Best soundcards? (minus the mainstream crap)

[chodecz]

Hi guys,

I am very paticular when it comes to music, so am looking buy a really good quality soundcard. Creative seems to have the mainstream market, but are good? I wanted a USB soundcard for my laptop, and people on here recommended me a M-Audio Transit opposed to the Creative offerings.

What would you guys suggest for my desktop PC?? I would ideally like a remote control and optical port, but they are not essential. I would ideally like to spend under $200.

Any advice will be most appreciated.
P.S. I listen to music mostly and movies, not much recording etc. I have stereo headphones and 2.1 speaker setup.

 

[Slick5150]

Probably the best card out there right now, especially for music and movies, would be the Auzentech X-Meridian.

http://www.auzentech.com/site/products/x-meridian.php

 

[Blain]

Stay with the M-Audio family... Audiophile 2496

 

[Goi]

For pure audio signal quality and professional usage, the best soundcards I know are from Lynx Studio

 

[Dantzig]

For a budget card, I still love the Chaintech AV-710. I put one in every system I build.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: Dantzig
For a budget card, I still love the Chaintech AV-710. I put one in every system I build.

Yeah, has everything you mentioned except the remote.

Old AVS thread
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=364771

 

[trimurti]

Suggest M-audio or terratec for music though unless your are sending signal to external system with good speakers and not just computer speakers I doubt you will hear any difference with any decent card with powered computer speakers.

 

[imported_bum]

Emu 0404 with some soldering modifications is damn hard to beat for music, but you probably need an amp. The two of those can be had around $200, though. Head-fi.org should have some threads on the 0404 and it's mods.

edit: there is also a newer usb version of the 0404, don't know much about it though

 

[chodecz]

THANKS guys!! Much appreciated. )

I think I'm gonna go with the M-Audio, as it's easily avialable on eBay. I might even try and get a 2nd hand M-Audio Audiophile 192.

That Meridian-X looks good, but is quite pricey and theres nothing on eBay (UK).

BTW. I'll be using the soundcard with Sennheiser HD580 headphones (high-spec and show up any bad audio easily) and I'd connect it up to my NAD amplifier to use with my home hifi system aswell.

So.. do you think the M-Audio's will do the job considering my requirements???

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Yeah, that should work.

Are you hooking up right to an amp, or a pre/pro or receiver?

I'll just mention that if you want to have your pre/pro do the work, the Chaintech card can do bit-perfect digital out.

 

[chodecz]

Ok, typical usage will be one of the following:

Soundcard to Creative 2.1 speaker setup
Soundcard to Senn hd580 headphones
Soundcard to NAD integrated amplifier (the NAD amp will power my hifi speakers)
Soundcard to Personal Minidisc player (recording).

By 'pre' do you mean pre-amp? If so, no I only have an integrated amp for my hifi.
By 'pro' do you mean audio processor? If so, no I don't have one of these.

With all the above in mind, which soundcard do you think will suit me best YOyoYOhowsDAjello??

As said earlier - I listen to MP3s and watch movies (either DVDs or AVIs) mostly. But will also listen to audio CDs and do some recording to my personal Minidisc player.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

I just wanted to know if you wanted digital output capability to have your NAD use its DACs and such (if it was something other than a straight amp and had more inputs on it).

The Chaintech really only has one good analog output on it, so something along the lines of one of the M-Audio cards with multiple inputs/outputs sounds like a better match for your multiple outputs and input needs.

 

[chodecz]

Thanks for your quick reply!

I wouldn't necessarily need to have all that equipment hooked up at one time.

The M-Audio cards look at the best bet with their digital I/O.

I might get a 2nd hand Audiophile 192, if not I'll get a 2496.

Will I be dissapointed with either? Is the 192 worth the extra money??

My MSN messenger address is chodecz@hotmail.com maybe we could have a brief chat?? Again, many thanks.

EDIT: P.S. I have just noticed M-Audio's Revolution 5.1 and 7.1 cards,, what are these like compared to the Audiophile models? Would they suit my needs better?

 

[ibex333]

Question:

If the above soundcards are so damn good, why is it I most often see Creative Soundcards in people's PC's? Seriously, can an average person like me REALLY hear a big difference while listening to an mp3 song or playing a game between Audigy 2 ZS and the above cards? (using Sennheiser headset or Logitech z5500)

 

[Bat123Man]

If you want my 2-cents worth, before you purchase any card, do a google search on "xxxxxxx crackling" where xxxxxxx is the name of the sound board you are considering. Crackling seems to have become the accepted term in the forums for "snap crackle pop" you hear coming from your speakers when your soundboard is misbehaving. This problem seems to be most common with Soundblaster soundboards, from the Audigy all the way to the latest Fatal1ty X-Fi. There is no explanation from Creative Labs, other than a monstrous technote with a very long list of things to try. From forum postings, I gather they are things like re-install your OS, remove all other PCI cards, and stand on one foot while singing the national anthem of Peru.

I would look into Turtle Beach, although I have heard good things about M-Audio. They have very affordable cards which support EAX, so if you are a gamer, you don't lose anything by staying away from SoundBlaster. If you want more info on the crackling problem plaguing SB cards, just hop over to the forums on Creative's own site, and you will see almost every single topic covers crackling :

http://forums.creative.com/creativelabs/board?board.id=soundblaster

BM.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: chodecz
Thanks for your quick reply!

I wouldn't necessarily need to have all that equipment hooked up at one time.

The M-Audio cards look at the best bet with their digital I/O.

I might get a 2nd hand Audiophile 192, if not I'll get a 2496.

Will I be dissapointed with either? Is the 192 worth the extra money??

My MSN messenger address is chodecz@hotmail.com maybe we could have a brief chat?? Again, many thanks.

EDIT: P.S. I have just noticed M-Audio's Revolution 5.1 and 7.1 cards,, what are these like compared to the Audiophile models? Would they suit my needs better?

HeadFi.org would probably be a better resource for looking at more "audiophile" oriented cards like these.

(I don't use MSN messenger either )

 

[imported_Imp]

Originally posted by: Bat123Man
If you want my 2-cents worth, before you purchase any card, do a google search on "xxxxxxx crackling" where xxxxxxx is the name of the sound board you are considering. Crackling seems to have become the accepted term in the forums for "snap crackle pop" you hear coming from your speakers when your soundboard is misbehaving. This problem seems to be most common with Soundblaster soundboards, from the Audigy all the way to the latest Fatal1ty X-Fi. There is no explanation from Creative Labs, other than a monstrous technote with a very long list of things to try. From forum postings, I gather they are things like re-install your OS, remove all other PCI cards, and stand on one foot while singing the national anthem of Peru.

I would look into Turtle Beach, although I have heard good things about M-Audio. They have very affordable cards which support EAX, so if you are a gamer, you don't lose anything by staying away from SoundBlaster. If you want more info on the crackling problem plaguing SB cards, just hop over to the forums on Creative's own site, and you will see almost every single topic covers crackling :

http://forums.creative.com/creativelabs/board?board.id=soundblaster

BM.

Seconded. I have an X-fi extrememusic. I just started getting a lot of crackling in recent games (Gothic 3 & Medieval 2), some of it is due to power issues in my old house (turning lights on). However, the other half just happens out of nowhere. Just had my very expensive speakers endure a very loud crackle, and I'm pissed. If you check their forums, it is a rampant problem so if you choose a card, I suggest you stay away from creative.

 

[T9D]

I wouldn't write off the creative cards. The x-fi is an extremely good sounding card. And the top of the line x-fi elite pro is amazing. Head and shoulders even above the rest of the x-fi line. The professional DAC they use in it is really a huge improvement. I use the elite pro on my 2 channel audiophile rig

My sound card goes streight to my McCormack amp and that powers my Thiel speakers. Everything images %100. Every bit of music floats in it's own space between, above, and well behind the speakers. If you can swing the extra bit of money for the elite pro you wont be sorry at all.

 

[ibex333]

how peculiar.... I have an Audigy 2 ZS and I never, not one time had any crackling or any sound problems in any game except for Dragonshard which produced terrible sound anomalities and mostly wouldnt give any sound at all... There were many solututions on forums none of which worked.

 

[Bat123Man]

Originally posted by: tk109
I wouldn't write off the creative cards. The x-fi is an extremely good sounding card. And the top of the line x-fi elite pro is amazing. Head and shoulders even above the rest of the x-fi line. The professional DAC they use in it is really a huge improvement. I use the elite pro on my 2 channel audiophile rig

My sound card goes streight to my McCormack amp and that powers my Thiel speakers. Everything images %100. Every bit of music floats in it's own space between, above, and well behind the speakers. If you can swing the extra bit of money for the elite pro you wont be sorry at all.

Interesting. So how did you get around the crackling issue? The current view on the Creative forums is that it is a fault in the PCI bus making everyone susceptible to it. One view being pushed is that there is something wrong with Transaction Latency controls in that somehow the Creative Labs card is not getting its fair access to the bus (the analogy is that it is waiting for a light to turn green, but the light is on a two hour cycle, so it ends up waiting there for ages - in computer time - and crackles in the meantime). I am not sure how fair this is considering that you can fix the problem by installing alternative drivers from the KX Project, but I was wondering if you had the issue.

BM.

 

[chodecz]

Hi guys,

I bought a M-Audio Audiophile 2496, brand new for $95. I missed out on a 2nd hand 192 for only $20 more!!!

One question I do have though, where do I plug my stereo headphones into???

Heres a pic of the card: http://www.maudio.co.uk/images/en/callouts/big/audiophile_2496.jpg

So..
Headphones = ???
Creative 2.1 speaker setup (powered) = coaxial S/PDIF
Home hifi amp = coaxial S/PDIF or RCA outputs???

Someone please enlighten me.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

You just need an adapter that takes 2xRCA output to a headphone connection (3.5mm stereo is probably easiest)
Example adapter: https://www.cablesforless.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=13730
Feel free to spend more on one if you're a "cable guy"

If your NAD has a headphone jack, you could also probably just keep the NAD plugged in and then plug your headphones into that.

Are you sure the Creative set has a coaxial input on it? I don't remember what model you said they were, but 2.1 speaker systems usually use the same kind of connection that headphones would.

For your NAD, you can try both, but I would think you'd use analog since that's the main thing going for this card.

 

[chodecz]

Thanks yet again!

What would digital offer over analog for the NAD??

The Creative 2.1 speaker setup has 'digital in' port which is coaxial.

 

[chodecz]

The cheapest I could find in my country is this:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...R40%26satitle%3D260076362208%26fvi%3D1

Thats about $5.

Does it matter that it's 1.5 meters long??? 1.5 meters + my headphones cable length is going to be very long.. will this long length cause loss of SQ or sound output of the heapdhones????

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: chodecz
Thanks yet again!

What would digital offer over analog for the NAD??

The Creative 2.1 speaker setup has 'digital in' port which is coaxial.

Digital would mean that your NAD would be going the DAC conversion while analog would mean that the card is doing it.

It would be up to you to decide what you like better.

For the creative set, sending it digital would mean that whatever DAC the speakers have internally, that would be what they are using. I have no doubt that the card would do a better job at this than the speakers. If you have an analog input on the speakers, use that.