Greetings all!

I`m here to give my review of the EVGA Nu Audio I recently purchased. I am replacing an aging Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD that was the last piece of hardware left over from my old rig. It was still going strong, but with it at the "end of service life" as Creative posted and little to no more support for it to be had from Creative (I could no longer use the equalizer after a windows reset as well), it was getting time to replace it. When I saw EVGA announce the Nu Audio, well, I just had to get it when I could afford it! I was finally able to get it (thanks tax return!) so, without further ado, let`s get to the review.

What Equipment did you use?
• My rig: MSI Z270 SLI Plus, i5-7600k @ 4.7, EVGA GTX 1080 Ref, Gskill 16g DDR4 2666, EVGA 750w Supernova G2
• Beyerdynamic MMX 300 Gen. 2 Headset (Main use)
• Corsair SP2500 2.1 speakers
• Windows 10 latest build

How did you test the card?
• Ran a separate power cable from the Power supply to the card
• World of Warcraft
• My wife`s extensive CD collection
• Youtube HQ (mostly) videos
 
What did you enjoy most about the EVGA Nu Audio card?
• Clear, high quality sound (especially w/the BD MMX 300)
• Upgradability with better Op-amps.
• RGB lighting
 
What improvements would you like to see?
• Op-amps in the EVGA store for ease of purchase/upgrade
• Preset Equalizer settings for different genres of music
• Backplate for cooler looks and shielding
 
What was your overall impression?
This is one high quality card with great sound. It is definitely worth the price, especially with the Elite member discount. I highly recommend it if you are in the need of a new audio card. It is best teamed up with a really good headset/phone and/or speaker setup.
 
So, installing the card was a breeze. Downloading the software went without a hitch which surprised me because when I downloaded the software for the EVGA Z10 keyboard last year, Avast was giving me a hard time downloading it. Glad that wasn`t the case this time. It was all set up quickly and I was up and running in no time.
 
For gaming, with work, family and a busy schedule, I`m limited to a few hours at night so I (and the wife) just play some wow casually nowadays. Also, we mainly use our headsets due to not waking the kid but I am testing on both my BD MMX 300`s and the SP 2500`s as well (obviously the sound will be better on the higher quality BD`s). When in game, I could immediately tell the difference in sounds. Clearer and more pronounced. More detail. Better sounding (for one example, my Paladins mount galloping actually sounded more "life like" vs kind of fake sound before if you can get my meaning). I turned on ambience and it was like you were really there. I was surrounded by the wildlife and goings on of the world. The music sounded really great as well.
 
For music, I immediately grabbed The Eagles Greatest Hits and Boston`s Greatest Hits from my wife`s CD collection to start off (we love our 70`s/80`s music among others). Oh. The. Joy. Hearing all the instruments and sounds never sounded so good. "Hotel California", "More Than a Feeling", etc. all were fantastic. Checking out Youtube HQ (mostly) videos from ones I listened to before so I could compare, sounded better as well. Three Doors Down, Skid Row, Disturbed (The Eagles and Boston too), etc. All better.
 
So, in conclusion, this card is a great card. Highly recommended!
 
The obligatory pros and cons
Pros:
• Easy to install, both the card and software.
• Great sound
• High quality components and build
• RGB lighting
• upgradable (Op-amps)
• Ability to drive up to 600 ohm Headphones
• Extra Hi-Fidelity tracks you can download w/purchase
 
Cons:
• Oh, that smell. Can't you smell that smell... Open the box and woah! 
 
Edit: Uploaded a quick pic. Fixed typo.
 
 

MSim
While using onboard audio, did you ever raise the sample rate and bit depth in windows? Looks like your onboard audio chip supports 32bit audio.  Just curious if you messed around with that or not.

 
No, I never messed with the onboard audio. I took the the Titanium HD from the old case and put it in the new one ( Corsair C70 Vengeance) right away and used it.