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PowerColor Devil HDX PCIe sound card review — a worthy upgrade
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Review

PowerColor Devil HDX PCIe sound card review — a worthy upgrade

by November 30, 2015
Positives

+ Swappable OP-AMP for future upgrade
+ Uses high quality audio components
+ Best product in price range
+ Sound great; no need for EQ tweak
+ Very responsive software and low RAM usage
+ Virtual 7.1 setup for immersive gaming experience
+ Nice and clean design
+ Black PCB

Negatives

- White ribbon cable degrades the aesthetics
- Driver still in beta stage for Windows 10

Pokde Scoreboard
Pokde Rating
Appearance
9.0
Features
8.0
Materials
9.0
Performance
9.0
Portability
8.0
Value
7.0
Bottom Line

It sounds perfect to my ears with richer and higher fidelity audio experience. Music, movies and gaming has now become almost impossible to enjoy without a great audio source like the Devil HDX.

8.3
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I built my first gaming PC featuring a PowerColor graphics card sometime back in 2011, and I admit that at that time, a PowerColor card is the last resort when building with a tight budget. Back then all I could afford was an AMD HD 5750 with the horrifying red PCB. That was a last time I heard about PowerColor before they seemingly disappeared from our markets.

PowerColor-Devil-HDX-Sound-0

The game is changing now that PowerColor is making a comeback with new products, with the red PCB nowhere to be found and surprisingly they have made a bold move to introduce new product line-ups. I have the PowerColor Devil HDX PCIe sound card locked and loaded in my rig for the past several weeks; and this is my review of the sound card.

 

Unboxing

To be honest I never knew that PowerColor actually produced audio products until they approached me. It seems that its coverage during Computex 2015 is not that widespread. My first impression of a product usually depends on the packaging and I appreciate that PowerColor has improved their packaging design and quality since the first member of the Devil series, which is the PowerColor Devil 13 HD 6970.

 

The PowerColor Devil HDX’s packaging is very clean with no unnecessary graphics on the box, and I found that the box is pretty premium looking.
PowerColor-Devil-HDX-Sound-1

At the back we have more information about the features of this sound card. Crystal clear Hi-Fi audio for better audio vocal, a built-in headphone amplifier up to 600 ohms and swappable OP-AMP which are definitely some of the best features for upgradability.

PowerColor-Devil-HDX-Sound-2

The box has an additional panel that lifts up to reveal more information about the sound card itself. I love this part, as it is filled with technical specifications and it also details every component used to build the PowerColor Devil HDX. This is a commendable move as it allows the consumer to easily do some research on what they just bought without having to take off the EMI shield.

PowerColor-Devil-HDX-Sound-3

Besides the sound card itself in the box, there is also a daughter board for a larger selection of outputs, two ribbon connectors, a quick installation guide and a CD for driver installation, but I recommend you to get the latest driver from PowerColor’s official site.

PowerColor-Devil-HDX-Sound-4

 

Appearance

The PowerColor Devil HDX comes with a very nice design and build quality is excellent. I really like the black PCB and the EMI shield which is also finished in a fingerprint-resistant matte black coat. The “Devil” branding right in the middle of the EMI shield is embossed, which makes it feel more premium. The EMI shield isn’t there just for looks only though, as it is also supposed to ensure the purity of the signal by blocking unwanted interference from the surrounding.

The PowerColor Devil HDX is fed data through a PCIe x1 connector, and a MOLEX connector provides juice for the card. I know that some might find the implementation of a MOLEX connector an instead of a SATA power connector an issue, but I personally think that it isn’t really a problem.

PowerColor-Devil-HDX-Sound-6

On the rear of the card there are gold plated output ports but no standard 3.5 mm jacks to be found or even a microphone in-line. Remember the daughter board PowerColor has included in the package? It comes with standard 3.5 mm outputs for 7.1 audio and the microphone in-line connector is also there.

Overall I’m really satisfied with the design and build quality of both the PowerColor Devil HDX and its daughter board, but if I were to nitpick, I wish PowerColor provided black ribbon cables for the daughter board instead of white. Black ribbon cables would be a much better match for the all-black design of the HDX.

 

Specification

When buying a sound card, components used is the most important and second the appearance, but for some consumers, appearance is their priority. I’m not an expert when it comes to audio but I did some homework and researched each component in the Devil HDX and I found that has equipped it with some very reputable components.

On the rear of the card it features a digital coaxial and optical SPDIF outputs while for analog outputs you get a 6.33 mm output port, as well as RCA speakers jacks. All the outputs are gold-plated.

PowerColor-Devil-HDX-Sound-7

The PowerColor Devil HDX requires a MOLEX connector for power.

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Removing the EMI shield unveils all the PowerColor Devil HDX components on the PCB, once again I praise PowerColor for a job well done choosing a black PCB which improves the overall aesthetics of the card.

PowerColor-Devil-HDX-Sound-13

The PowerColor Devil HDX is using the Cmedia Oxygen Express HD CM8888 audio processor which is linked to the Wolfson WM8741 Digital-to-Analog converters.

PowerColor-Devil-HDX-Sound-14

PowerColor-Devil-HDX-Sound-15

For the amplifier it uses the NJM 4580D. One more thing, note the OP-AMPs are swappable.

PowerColor-Devil-HDX-Sound-16

On the bottom right a set of jumpers and two connectors are used to connect the included daughter board.

PowerColor-Devil-HDX-Sound-17

Nothing special about the daughter as it just an extension board to support richer outputs options.

Full specifications:

Bus Standard PCIe X1
SNR 124dB (RCA out), 120dB (6.1 Phone out)
THD+N 0.00039% (-108dB)
Frequency Response 20Hz-20KHz
Sample Rate & Resolution 44.1K/48K/88.2K/96K/192KHz @ 16bit/24bit
Connectivity Main Board:
1 x 6.3mm Phone Out  with Amplifier
2 x RCA (L/R)  Jack Out
1 x Coaxial Out
1x  Optical Out
1x  Multi-Channel connector  to Daughter Board
1x  HDA (HD Audio) connector to Daughter Board or Front  panel audio headerDaughter Board:
1x 3.5mm Mic-in
4x 3.5mm analog out (front/rear/center-subwoofer/side)
Output Channel Stereo & up-to 7.1 Channel
Headphone Amplifier up to 600 omhs
Chipset Audio Processor: High performance Cmedia CM8888 audio processor
Digital to Analog Converter : Wolfson WM8741
Dimensions (WxL) Main board: 106 x 157 mm
Daughter board: 100 x 50 mm
Feature Support Swappable OP-AMPs
Xear™ Surround
Xear™ 3D (EX)
Xear™ SingFX for karaoke application.
FlexBass II
ASIO™ 2.2 with ultra low latency
System Requirements Available PCI Express 1.0 (or higher) slot (1x, 4x, 8x or 16x)
Intel ® Core™ 2 Duo or AMD equivalent processor, 2.2 GHz or faster CPU
Intel ®, AMD or 100% compatible motherboard
2GB System Memory
100MB Hard Disk space
Compatible with Microsoft ® Windows ® 10/8.1/7/ XP 32bit or 64bit
Available CD-ROM or DVD-ROM Drive (for installation)
4-pin peripheral power cable connector from power supply

 

Software

I downloaded the latest driver from PowerColor’s official site and it seems that the only driver for Windows 10 is still in the beta stage. As it is still in beta phase it may affect performance but since it is compliant with UAA (Universal Audio Architecture), you can actually use this card without installing any drivers in Windows 7 or newer.

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The Xear Audio Centre is a feature-packed suite, with tons of options available to configure and tweak. Huge kudos to CMedia for maintaining a very clean looking interface even with so many features. I really like the UI design and it starts very fast. In terms of RAM usage, it only takes up around 11-13MB which is very good.

 

Testing methodology

Since this is my first time reviewing a sound card, it is quite hard for me to judge it. After several hours of brainstorming, I came up with the method that I will use to evaluate the PowerColor Devil HDX’s quality and performance.

I ran several music, movies and gaming test. By comparing it with my on-board Realtek ALC887 audio chip, I believe it will provide a good representative of what consumers can expect if they upgrade from their on-board audio solution to the Devil HDX. Just in case, I avoided listening to any music for a week from any other device other than the PC with the PowerColor Devil HDX. In addition, I also did a blind test with several of my family members who have never cared about audio quality.

Headsets used are the Audio Technica ATH-T500 and Superlux HD668-B with custom hand-made audio cables.

As for the PowerColor Devil HDX’s configuration, I didn’t use the daughter board but just connected my earphones to the phone out jack with my 6.3mm adapter.

 

Performance

I found it unnecessary to enable any additional features in Xear Audio Centre, not even the equalizer because I found that the default configuration alone is already very good. When it comes to keyboards, mice, audio equipment or any other peripheral, its review may be very personal and subjective. I have my own tastes and preferences that may or may not be the same as yours so please take that into consideration when going through the results.

 

Music

For music listening I’m using Foobar2000 player, with several extension and customization installed, I’m using WASAPI output as I want to avoid any sound interruption from any Windows application during the test. Song that used is uncompressed file which is either in .flac or .m4a file extensions.

Sequence 01.Still016

The song list:

  • Stonebank – Step Up (ft. Whizzkid)
  • Selena Gomez – Good For You
  • Adele – Skyfall
  • Varien & 7 Minutes Dead – Aeon Metropolis (Extended Mix)
  • Daughter – Medicine
  • Daughter – Home
  • Rich Edwards – Sweetest Addiction (ft. We Ghosts)

Actually there are more songs that I listened to with the Devil HDX, but I do not listen to them as frequently as the ones in the list above. Improvements in audio quality when moving from the built-in Realtek audio chip to the the PowerColor Devil HDX is very apparent, the vocals became crystal clear when compared to the on-board audio chip which sounded a little muddy. Tighter and better bass presence is something amazing since I’m not bass head, but this kind of bass is addictive. Instruments sound richer, and I can feel the sounds are well spread and the increase in detail is definitely there. The amplifier also works very well, with 100% volume in Foobar2000 and around 10-14% system volume, it was already plenty loud.

In my blind tests, I also received all positive feedback; I never told them about the audio configuration and I simply asked them to tell me “which sounds the best”. Most said that the sound from the PowerColor Devil HDX has produced much better vocals, it became clearer and it was much appreciated.

 

Movies

I watched anime series way more than movies, but recently I watched the Battle for Sevastopol, a movie based on true story about a female Russian sniper and it is a good movie. I decided to watch it again with the PowerColor Devil HDX pushing the audio and I was really impressed with the audio as bomb explosions, tanks firing and gun shots sounded way better and more realistic, as if I was right there as an onlooker of the war.

Sequence 01.Still017

Then I ran several scenes from some animes which are packed with action or instrumental music. The audio is also observably better, a blast from Nobunagun feels weighted, fighting scenes in Parasite feels way more intense and exciting and the piano and violin music in Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso is absolutely crystal.

 

Gaming

I tested the PowerColor Devil HDX with a wide variety of genres and the overall result was improved in-game experience. First test is with Battlefield 4, C4 explosion is pure awesomeness, and the rifle and shotgun sound is much better and realistic. I really fell in love with the auditory realism brought by the Devil HDX that resulted in me playing BF4 over and over again.

Symphony is a shooting arcade-like game which is based on song selection. In this game I can evaluate the audio when the selected song is mix with the in-game sound effects, yeah it sounded lovely as I never had this level of enjoyment before.

The Crew is a racing game which is currently updated to with the Wild Run DLC beta, and lots of improvements have been made to the game. I’m driving my Koenigsegg Agera R in a cockpit point of view, and the sound was nothing to write home about, so I switched over to the circuit spec Nissan 350Z and this is where it performed, I actually felt like I was driving a real race car but still I couldn’t avoid my car from crashing. Oh and crashes sound amazing too, so I have that going for me, which is great.

DOTA2, well most people know what kind of game it is, and it took me several hours to notice the difference between the sound card and on-board audio and I almost gave up with a conclusion that DOTA2 audio is not good to make use of the Devil HDX’s capabilities, but I was wrong. The answer lies within certain heroes. The first moment that I noticed was when Queen of Pain screams her Sonic Wave, I noticed that further echo is there at the end of it and I was a little bit shocked as I have never heard it before. Right after the game finished I ran hero demo and tested more heroes that have more impressive sound effects like Zeus, Spectre, Earthshaker, Sand King, Gyrocopter, Phantom Lancer and Enigma and those heroes really took advantage from the PowerColor Devil HDX.

 

Conclusion

Okay, confession time. I wasn’t expecting much from the card at first and I was also a little skeptical before reviewing the PowerColor Devil HDX sound card. As we all know PowerColor has been dedicated to making AMD graphics cards for a long time. The PowerColor Devil HDX has changed my perspective toward them as they have succeeded even when outside their comfort zone of producing great custom AMD cards.

Is it the PowerColor Devil HDX a worthwhile upgrade? My answer is maybe; depending on a few things. The PowerColor Devil HDX for me is the best and worthwhile upgrade if compared with the average on-board audio chip, and might even beat some sound cards in the market, but to get a good audio listening experience, the sound card alone is not enough. Firstly, you also have to get decent pair of headset. I love the sound produced from the Audio Technica ATH-T500 and Superlux 668B, both cost around MYR 150 and both headphones tout quality not the brand, if you are too ignorant to do some research before buying audio equipment, then you might end up paying for branding not quality.

In my case, the PowerColor Devil HDX has totally ruined my life, it’s not because it’s bad but it has suddenly made Selena Gomez songs sound ridiculously good, and I was never a fan of her song. Overall the PowerColor Devil HDX improved my listening experience in music as well as immersion in games and it is something that I really appreciated.

The PowerColor Devil HDX is price around MYR 480 to MYR 500 and you can find it on lelong.com.my. Looking from the price, you might find it quite expensive for just a sound card, but for me the PowerColor Devil HDX can be considered one of the cheaper sound cards out there with this level of audio performance. It packs high quality components yet still manages to stay relatively affordable, which is a commendable effort by PowerColor.

Judging from its audio performance, upgradability and price, I have decided that the PowerColor Devil HDX deserves the Pokde Gold Award.

Pokde-Gold

I would like to thanks again to PowerColor for sending me the PowerColor Devil HDX, my experience on audio listening is much better and appreciated during the test.

 

About The Author
Muhammad Firdaus
I love technology, so I love AMD.
8 Comments
  • Azraei
    December 8, 2015 at 2:28 am

    I want to ask here, currently I using mATX motherboard with R9 380 graphics. My graphics card already take two slot of PCI express (16x and 1x). My question is, will the sound not increase my GPU temp because the location of the other PCI 1X slot was very close to my current GPU. I planning to buy this sound card before and finally you make a review of it. This review make me truly want to have this sound card on my system. By the way, my motherboard is Gigabyte GA-H97M-Gaming 3, my GPU is Gigabyte Radeon R9 380 G1 Gaming 4GD, and finally my casing is Armaggeddon Nanotron T1X.

    • Muhammad Firdaus
      December 8, 2015 at 2:07 pm

      Hi Azraei,
      I have looked at the motherboard you mentioned above. The board has 2 PCIe x16 lane (one with full x16 wired and a x4 wired) and 2 PCIe x1 lane, I believe that it will not increase the GPU temperature if you mount the sound card on PCIEX1_1(referring on motherboard label) but you also have the option to mount the sound card on the PCIe X4 lane.

      • Azraei
        December 9, 2015 at 6:00 am

        The slot of that this card use was PCIe X1 slot. Does not this will make the card loose if I’m install it at X4 slot? I can’t install this card on PCIe X1_1 because my graphics card already taking that space for its fans. The other PCIe X1_2 maybe can. I still not tested it because I’m still not buying this sound card. Sorry if it’s a noob question. I’m still new in adding other card than graphics card.

        • Muhammad Firdaus
          December 9, 2015 at 3:14 pm

          It’s fit well, as you can see in my review, I mounted the sound card on PCIe X16 (wired X8 lane), it fit really well without any problem.

  • BilliBach
    April 28, 2016 at 11:51 pm

    this sound card lack stereo mix function, compare to Asus xonar essence STX, I think Asus did the job better

    • Vyncent Chan
      April 29, 2016 at 12:12 pm

      Thanks for your comment. We will look into comparing it against the ASUS Xonar Essence STX!

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