I've been doing that for years. I use the laptops soundcard for the output and a USB csoundcard for the input. Solves a lot of problems.
in the case of capacitive crosstalk shorting the unsued inputs may reduce coupled signal - as will low Z drive
I've used a oppo multiformat player to provide signal totally separate from the pc&soundcard
I've used a oppo multiformat player to provide signal totally separate from the pc&soundcard
E-MU 0404 USB is nice by the numbers, but it's built cheaply for the price. I'm running it on a Mac at present, but I'm going to see how she does on the PC soon.
Dan
Dan
Yeah, that would work! But I don't seem to be getting crosstalk with my M-Audio USB Duo.
I use spdif out, Mic in.
I use spdif out, Mic in.
the same for me (laptop soundcard for output)
unfortunatelly this output has much less quality, at least 10dB more noise, and spikes wherever in the spectrum..
do you think a crap like this SCHEDA AUDIO 3D 5.1 USB NOTEBOOK PC SOUND HOME THEATRE su eBay.it Schede audio, Componenti, Informatica e Palmari
could have better performance than internal audio output?
i'll give it a new try, but i'm pretty sure i tried in this way and didn't solve..
much better soundcard i presume! 🙂
mine has crosstalk as soon as i switch on any output (with inputs disconnected, or shorted),
and i can't power on the digital output, without powering also the analog ones..
i'll have to check for a digital output inside my laptop 😎
Well I have to admit, I have not gone looking for crosstalk, but I haven't seen any problems like that. Worth a look.
Same digital thing on the Duo, all outputs are active, no way to turn them off. I'll look for crosstalk.
I bought a docking station for my HP laptop and it has spdif out. Works "OK" but the level is low - seems a lot of laptops are. And it seems to be always at 48K. Volume control does not affect it, so that's kinda nice. In other words, I can turn the laptop speakers down or off, but the spdif stays on. Same soundcard, different outputs.
BTW, the M-Audio Duo has turned into the "Fast Track Pro." They can be found on eBay for decent money. Worst limitation - can't do 96/24 in AND out. The "FireWire Solo" can. The Fast Track has balanced line level inputs - wish mine did.
Same digital thing on the Duo, all outputs are active, no way to turn them off. I'll look for crosstalk.
I bought a docking station for my HP laptop and it has spdif out. Works "OK" but the level is low - seems a lot of laptops are. And it seems to be always at 48K. Volume control does not affect it, so that's kinda nice. In other words, I can turn the laptop speakers down or off, but the spdif stays on. Same soundcard, different outputs.
BTW, the M-Audio Duo has turned into the "Fast Track Pro." They can be found on eBay for decent money. Worst limitation - can't do 96/24 in AND out. The "FireWire Solo" can. The Fast Track has balanced line level inputs - wish mine did.
Hi,
anyone using this Terratec Aureon 5.1 USB MKII?
It seems the only one easily to be found locally for a good price (50€).
TIA,
Ralf
anyone using this Terratec Aureon 5.1 USB MKII?
It seems the only one easily to be found locally for a good price (50€).
TIA,
Ralf
The Emu 0404 USB is pretty good. Doesnt have the best build quality, but i like that. They seem to put the money into the board and components and it is has impressive sound given its price point. I use that for all my amplifier and speaker measurements and its a pretty decent head amp too.
The software I use is Speaker Workshop.
I previously used a desktop computer running on XP with a USB soundcard (Session IO). There was a low level "Zzzzz..." noise but the level was acceptable. I did a bit of measurements using that set up.
Now maybe the capacitors in the computer power supply have worned out, the "Zzzzz..." sound became very loud. This has stopped me from doing measurements.
I tried on my work computer, an earlier HP laptop running on XP, with the same external USB soundcard. When running on battery only, it was quiet, however, the old battery did not last long. But I found that the measurements weren't very stable, deviating up to 0.5dB. When using a power plug, there was an unacceptable level of "Zzzzz..." sound, and not sure if the measurements were stable.
I have just bought a brand new HP Pavilion DV1242-Tx with Windows Vista Home Premium. I downloaded the new Session IO driver. When using baterries, it was very quiet. But the measurements were all over the place, not stable at all.
These seem to suggest that the grounds of the computer supplies were all very dirty, unless running on batteries. I connected the ground/shield of the USB soundcard to the Jig ground.
I am amazed that you guys don't find this problem. What have I done wrong?
Thanks and regards,
Bill
I previously used a desktop computer running on XP with a USB soundcard (Session IO). There was a low level "Zzzzz..." noise but the level was acceptable. I did a bit of measurements using that set up.
Now maybe the capacitors in the computer power supply have worned out, the "Zzzzz..." sound became very loud. This has stopped me from doing measurements.
I tried on my work computer, an earlier HP laptop running on XP, with the same external USB soundcard. When running on battery only, it was quiet, however, the old battery did not last long. But I found that the measurements weren't very stable, deviating up to 0.5dB. When using a power plug, there was an unacceptable level of "Zzzzz..." sound, and not sure if the measurements were stable.
I have just bought a brand new HP Pavilion DV1242-Tx with Windows Vista Home Premium. I downloaded the new Session IO driver. When using baterries, it was very quiet. But the measurements were all over the place, not stable at all.
These seem to suggest that the grounds of the computer supplies were all very dirty, unless running on batteries. I connected the ground/shield of the USB soundcard to the Jig ground.
I am amazed that you guys don't find this problem. What have I done wrong?
Thanks and regards,
Bill
I tried the laptop + USB soundcard (Edirol UA-1EX) approach with SoundEasy and eventually abandoned it. While the Edirol works flawlessly on my laptop while running Linux, it suffered from incurable click-pop issues on the same laptop. This problem is hardware dependent; that is, some Edirol owners report the click-pop problem, whereas other don't. In the end, I was not able to get a sensible impedance measurements. So, I just installed XP on my desktop (with an M-Audio 24/96 PCI card) and now everything works perfectly. I have to say, its nice to have a very large monitor when using SoundEasy, so in the end I think the desktop approach is more convenient.
I just had a thought. Perhaps I should disconnect the shield from the USB soundcard ground so the shield is only connected to the amplifier ground. That may remove the "Zzzzz..." problem.
i experienced unstable measurements when using internal soundcard output
(avoiding the crosstalk in external soundcard input)
but using external soundcard inputs and outputs gave me stable measurements, both AC or Battery powered..
I didn't try earthing the ground on the external soundcard (in my laptop SMPS's earth enters in, i don't know if SMPS connects by itself earth to ground, i will give a try)
i made some test with two laptops, and found that the 1st carry generally more silent measurements when battery operated, but battery gives me a peak at around 280 Hz.. the 2nd is always more silent when AC operated, and no peaks when battery used, but even more noise than AC..
(avoiding the crosstalk in external soundcard input)
but using external soundcard inputs and outputs gave me stable measurements, both AC or Battery powered..
I didn't try earthing the ground on the external soundcard (in my laptop SMPS's earth enters in, i don't know if SMPS connects by itself earth to ground, i will give a try)
i made some test with two laptops, and found that the 1st carry generally more silent measurements when battery operated, but battery gives me a peak at around 280 Hz.. the 2nd is always more silent when AC operated, and no peaks when battery used, but even more noise than AC..
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