LAST ISSUE, WE ASKED a question in one of
our features that seems to have been on
the lips of PC users for the last 25 years:
Do you need a soundcard? This issue,
we ask simply: Do you need this one?
Stylistically and on the spec sheet, EVGA’s
high-end Nu Audio discrete soundcard is
aimed squarely at gamers, but in truth,
this is as much about enjoying better
music as it is being able to hear Fortnite
sound cues.
Let’s start with the headline numbers:
Playback and recording formats go up
to 384kHz, 32-bit audio, signal-to-noise
ratio is nice and high at 123dB, and
there’s a generous array of ins and outs
comprising stereo and headphone-outs,
3.5mm line and mic-ins, an optical-out,
and front panel header. There’s also,
rather inexplicably, an RGB lighting panel
on the card itself, which is customizable
via EVGA’s Nu Audio software. We can get
on board with RGB on keyboards and even
graphics cards these days (just as long as
we can turn it off or program the color
profiles to our taste), but unless your
case has an inverse arrangement inside,
like Corsair’s 600C, you simply won’t see
the RGB on this soundcard.
Installation is very similar to that of a
G P U : S l i d e i t i n t o a f r e e P C I e s l o t , h o o k u p a
power cable, and attach the header to the
side of the card. This is a minor niggle for
cable management virtuosos, because
it would have been much easier to keep
things tidy if both connectors were at the
back. As it is, you’ll have to get creative
with cable ties if you want to preserve
the clean lines inside your case. Unlike
many external DACs, however, this
card requires its own drivers to work,
so there’s marginally more fuss to the
We didn’t hear this one coming
EVGA Nu Audio
8
VERDICT EVGA Nu AudioNU METAL Easy setup; clean,
warm tone.
LIMP BIZKIT No EQ presets; software
could do more.
$250, http://www.evga.comSPECIFICATIONSAudio DSP XMOS xCORE-200
Outputs 2-channel (analog),
5.1-channel (S/PDIF)Dynamic Range/
Signal-to-Noise
Ratio
123dB
Playback Format Up to 384kHz, 32-bit
Headphone Amp ADI OP275
Recording Format Up to 384kHz, 32-bit
I/O Stereo-out (RCA L/R),
headphone-out (6.3mm),
line-in (3.5mm), mic-in
(3.5mm), optical-out
(TOSLINK pass-through),
front panel header, PCIe
x1 Gen2 interfacewe didn’t instantly become better battle
royale or online shooter players. For us,
it’s sufficient that the difference is so
discernible compared with an onboard
sound or USB gaming headset setup.
Except for its lackluster accompanying
software, the Nu Audio does everything
it’s supposed to: staggeringly better
sound than you would achieve from
onboard sound chips, ease of use, and
strong I/O options. It’s not for home
recording, folks, but it checks the boxes
confidently for gamers. –PHIL IWANIUKsetup than you’d find from something
like the Woo Audio WA7D Fireless.
The offset is that you get the benefits
of EVGA’s software for your troubles,
although frankly it’s nothing particularly
special. It’s a basic offering, which
allows control of inputs, and features
six custom EQ profiles. The user has to
create all these profiles, however, and
that’s disappointing, given this card’s high
price point—a handful of basic profiles
for different music genres or activities
would have been nice. Compounding that
downer, it’s actually quite confusing to
save and apply these EQ profiles yourself.
Iterations are needed on EVGA’s part to
make this side of the bargain seem like
much more of a meaningful benefit.
However, once you hook up some
speakers or headphones to the card, you
immediately understand the advantage of
this hardware. It’s an incredibly clean and
warm sound, which gives audio sources
space to breathe, and gives your ears
the chance to hear the subtle details you
might otherwise have missed. It inspired
us to revisit that holy grail of atmospheric
in-game sound, Thief: The Dark Project,
and 20 years on, it’s never sounded better.
Fortnite and PUBG don’t offer quite the
same amount of raw atmospherics, but
their soundscapes become clearer using
the Nu Audio and our BeyerDynamic
DT770s than most gaming headsets
allow. You can almost hear the chicken
dinner roasting. Whether it improves
gaming performance is a question best
left to those at the apex of esports. There
are too many other variables impacting
our performance here at amateur
(read: “terrible”) level, so there’s only
so much you can read into the fact thatmaximumpc.com JUN 2019 MAXIMUMPC 83