not. Audio quality is very subjective.

Many studies have shown that the average person cannot hear better than 0.01% distortion.

An average electrolytic capacitor introduces distortion because it has inductance and a dielectric memory effect. A low ESR capacitor such as Panasonic FC will have better parameters in this respect. But, will you hear a difference?

Think of all of the other imperfections in the system and you'll probably realise it's not worth the effort.

Most sound cards run off the +/-12V SMPS which is very noisy -- they might include a +/-5V linear reg to chop out some of the noise but quite a lot is still there -- that's the "hiss" you get on quiet sounds. In addition they use low-cost DAC and ADC because to achieve specifications at low cost like 24-bit 192kHz means to sacrifice parameters such as linearity, noise and monotonicity.

So, all in all, it probably won't make much of a difference, but since audio is one of the most subjective things out there, you MIGHT notice a difference. In which case enjoy it.

[budm]

Re: Will recapping an ASUS Xonar DG change sound quality?

Yep, sound is very subjective, the bottom line is, does changing the component make it sound better or worst to YOU is the bottom line. There are so many chains in the audio path from the input all that way to the speaker so look at it as a whole.

[rhomanski]

Re: Will recapping an ASUS Xonar DG change sound quality?

Compared to the capacitors from thirty+ years ago, it makes a big difference. That's why I use low impedance in old stereos and some low leakage in the audio path. It may just be audible in that as well.

[Khron]

Re: Will recapping an ASUS Xonar DG change sound quality?

One thing to keep in mind, though - most of the "normal" linear regulator chips might not like too-low an ESR on their output, and might start oscillating. Just to be on the safe side, you might wanna check the datasheets (both for the chip, and the caps)

[Newbie2]

Re: Will recapping an ASUS Xonar DG change sound quality?

Thank you for all the responses to my question.

My primary purpose of replacing the Lelon caps with Panasonic caps was to improve the physical quality of my sound card, with Lelon being a known bad brand, however I was curious whether the Panasonic caps would have any other benefits.
I will report back on here when I receive all the Panasonic caps and perform the recap.

[DJduck]

Re: Will recapping an ASUS Xonar DG change sound quality?

Just regular caps don't do much. Audio grade caps do improve sound quality, but they are also much more expensive. A good upgrade would be upgrading the op amp(s).
Definitely replace the caps in the supply area of your card, that will clean up your audio signal.
I have a Creative X-Fi XtremeMusic, it's a pretty low fidelity card for music, but after soldering some Sanyo OS-CON caps to the power connector (yes, it actually has a god damn floppy power connector ) my audio signal cleaned up a lot. Also replaced the Jamicon cap for the audio processor with a Rubycon MBZ and again, better sound quality.
But if you want a real upgrade, replace the op-amp. Depending on the new chip, it can make a HUGE difference.

[Pentium4]

Re: Will recapping an ASUS Xonar DG change sound quality?

Not really on a basic sound card like that. But hey, you've got Panny's on there now You never have to worry about the capacitors failing on it, which is worth the recap in my opinion

[budm]

Re: Will recapping an ASUS Xonar DG change sound quality?

May be the magic ELNA cap.

[Logistics]

Re: Will recapping an ASUS Xonar DG change sound quality?

I'm assuming the caps on the left portion of the card are for the output channels. For example, CE13 and CE14 look like the output decoupling caps for the main (green) jack which is for Headphone Out and Line Out, auto-sensing obviously. You could see a benefit by changing these to bipolar (non-polarized) electrolytics. (Panasonic SU) Whether you use bipolars are regulars, you could benefit even further by bypassing each of these capacitors with a small film cap. (think 0.01 uF to 0.1 uF)

[Newbie2]

Re: Will recapping an ASUS Xonar DG change sound quality?

I finally had the time to recap my ASUS Xonar DG sound card with the Panasonic FC capacitors I ordered:





I don't believe there was any perceivable change in sound quality after replacing the stock Lelon caps with the Panasonic FC caps, however I have peace of mind knowing it's more reliable now.

[lexwalker]

Re: Will recapping an ASUS Xonar DG change sound quality?

I finally had the time to recap my ASUS Xonar DG sound card with the Panasonic FC capacitors I ordered:





I don't believe there was any perceivable change in sound quality after replacing the stock Lelon caps with the Panasonic FC caps, however I have peace of mind knowing it's more reliable now.

Why not try Nichicon KA or Nichicon FG, to see if there are any perceivable differences? Try using Nichicon PW or Nichicon HE on the power supply rails...

[DJduck]

Re: Will recapping an ASUS Xonar DG change sound quality?

What speakers are you using? When using low quality speakers, You can not get good results with even VERY high end cards.

[lti]

Re: Will recapping an ASUS Xonar DG change sound quality?

I've seen really bad Chinese caps have an effect on sound quality, but that effect was huge amounts of distortion. Those caps were new and tested good. Lelon caps aren't that bad. They're good enough that you won't notice a difference if you replace them with audio grade caps.

[Logistics]

Re: Will recapping an ASUS Xonar DG change sound quality?

If you are simply using the Line-out to an external pair of powered speakers than it will be much harder to tell than if you had compared with headphones which would be directly controlled by the soundcard.

[lexwalker]

Re: Will recapping an ASUS Xonar DG change sound quality?

I've seen really bad Chinese caps have an effect on sound quality, but that effect was huge amounts of distortion. Those caps were new and tested good. Lelon caps aren't that bad. They're good enough that you won't notice a difference if you replace them with audio grade caps.

Well, I would replace them if the clients requested for upgrades. Seen plenty of Lelons, especially on JBL units. Usually would use Nichicon KA, Nichicon FG, Nichicon KW, Panasonic ECA, Panasonic HD, etc depending on location in the circuit.