Hydrogenaudio Forums > help with a soundcard...

Hydrogenaudio Forums > CD-R and Audio Hardware > Audio Hardware

naelq

Dec 20 2005, 14:21

hello all,
well before i fire my 1st question, i would like greet you for these "info-rich" forums!

another important point, please be patient 'masters' if you encounter any 'previously answered question', after all these forums were found for helping others.

ok peepz, right now i'm looking for a sound card, a decent & yet 'wise decision' one.
right now, i'm using the integrated Karajan Sound Module which came with my DFI NF4 LP MoBo.

hardware i have:
> Logitech Z-640, mainly used for movies & games. (5.1)
> Sennheiser HD555, for Music & only Music. (mainly: Trance, House, Techno, Psy...)

my needs:
> excellent output for running my headphones, cause i'm 99% sure this crappy Karajan is being rapped each time i increase the volume!!

> nice 5.1 support, if i decide to attach my Z-640's to it, but it's not a must!
> good driver support, you know what i mean, i don't like to cruise the net for a F#@$@ driver!!! or any weirdo drivers that requires any 'pro combat/survival courses'!

> reasonable price range, i'm not looking for the EL-CHEPO ones, since i won't be buying another one next year or two. let's say ~200usd. (it may sound a lot in the US, but here in Israel, it's close to the EU)

my questions:
> what do you say about the: PCI vs. USB? personally i prefer USB, since i'll be able to use it on my laptop, & any other rig. but will it affect performance/quality?
> will a new sound card, or a decent one, improve the 'volume level' on my HD555's? cause for some odd reason, the volume isn't that loud!! (yes yes, the Winamp is on full volume & the same is the nvMixer)

thanks in advance guys,
Nael

Leto Atreides II

Dec 20 2005, 16:03

maybe look at the M-Audio Sonica Theater?

Leto Atreides II

Dec 20 2005, 16:10

Here's an Israeli place you can buy from:

Sonica Theater

sumone

Dec 20 2005, 16:59

I have a Chaintech AV-710. Based on head-fi, it's a pretty good sound card. It supports 7.1, but is generally only used in stereo mode (the onboard DAC that runs these channels is supposed to be exceptional) or for digital out to an external DAC. It's a PCI card. USB is sometimes said to be better than PCI in terms of quality as they might have their own power supplies & won't suffer from internal computer "noise" & interference (as much). I've never owned a USB soundcard/DAC so I can't say on whether it's true.

Price....around $30. Can't beat it.

I don't run any surround setup (just a simple 2.1 with Klipsche ProMedia). When I use my headphones, I use my HD-280pros (64Ohm). As far as volume, it's pretty good for those cans. I don't even need a headphone amp.

As far as drivers...well, I did have to do some searching on the "right" drivers to use since the ones that come with the card are supposed to be inferior. But there's a pretty good guide regarding setup & install over at head-fi.

naelq

Dec 21 2005, 11:13

thanks for the replay buds, but still, none of my question were answered!!

again, well a USB bassed solution be a wise choise, or should i stick with the PCI? & well a decent soundcard, improve the volume level i'm getting or not?

please guys, i know that my questions are somehow 'boring', but we won't to learn if we don't ask, eh?!

thanks in advance,
Nael

sumone

Dec 21 2005, 16:47

QUOTE(naelq @ Dec 21 2005, 12:13 PM)

thanks for the replay buds, but still, none of my question were answered!!

I take it you didn't read the post.

Leto Atreides II

Dec 21 2005, 18:26

QUOTE(naelq @ Dec 21 2005, 09:13 AM)

well a USB bassed solution be a wise choise, or should i stick with the PCI? & well a decent soundcard, improve the volume level i'm getting or not?

You already answered yourself you'd rather have USB to use both on the desktop and laptop... You won't be losing anything by going USB instead of PCI as long as it's a quality piece of hardware. I don't know how well the amp is in your onboard system but I'd be pretty confident that it's not as good as most amps in a decent sound card. It might improve the volume level. It will surely improve the sound quality. If you still don't get enough volume I'd suggest getting a headphone amp. I'm not familiar with the HD555s but my HD545s and HD570s are both able to be driven pretty loud by fairly standard sound cards.

The USB Sonica Theater I linked to would I think cover all of the wants/needs you expressed in your first post.

edit: as sumone also pointed out earlier it's easier for USB cards to have a cleaner signal since there's not as much interference as there is inside your case. Another advantage for going USB instead of PCI.

naelq

Dec 22 2005, 10:21

ok thanks a lot.

so a USB solution will as good as a PCI one, if not better.

i've been looking at the Sonica Theater, looks good, though i still have lots of pages to read, but i wonder if there is any better solution that would cost me some more, but will be a wiser bit?!

thanks guys

naelq

Dec 22 2005, 10:55

how about the AudioTrack's MAYA EX5 or EX7?

Leto Atreides II

Dec 22 2005, 12:05

You just need playback right? Not recording or anything?

naelq

Dec 22 2005, 17:54

true, all i'm looking for is a real kick arse sound card for playing some decent techno music, & $$$ isn't a problem at all.

naelq

Dec 24 2005, 02:34

any more to add? what makes the m-audio sonica theater so special?

/// edit ///
just passed through this review ( http://www.sudhian.com/showdocs.cfm?aid=465&pid=1714 ) & didn't fully understand the following: (at the end of the review)

QUOTE

However, the story is not all good.

The card is let down by its use of the aging USB 1.1 standard, which means that in most situations it is unable to fully exploit the quality audio components it includes. Bandwidth restrictions mean that 24-bit/96kHz playback is actually only possible in stereo mode, and so in most home theater situations the system will be limited to 48kHz playback. Although this may be fine in practice, it does somewhat dampen the claims of M-Audio to have the first truly 24-bit/96kHz system on the market. Ironically, most stereo sources (such as audio CD's) only support 16-bit/44.1kHz anyway, and so the 24-bit/96kHz stereo capabilities of the card are likely to go unused. This is sufficient for most current DVD movie soundtracks, but will prevent full support for DVD-Audio and DTS 96/24 sound tracks in the future. One wonders why M-Audio didn't adopt the USB 2.0 standard which, while remaining backwards compatible with USB 1.1, would have allowed the card to deliver the full 24-bit/96kHz experience on all eight channels

The second serious fault with the card is its lack of any real support (in hardware or software) for even the oldest of gaming 3D-positional audio standards. This is another glaring omission for a card aimed at the surround sound computer owner. M-Audio suggest that SRS CS II can be used in conjunction with games to provide an immersive surround-sound experience, but this is a very poor second-best compared with actually supporting the de facto standards for 3D positional audio in gaming of A3D, EAX, EAX 2.0, EAX 3.0 and now EAX 4.0. These standards not only allow game writers to precisely position sounds to match the action in their games (so that you hear the footsteps of a monster behind you, for instance) but also to model advanced environmental effects such as the different audio properties of the environment, different filter models for the environment, panning and morphing, and so on. Synthetic surround created from the basic flat stereo source is no match for these technologies.

could you confirm it?

chelgrian

Dec 24 2005, 07:22

QUOTE(naelq @ Dec 24 2005, 09:34 AM)

just passed through this review

The first paragraph is saying that it can't do full quality for surround sound. The second paragraph is saying that it can't accelerate any gaming sound standards in hardware.

The first is not going to be a problem unless you want to play DVD-Audio disks and the second is not going to be a problem unless you want to play games.

naelq

Dec 24 2005, 08:22

thanks a lot, then it seems that i should find a better solution than this Sonica!

any one?

naelq

Dec 28 2005, 17:29

ok guys, i've been doing a lot of readings, & have some questions i would like to get them answered.

1. does the 'new' X-FI cards have the same resampling issue as the former Audigy or Live ones?
2. do i need a headamp for my HD555's, or a decent sound card output will be enough for those?
3. i can get the X-FI Music / Rev. 7.1 / Rev. 5.1 / Juli@ at the same price, what would you vote for? (some gaming audio support would be nice!

)

thanks in advance guys.

Lee

Dec 29 2005, 06:54

I'd reccomend getting the X-FI, from what people are saying its the best sounding sound card available and it cant be beat when it comes to gaming.

master

Dec 29 2005, 07:15

EMU 1212m, but you will need additional headphone amp to drive your headphone.

naelq

Dec 29 2005, 07:52

how about Q's #1 & #2 ?

i know i'm asking a lot, but hey i want to JOIN the CLUB!

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