sound card advice please

[hixy]

hello folks,
im after a really good sound card just to listen to music to and recommendations please


thanks hixy:)

[MrM]

Which monitors / speakers will you use ; some tiny PC speakers, or a 5.1 surround PC speaker system, or connected to a home stereo, or maybe even powered monitors that you can connect directly to a soundcard (like http://www.rolandus.com/products/details.asp?catid=9&subcatid=0&prodid=DM%2D20)

[TimOBrien]

Kinda like saying "I want a car, give me reccomendations..."

OK, Rolls-Royce, Maserati, Chevy Pinto, Kia....

You can get stuff from $99 to the skys-the-limit with no other info....

[hixy]

hello folks,i listen to music through a musical fidelity headphone amp and grado headphones.i wont be using speakers. all i want is a decent sound card for music something audiophile grade if they exist

thanks for replys hixy:)

[MrM]

'audiophile' as in the budget is not low, not midlle, but high?

I think you could use a combination of a really good digital only card and an outside DAC.

M-audio makes one of the best DAC's : http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/SuperDAC2496-main.html

If your PC already has SPDIF you might try that to feed the SuperDac.

[BubbaFreaktree2]

The Emu 1820m kicks the pants off of the M-audio 2496 in terms of sound. It's sound is *amazing*, and uses the same digital converters as the top-of-the-line, multi-thousand dollar Digidesign boxes.

not sure if you could get the Emu to run your Windows Media CD player stuff though. the Emu seems most happy in an ASIO environment, but they are building out more drivers as they go along.

[TimZ]

Yes, listen to Ed ;) Although, some would argue that the Lynx cards do live up to audiophile quality. They are very good, especially their DA converters. LynxONE or LynxTWO would be about the lowest quality cards you would want for critical audiophile listening.

If you are only into quality audiophile listening, then you should only need good D/A converters. If you are serious about this, then I would recommend the Benchmark DAC-1. You can check it out here: http://www.benchmarkmedia.com/digital/dac1/default.asp

Here's a link to the 3D Audio forums where DAC's are discussed. Note one audiophile posts about his Benchmark DAC-1. :) http://www.3daudioinc.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=14&t=002284

They run around $995 new, but can be found used occasionally. I plan the get the DAC-1 soon for my studio.

Cheers

t

[breaker]

Jumping into this thread, I am a bit confused with what card to get. What I am going to do is bring in my vinyl through Technics TT to a mixer, as well as do massive editing with Adobe Audition and Sound Forge. I have small "computer" speakers, but do plan to get self-amplified monitors in the near (not near enough) future. I am not recording anything live... but do want to hear as accurate as possible.

It was recommended to me to get the M-Audio 2496, but I am wondering if another card would be more suitable.

I also welcome any advice on the monitors. Don't need anything loud, as I live in an apartment where noise can be an issue with the neighbors. I may end up using headphones for much of what I want to do.

Thanks in advance.

[jpw23]

be careful using the headphones.....you tend to hear more of everything through the cans and then your mix sounds like crap through the home stereo, ghetto blaster, car stereo....whatever! There are several small powered speaker systems out there....check out american musical supply, sweetwater or musicians friend.......shop around!