192/24 spdif soundcard ESI Julia vs Audiophile 192 vs ...?

[stolbovoy]

I'm looking for a good souncard to be a source for my mod DAC with ref clock output.
I'd like to have:
1) 192/24, 176.4/24, 44.1/16 output (spdif, toslink, [st, AES/EBU is good option]) able to produce unaltered digital stream
2) external 192,176,44.1 clock input
3) something cheaper then Lynx AES16 .
4) ASIO to bypass Windows directsound subsystem
Two channels is enough. I don't care about onboard DAC/ADC

So far I've found 2 soundcards:
ESI Juli@ and Audiophile 192. What is better?

[stolbovoy]

Two more: ESI waveterminal 192L / ESI waveterminal 192X + MI/ODI/O card

[fmak]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by stolbovoy
[B]I'm looking for a good souncard to be a source for my mod DAC with ref clock output.
I'd like to have:
1) 192/24, 176.4/24, 44.1/16 output (spdif, toslink, [st, AES/EBU is good option]) able to produce unaltered digital stream
2) external 192,176,44.1 clock input
3) something cheaper then Lynx AES16 .
4) ASIO to bypass Windows directsound subsystem
Two channels is enough. I don't care about onboard DAC/ADC

So far I've found 2 soundcards:


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You can't have 192k output unless you pay a lot more! Soundcards are already too cheap and suffer in quality of electronics!

[stolbovoy]

Originally posted by fmak
You can't have 192k output unless you pay a lot more! Soundcards are already too cheap and suffer in quality of electronics!

[/B]

I have info, that WT192Z at least can "read" what it's producing trough spdif without errors (bit accurate). I do not care about DAC or ADC on these cards, only digital interfaces. What is a specific problem you aware about these particular devices?
Which sound cards do you reference, mentioning “lot more”? Something like Lynx AES16?
I think Lynx AES16 definitely able to do what I want for ~ $700 for 16 channels with all professional bells and whistles. Ideally, I would like to have the same, but 2 channels and for less.

[annex666]

...check out this page:

http://soundcards.electronicmusicworld.com/

[annex666]

After a long time deliberating, cogitating and digesting I've decided to buy an Esi Juli to use as the interface for a PC-based scope.

It seems like a good choice - having a 24/192 input, however I am curious as to why less than half of the possible input range is being utilised? Is this because of a fixed LP filter on the input stage such that the wide selection of sample rates is accomodated (this would be my first guess)?

Also (if slightly preemptive) does anyone have any experience modifying sound cards - i.e. would it be possible to redesign the input stage filter such that the full frequency range (i.e. 0Hz - Nyquist limit) be utilised? Is there a digital filtering system on the card that would make this pointless - i.e. a fixed digital LP filter after the ADC stage? Is this removable?

Any thoughts welcome, especially if you own the card.

Cheers all