I have been using my stock Dell computer soundcard to make analog tape recordings from digital sources such as Quobuz, and I want to upgrade the interface. I read somewhere that an external soundcard will be better because it uses the USB buss rather than the internal's use of the "PCIe expansion buss". Is there any truth to this? What's the best way to convert the Quobuz files to analog?
A good external ADC/DAC unit will have a lower noise floor than the cheap internal/onboard sound card. As a bonus, many of them are multi-channel capable in both directions and include things like microphone preamp.
You can of course buy bad external interfaces too if you're not careful. The problem is not PCIe, but the fact that the onboard ADC is inside your computer and subject to a whole bunch of interference by proximity to high current switching power supplies.
Edit: but you are recording to tape. I expect that, unless it is professional high-speed tape, the tape's noise floor is probably way worse than your sound card's. There may not be improvements to be had if the tape is the dominant source of noise.
You can of course buy bad external interfaces too if you're not careful. The problem is not PCIe, but the fact that the onboard ADC is inside your computer and subject to a whole bunch of interference by proximity to high current switching power supplies.
Edit: but you are recording to tape. I expect that, unless it is professional high-speed tape, the tape's noise floor is probably way worse than your sound card's. There may not be improvements to be had if the tape is the dominant source of noise.
It IS professional high-speed tape, with Dolby SR----with S/N ratio in the mid-80s, so it may very well make the sound card's noise audible. Any suggestions as to make/model?
An onboard DAC in a PC will be 16 bits and should achieve about 90dB. A basic 24-bit interface should manage 105dB and the really good ones I think are around 120dB? Overkill for tape (or ears) anyway.
In terms of models, just browse for USB audio interfaces at a pro shop. Behringer is usually about the cheapest and they have both good and average offerings. M-Audio is about middle of the road, and you can pay as much as you want for incremental gains and features. Usually the differentiating features will be noise performance on the input (the hard part), balanced IO, channel count and build quality.
In terms of models, just browse for USB audio interfaces at a pro shop. Behringer is usually about the cheapest and they have both good and average offerings. M-Audio is about middle of the road, and you can pay as much as you want for incremental gains and features. Usually the differentiating features will be noise performance on the input (the hard part), balanced IO, channel count and build quality.
Just a note - most IntelHDA codecs (i.e. onboard audio) have had 24bit digital resolution for many years and some have very decent specs. Of course what counts is the end result, with integration onboard.
A decent internal (PCI-e) soundcard should be sufficient. The problem is their selection is limited, they have become a niche product as desktops grow slowly extinct. IMO a USB device would be more future-proof.
A decent internal (PCI-e) soundcard should be sufficient. The problem is their selection is limited, they have become a niche product as desktops grow slowly extinct. IMO a USB device would be more future-proof.
"IMO a USB device would be more future-proof."
An excellent point! So what's the difference between getting an external USB soundcard and an external USB DAC?
An excellent point! So what's the difference between getting an external USB soundcard and an external USB DAC?
If you have PCI slots available, popular sound cards like the Audigy 2 ZS were pretty good even in the base model, and could be equipped with a "Live Drive" front-panel interface for optical digital I/O, line I/O, mic, headphones and Firewire. Computer recyclers like Freegeek are a good place to look. If you just need Toslink I/O, it's possible to wire Toslink modules to the 40 pin header on an Audigy. I think the X-Fi cards were even better, but I haven't stumbled onto one yet. A drawback of the Creative cards is the labyrinthine internal signal processing paths with ambiguity about levels and sample rates. There is an option to enable bit-perfect S/PDIF capture. I've done a bunch of recordings using a Behringer SRC2496 as an external S/PDIF ADC/DAC to the Audigy 2 ZS, or to a USB sound interface on a laptop.
My current favourite interface for audio capture is a t.c. electronic Desktop Konnekt 6 (found at the recycling yard for $5). Firewire, but better performance than the Audigy 2 or SRC2496. Also a bigger level display and gain knob than the SRC2496.
My current favourite interface for audio capture is a t.c. electronic Desktop Konnekt 6 (found at the recycling yard for $5). Firewire, but better performance than the Audigy 2 or SRC2496. Also a bigger level display and gain knob than the SRC2496.