Hi,

I've been looking at a soundboard - internal or external - to play my lossy and lossless files from my computer rather than having to decode and burn them.

I'm not a gizmo freak so I don't need all the "christmas tree" gizmos and lights that you find on most of those entry-level soundboards (how pricey they may even be).

My set-up is built from the following components:

Unison Research S2K Single-Ended KT88 Tube Amplifier
(KR KT88 Output Tubes + Telefunken ECC82 Smooth Plate Input Tubes)
http://www.unisonresearch.com/valvolari/s2k.asp

ProAc Studio 125 Speakers
http://www.proac-loudspeakers.com/studio125.php

AH! Njoe Tjoeb CD 4000 Tube CD Player
(Siemens E288CC Tubes)
http://www.hifi-planet.com/ahnjoetjoeb4000home-en.htm

Rega Planar 3 Turntable
(The old version, not the P3)
http://www.rega.co.uk/html/p3.htm

I am very pleased with my current setup as it offers the sound I want. Warm, laidback, rich... whatever word you can find to describe it. Unfortunately all the soundboards I used in the past sounded flat, clinical and harsh - simply the contrary of musical. What I need is something that will allow me a simple stereo output (don't need inputs) with clean and warm sound similar to that my AH! player gives me. If there are any soundboards that offer a tube output stage, they are most welcome. I tried the AOpen motherboard with tube output stage and although they let me listen hours on with my headphones without fatigue, I find that they lack definition and have a horrible component noise and hum which is plainly unacceptable.

Does anyone have any ideas? I read about the DAL CardDeluxe. Could this fill my needs? I'm aware that I will never get out of a computer with MPC/MP3 or even lossy audio what I get from my CD or Vinyl collection.

I am ready to sacrifice definition and detail for liquid midrange, soft wet delicate treble and firm, deep, rich bass. Is there anything out there that could come at least a little bit close to this?

Thanks to all for your help!

That would do what you want, but I'm not sure you would ever have enough confidence in it to be happy, given your feelings about computer audio. Cheaper cards like the M-Audio Audiophile 2496 (or even the Revo) would also do the trick.

If I were you, I would find a card with a good SP/DIF output, and pair it with a hi-fi DAC made by a company you feel comfortable with. That way you can get the data out of your PC, and depend on a hi-fi component to give you whatever 'feel' you want.

I've used the Audiophile 2496 in that configuration with a Cambridge Audio IsoDAC. The AP2496 will also synchronise it's SP/DIF-out to the DACs clock if you connect the DAC clock output to the AP2496 SP/DIF-in connector.

(I don't do that any more. I'm quite happy with the analogue output from the AP2496.)


I think you meant to say 'even lossless audio' there (although I kinda wish you didn't). If you use a lossless format like FLAC, Monkeys Audio, Shorten or Apple lossless, you'll get exactly what you get from your CD collection. That's the whole point. And from what you've said, I think that's the only way you can go if you want to have confidence in your system.

The M-Audio Audiophile 2496 is a nice card. I'm not sure whether it will provide "liquid midrange, soft wet delicate treble and firm, deep, rich bass" - probably. Anyway, looks like you have some nice gear, so maybe you want something more high-end than the M-Audio. It is a good-quality no-bullsh*t card , though.

Cheers

No reason you shouldn't get as good from PC as CD.
The reference consumer soundcard is the E-MU 1212m which you might find as good as your CD player.
Because you use CDs too, how about using the same DAC for both. Does your CD player have digital in/out? (If digital in, you have the option of a basic card connected to your CD player.) If digital out you can get an external DAC to use for both, which should be worth it as you have nice speakers and amp. That's a pretty turntable BTW!

I'm running the digital out of a $40 Soundblaster MP3+ to my CAL Sigma II DAC and I am unable to tell the diference between that digital source and the Delta transport in blind tests. My computer files are lossless WMA.

The rest of my system is a B&K Pro 5 pre amp, Bryston 4BST Amp and a pair of Martin Logan Areus (sp?) speakers, just to give you an idea where I'm coming from.

- Jeff

It may be that that DAC is insensitive to jitter, and so a basic digital out is fine. However the soundblasters resample to 48khz they say - at least use foobar to resample better in software if you won't get a soundcard with a proper digital out. You've spent so much money on your other stuff, why not?

I'd recommend strongly against seeking any particular type of coloration from a soundcard and instead seeking purely fidelity, not least because the vast majority of soundcards are designed with fidelity, not coloration, in mind. Seek your coloration in your choice of amplifier, as you already have (though it seems a bit weak to me for those speakers--it's only 16W, right?).

If you take that advice and keep fidelity in mind, the recommendations you'll find all over this board will serve you well. Lots of people like the M-Audio Revolution for playback. Above the Revo you'll probably get serious diminishing returns for just playback. Indeed, the good outputs on a $25 Chaintech AV-710 (these) exceed the specifications (for fidelity) on your current CD player. Plug that into the amplifier of your choice and you'll get the good coloration of the amp.

A few thoughts. First, my DAC is sensitive to jitter, I believe. I once hooked up the digital output of my cheap-o DVD player to the DAC, and it was unlistenable. The only cause I can think of is jitter.

Second, I believe the newer SoundBlasters do not resample. I'm not sure where I got that belief from, but I think it's been discussed around here.

Finally, and most importantly, in blind tests I've been unable to distinguish any difference whatsoever between the two digital sources. They sound equally great. Why, then, should I plonk down more money (which could be spent on new music) to buy a "better" usb soundcard?

ALL Sound Manglers resample, from Live to A2 ZS.

http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=74021

Relevance to audibility duirng music playback?

If audible(not demonstrated), then what prevents one from using a hiqh quality software resampling such as available in Foobar?

-Chris

I didn't see anything about the MP3+ in that article.

In the end, if in blind tests there is no discernable difference, isn't this discussion academic?

There's generally no such things as 'audiophile sound cards'.

More advanced PC gear is targeted at recording industry rather than audiophiles. Hence, I wouldn't expect the sound of any of them to be "warm, laidback and rich", unless you use a digital connection and an 'audiophile-grade' external DAC.

The SoundBlaster MP3+ SPDIF-Output can be fixed via hardwareswitch to 44.1kHz or 48kHz.
see
http://www.soundblaster.com/products/mp3+/specs.asp

If all you want is a good soundcard at reasonable price, I will highly recommend E-MU 1212m.

You can find the spec of the card HERE.

You can have a view on the picture of the card HERE.


[Edited] Add link to picture....

I wouldn't say that you should. But if it's worth it to buy an expensive DAC, then I would think it worth it to buy a card with decent digital out. Maybe neither is worth it. Such a sound card doesn't have to cost much money.

I would recommend the following three choices

E-MU 1212m
RME HDSP 9632

Benchmark DAC1 24/192

The DAC1 of course, being an external DAC. If you chose the external DAC route, you do not need to spend a lot of money on a soundcard, just make sure to get a card with a bit perfect digital out (bypass any of the audigy series soundcards).

The chaintech AV-710 is very cheap, and you can flash it with the Audiotrak Prodigy firmware and you will get a perfect digital transport for like $30.