Medium Priced Audiophile Soundcards

[matt09]

Hello,

I am looking to purchase a high quality soundcard for listening to audio as well as recording. I have read another thread on such a topic, however it was entitled 'no budget' meaning all the cards suggested were well into the £100's or £1000's.

So far the M-Audio 192 looks for a ok, however I was hoping for something a little more high end such as the Hammerfall DSP 9632, with such a highly priced card I was considering the possibility of buying second hand if it meant a significant improvement in quality.

There's also the argument of external vs internal, however these begin around the £100 mark before increasing steeply.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[Dag]

E-MU 0202 USB
E-MU 0404 USB
E-MU 0404 (PCI)

are cheap and good but NOT high-end. I have the E-MU 0202 USB and it is very good for the price and has very good specs for both A/D and D/A. Remember to use ASIO when you play audio with a USB DAC.
http://www.aqvox.de/Asio-USB-Audio-installation-e.htm

[impsick]

if you want high end i'd say RME. who i think make the hammerfall right? but yeah RME blows m-audio away. IMO. Apogee probably has something as good as rme.
I'd go second hand RME, Apogee before a new m-audio

[Conrad Hoffman]

High end and cheap are a contradiction in terms, but I have the Emu 0202 and think it's remarkable good for the money. Though some on-board and in-PC sound is very good these days, IMO nothing beats the s/n ratio of an external board. The only weird thing about the 0202 is that the inputs can be confusing. It can take two 1/4" phone jacks for the line/hiZ inputs, but the connectors are not the same style- one combo, one 1/4" only. It has a single mic preamp, not two. The inputs can be single or differential. It does not have phantom power, but with a simple external circuit, a couple resistors and caps, and some 9V batteries, you can make your own. Results with a large diaphram condenser mic have been very good.

[matt09]

Thanks for the replys, I saw an RME Hammerfall 9632 card go for only £70 recently!! So I think I'm settled on that, does anyone know the sort of difference between an Audiophile 192 and a Hammerfall 9632?

I will only be sticking to analog for now as I don't have the money, plus I have a decent stereo 8 track mixer so I will be running the card through it via the tape in, tape out.

[Aleksunder]

As it happens, I just bought an M-audio Delta 410 on ebay very cheap - I was looking for this or the Delta 66, which replaced it.

Unlike the other Delta-series cards, they have board-mounted SPDIF RCA sockets (rather than D-connector break-outs), which I prefer.

You might keep an eye on ebay for one of these - they generally seem to sell for £50-60 (75-90 Euro/US dollars), plus whatever shiping is incurred.

The Delta 66 is available new for about £120 + shipping (online).

Consensus is they're best sounding cards at their price, but as ever there are some gripes about M-audio's drivers.

[cromodora]

.. the 0404.

It sounds much better than the 0202.
The sonic difference exceeds the price difference.

Major contributing factor is that the 0404 uses the highly regarded AKM4396 D/A chip while the 0202 has a CS4392.

HTH.