Looking for a New Sound Card for my PC

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Hey guys, 2 weeks ago i purchase a new PC with an Sound Blaster X-FI Fatal1ty, today i sell it to an friend because i think that SUX, is all fake on that card, the box say that is 24 bits and is not true.. and other things that i really dont like.


Well, now need to purchase a new one. I really want some card to measure speakers and would be great if have 5.1 channels.

can someone recommend me a good card?


Regards
 
Hi,

If it is just for 2 channel stereo: Still going strong :M-Audio Audiophile

No resampling, no fancy DSP effects, just a plain high quality 24 bits / 96 kHz 2 channel audio card for an affordable price. And not unimportant: With good and reliable drivers.

In any case, excellent for doing speaker and othere audio measurements.

Cheers ;)
 
Pjotr said:
Hi,

If it is just for 2 channel stereo: Still going strong :M-Audio Audiophile

No resampling, no fancy DSP effects, just a plain high quality 24 bits / 96 kHz 2 channel audio card for an affordable price. And not unimportant: With good and reliable drivers.

In any case, excellent for doing speaker and othere audio measurements.

Cheers ;)

well, i want to use it with my FR125S Speakers (5 channels), so i need at least 5.1 :)

is ok to purchase 2 cards? one for Measure and another for Play Games and HT?


lohk said:
What about the Audiotrak Prodigy 7.1 HiFi ?

VIA Envy24HT (ICE 1724) Audiocontroller
Wolfson WM8776 / 8766 Audio-Codecs
2-, 4-. 6- (5.1), and 8- (7.1) channel 24bit/192kHz Audioplayback
optical in / out

output opamps in sockets - can be upgraded

http://www.alternate.at/pix/prodpic/450x450/k/kk-v30.jpg
http://www.alternate.at/pix/prodpic/450x450/k/kk-v30_1.jpg


Looks good, and price is great, i was checking Auzentech X-Meridian 7.1 DTS Connect but price is like double than Prodigy.
 
samsagaz said:
is ok to purchase 2 cards? one for Measure and another for Play Games and HT?

Hi,

In my PC there are actually 3 soundcards at the moment: The on board sound chip which I have disabled, a Soundblaster Live for the usual Winsof bleeps and for serious work an Audiophile 2496. For my measurement software (ARTA) and audio recording/playback (Adobe Audition) I select the Audiophile card’s drivers directly from the software. That works fine without conflicts.

It’s important that your software that makes use of a particular soundcard can select the driver of choice. Not all software can do that, some can only work with the first driver available or just with the driver in use by the Win system But with serious well written software you should be able to use the card of your choice for that software.

Cheers ;)
 

AKN

Member
Joined 2005
Paid Member
Hi,

If it is just for 2 channel stereo: Still going strong :M-Audio Audiophile
No resampling, no fancy DSP effects, just a plain high quality 24 bits / 96 kHz 2 channel audio card for an affordable price. And not unimportant: With good and reliable drivers.

Agree, I like it to, especially the non resampling behaviour.

digit-life review.
 
samsagaz: " ... If it is just for 2 channel stereo: Still going strong :M-Audio Audiophile ( http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Audiophile2496-main.html ) ... No resampling, no fancy DSP effects, just a plain high quality 24 bits / 96 kHz ..."

Same technology = The M-Audio FastTrac Pro ( http://industrialcomponent.com/maudio/fastrackpro.html )

Better yet (better latency, better (much lower) jitter specs) than any USB connected "sound card" or any built-in sound cards, with four channels, 24 bit / 96k input / output (rip and roar) = FireWireSolo ( http://industrialcomponent.com/maudio/fwsolo.html ) ...

Even better yet (even better latency, more channels I/O, 192K stereo output!) = FireWire 410 ( http://industrialcomponent.com/maudio/fw410.html ) ...

...

Mercenary announcement: My company is a dealer for any of the above and other M-Audio devices ... and if you don't have FireWire ports on you Mac, Linux or WinPC, we have 'em for free with the purchase of any above. http://3dotaudio.com/maudio/mobilerecording.html . We also add shorty cables with every order, USB or FireWire at no added charge.
 
lohk said:
But the proposed 24/96 support is a myth (with USB1.1)

If you don’t use it in full duplex, thus either for recording or playback (but NOT both at the same time) it does 24 bit @ 96 kHz. Main drawback of the Transit are the wacky mini jacks. And performance (noise and spurs) is slightly worse than the Audiophile 2496.

The M-Audio Audiophile 2496 is around for a couple of years. It is now selling for under $100 at most music equipment stores and E-Bay. For that price it is still a winner concerning performance/price ratio IMHO

Cheers ;)
 
Pjotr said:


If you don’t use it in full duplex, thus either for recording or playback (but NOT both at the same time) it does 24 bit @ 96 kHz. Main drawback of the Transit are the wacky mini jacks. And performance (noise and spurs) is slightly worse than the Audiophile 2496.

The M-Audio Audiophile 2496 is around for a couple of years. It is now selling for under $100 at most music equipment stores and E-Bay. For that price it is still a winner concerning performance/price ratio IMHO

Cheers ;)



2496 Specs
---------------
frequency response: 22Hz-22kHz, -0.4, +/-0.4dB
dynamic range: 104dB (A-weighted) (D/A) 100.4dB (A-weighted) (A/D)
THD: < 0.002%


192 Specs
------------
signal to noise ratio: -113dB @ 48kHz (A-weighted)
dynamic range: 113 dB @ 48kHz (A-weighted)
THD + N: 0.0006%, 1kHz, -1dBFS @ 48kHz
frequency response: +/-0.1dB, 20Hz to 20kHz @ 48kHz


192 specs looks better right?
 
" ... But the proposed 24/96 support is a myth (with USB1.1) ..."

Yes it is ... USB 1.x is not fast enough for "real" A to D and D to A ... as any pro recording engineer will tell you.

" ... M-Audio Audiophile 2496 is around for a couple of years. It is now selling for under $100 at most music equipment stores and E-Bay. ..."

Yes, it may very well be. If you can find it, get the FireWire connected version as the M-Audio "audiophile" DOES pass the gas at greater than 24 bit / 96K in either direction ... (The interface card for FireWire can be had for about US$10 ... from us or other sources = advised if you are serious about your higher bandwidth digital interfaces = 1394a FireWire is faster than Gigabit Ethernet when passing bulk files (streaming), that's why it is used for CGI video rendering.) ;)

( http://cgi.ebay.com/M-Audio-Firewir...ryZ41787QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem )
 
FastEddy said:
" ... But the proposed 24/96 support is a myth (with USB1.1) ..."

Yes it is ... USB 1.x is not fast enough for "real" A to D and D to A ... as any pro recording engineer will tell you.

" ... M-Audio Audiophile 2496 is around for a couple of years. It is now selling for under $100 at most music equipment stores and E-Bay. ..."

Yes, it may very well be. If you can find it, get the FireWire connected version as the M-Audio "audiophile" DOES pass the gas at greater than 24 bit / 96K in either direction ... (The interface card for FireWire can be had for about US$10 ... from us or other sources = advised if you are serious about your higher bandwidth digital interfaces = 1394a FireWire is faster than Gigabit Ethernet when passing bulk files (streaming), that's why it is use for CGI video rendering.) ;)

( http://cgi.ebay.com/M-Audio-Firewir...ryZ41787QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem )



FastEddy, the M-Audio Firewire Audiophile have better specs than 192?
 
"
FireWire Audiophile is a compact, FireWire-compatible audio/MIDI interface that takes the legacy of M-AudioÕs award-winning Audiophile line to the next level. 4 x 6 audio I/O combines with powerful on-board mixing in a mobile package thatÕs perfect for live performance, home recording, and digital DJ work. Stereo headphone output with A/B switching between assignable sources allows precuing for DJs and mobile musiciansÑand the assignable aux bus is perfect for creating dedicated headphone mixes and effect sends. You also get zero-latency hardware direct monitoring, ultra-low latency ASIO software direct monitoring, and 1 x 1 MIDI I/O. FireWire Audiophile even has AC-3 and DTS passthrough for surround sound playback.

Features

4 x 6 24-bit/96kHz I/O
2 x 4 analog operation (RCA)
digital S/PDIF (coaxial) I/O w/ 2-channel PCM
digital out also supports AC-3/DTS surround sound
headphone output with dedicated level control
flexible software-controlled mixing of hardware and software I/O
aux sends on all channels and aux output assign allows for dedicated headphone mixes and sends to external effects
user-assignable front-panel level control (output, input, software return, aux send)
zero-latency hardware direct monitoring
low-latency ASIO software direct monitoring
momentary switch for A/Bing two software-assignable headphone sources or switching ASIO monitoring on/off
1 x 1 16-channel MIDI I/O
power on/off switch with indicator LED
powered via FireWire bus* or included DC power supply
two convenient high-bandwidth FireWire ports
rugged steel construction "

From the eBay listing ...

The reason that M-Audio has discontinued the FireWire "Audiophile" is that they have other FireWire audio gadgets that are as good or better and it was cutting into the sales of those more profitable gadgets ... and they wanted to reintroduce it as a companion piece for the "soon to be announced" Apple TV and audio related products ... "real soon now". :D

(I have just put in an RFQ for a couple direct from the eBay vendor as I need one and my niece needs one = she has a hundred songs she has written and ready to burn to DVD-A = can't burn DVD-A with anything less than a FireWire interface = gotta be 24 bit / 96K or better per track ... this thing works famously with Pro-Tools and Cubasis, etc.)
 
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